Hello everyone, just wanted to wish you all the best of luck in your exam tomorrow. If you found this video useful and would like some more detailed analysis, I also have three videos on the key themes of Macbeth, featuring more key quote analysis. They can all be found in my Macbeth playlist, accessible via this link: ru-vid.com/group/PLA78A2-yUO69q6k62Y5reeLDjG7kJQXaC. Also, for those of you with any urgent questions regarding Macbeth, I will be around for most of today so please post any important questions you have as a separate comment on this video (I probably won’t be able to respond to all comments but I will try my best). I also have videos on Jekyll and Hyde, An Inspector Calls, Romeo and Juliet, and more on my channel so do check those out if you found this video helpful.
Unfortunately, I can't say whether they will come up in the exam. As to themes, some of them directly reference themes in the headings - such as ambition, the supernatural, nature, and tyranny. Others are elements of themes - trust would come under Kingship for example. And then there are images - the clothing image shows how ill-suited he is to be king (no pun intended). Good luck with the exam.
Thank you very much.... It's very helpful.... Sir all important quotations may come in exam. But basically quotations come from 1ST AND LAST CHAPTER... FOR EXAMPLE MACBETH FIRST QUOTATIONS.. WHERE SHALL WE THREE MEET AGAIN TOLD BY THREE WITCHES... SO 1ST AND LAST CHAPTER QUOTATIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. THANK YOU SIR FOR CLEAR EXPLANATION.
Good question. They are (in order): 1. Brave Macbeth (A Captain to the King). 2. New honours (Banquo to Angus and Ross). 3. There's no art (Duncan to Malcolm). 4. Thou wouldst be great (Lady Macbeth in soliloquy). 5. If it were done (Macbeth in soliloquy). 6. Is this a dagger (Macbeth in soliloquy). 7. Will all great Neptune's (Macbeth in soliloquy). 8. 'Tis unnatural (Old Man to Ross). 9. To be thus (Macbeth in soliloquy). 10. What, all my pretty chickens (Macduff to Malcolm and Ross). 10. Life's but a walking shadow (Macbeth in soliloquy). Good luck with the exam.
Unfortunately, not yet. I am in the process of writing one, but it won't be ready in time for this year's exams. If you have a specific question do reply and I'll see if I can be of help.
I'd think about contrasts. At the start Scrooge says 'Bah Humbug!' to describe the idea of Christmas, but at the end he says 'I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year'. At the beginning he is described as someone who 'carried his own low temperature' and was as hard as 'flint'. By the end 'his own heart laughed'. You will find similar ones for other themes. I hope that's useful and good luck with the exam.
I have designed these so that they give you insights that can help you to develop an informed response to questions for both edexcel and aqa exams - they both tend to ask you to look at a passage and then think about how the ideas and themes seen there are then expressed throughout the play. If you have any specific questions you want answering do post a reply and I'll see if I can help.
Dr Aidan thank you so much but my english teacher isn’t really useful and i was just wondering can you predict what charchters are going to come up based on last years exam? I hope this makes sense.
Yes, unfortunately it's impossible to know. But if you take a look at my three accompanying themes video - Appearance and Reality, Fate, and Ambition - it should give you a range of options to choose from. I don't cover Kingship at the moment, but I did post this reply to someone who asked about that subject: "As I say in the Ambition video, a king was thought to be appointed by God and so his subjects must be loyal to him. This is why Macbeth says 'Your highness' part / Is to receive our duties, and our duties / Are to your throne and state, children and servants,' (1.4.23-25). In addition, Duncan was a virtuous king - a man who only did good things and treated his people well. This is what God would want from a king. Macbeth acknowledges this when he thinks about killing him in Act 1 Scene 7. He says 'Besides, this Duncan / Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued against / The deep damnation of his taking off'. (1.7.16-20). So what this says about kingship is that not only is Duncan appointed by God but he is also a godly ruler who rules over his people well. By killing Duncan Macbeth violates the bond of loyalty and trust between subject and king". I hope that's useful and good luck tomorrow.
