Category 1: Shakespeare & Big Ideas
This is the main question or life lesson a text explores. In Macbeth, examples include ambition, guilt, power, and gender.
What is theme?
Name the character who is sleepwalking in this scene.
Lady Macbeth
What feeling is Lady Macbeth showing in this scene?
Guilt
Name the red liquid Lady Macbeth imagines on her hands.
Blood
Lady Macbeth says, “Out, damned spot!” What is the “spot”?
Blood / a bloodstain
At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth seems powerful and in control. In this scene, she seems more like this.
Weak / guilty / scared / broken
The final write asks how Shakespeare uses what motif to develop Lady Macbeth?
Blood and hands / blood, hands, and washing
Shakespeare’s plays are still studied because they explore conflicts people still face today, like ambition, betrayal, fear, and pressure to prove oneself. This is called being this.
What is universal or timeless?
Name one person who watches Lady Macbeth while she sleepwalks.
The Doctor or the Gentlewoman
What does Lady Macbeth keep remembering while she sleepwalks?
The murders / Duncan’s murder / the bloody crimes
Name the body part Lady Macbeth keeps trying to clean.
hands
In “Out, damned spot!” what does the word “damned” show about how Lady Macbeth feels about the blood?
She sees it as cursed, evil, or impossible to get rid of.
Earlier, Lady Macbeth believed water could easily wash away guilt. In this scene, what does she realize?
The guilt will not go away.
What should your answer mostly focus on: plot summary or analysis?
Analysis
In Jacobean England, killing a king was considered especially horrifying because kings were believed to be chosen by God.
What is regicide?
What is Lady Macbeth trying to do with her hands while she sleepwalks?
Wash them / rub them / clean them
What does Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking show about her guilt?
She cannot control/suppress it anymore.
What does blood symbolize in this scene?
Guilt / violence / responsibility for murder
Lady Macbeth says, “Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” Who is the “old man”?
Duncan
Earlier, Lady Macbeth controlled Macbeth. In this scene, what can’t she control?
Earlier, Lady Macbeth controlled Macbeth. In this scene, what can’t she control?
What character trait should you explain about Lady Macbeth in this scene?
She is guilty, haunted, unstable, or mentally broken
King James I’s fear of these supernatural figures helped make Macbeth’s opening scene especially scary to Shakespeare’s audience.
What are witches?
What does Lady Macbeth think is still on her hands?
Blood
What does Lady Macbeth’s guilt do to her mind?
It breaks her down / makes her unstable / makes her lose control
What does washing symbolize in this scene?
Trying to erase guilt / trying to get rid of guilt
Lady Macbeth says, “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” What does this mean in student language?
Nothing can make her feel clean or innocent again.
What is Shakespeare showing about Lady Macbeth’s confidence?
It has disappeared / collapsed
What does a strong final write need after evidence?
Zoom in / analysis / explanation
Macbeth starts off as a hero, but his need to become king makes him do terrible things. What desire causes Macbeth’s downfall?
Explain what is strange about Lady Macbeth trying to wash her hands.
There is no real blood there. The blood is in her mind because she feels guilty.
Complete this idea: Lady Macbeth used to act strong and fearless, but now Shakespeare shows that she is really __________.
guilty, haunted, mentally broken, or overwhelmed
What lesson does the blood and washing motif teach us about guilt?
Guilt cannot simply be washed away or ignored.
Why is “this little hand” important? What does it show about Lady Macbeth?
It makes her seem smaller, weaker, and less powerful than before.
Explain Lady Macbeth’s character change in one sentence.
Explain Lady Macbeth’s character change in one sentence.
Finish this final-write idea: Shakespeare uses the blood and hands motif to show that Lady Macbeth’s guilt has become __________.
impossible to escape / too powerful to control / mentally destructive