English Script Assessment Term 1 2021

By Maddy Hayen

Shakespeare's Macbeth examines a variety of significant thematic concerns which

resonate through time. Which theme is most significant and why is this the case?

Masculinity is the most significant theme within the play Macbeth and is relevant in
contemporary context.

The climax within the play of Macbeth drives the plot and conflict of the play and is
created by the toxic masculinity that comes from Lady Macbeth and causes Macbeth to
kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is able to hypnotise Macbeth with her words forcing him into
killing Duncan because if he doesn’t he is not a man or as she puts it “When you durst
do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much
more the man” and “I fear thy nature,/It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness/To catch
the nearest way.” which is talking about how Macbeth doesn’t have the guts to kill
Duncan which can be assumed to be due to the inability of his manhood. She uses her
words to manipulate and to force Macbeth into killing the good man Duncan even when
he was having second thoughts all because that could make him not a man. Therefore
being a man and displaying manly qualities of the time must have been extremely
important, important enough even to kill for.

The play of Macbeth has one main character being a vehicle for masculinity; Lady
Macbeth. She forces Macbeth into doing many things that drive the plot which can be
seen in the lines I have already talked about and she acts as though she is a man
showing us how strange a character like Lady Macbeth is. She also follows very specific
male stereotypes such as ordering people around which can be seen in the lines “ Go
get some water/And wash this filthy witness from your hand./Why did you bring these
daggers from the place?/They must lie there. Go carry them and smear/The sleepy
grooms with blood.” and displaying the want for no emotions in the lines “These deeds
must not be thought/After these ways; so, it will make us mad.”. Due to this one
character being a living representation of masculinity of the Elizabethan era she is able
to control and change the play making the theme within her extremely important to all
elements of the play.

Masculinity by definition is connected to men and the traits they have compared to the
traits society expects of them. So within the play of macbeth the patriarchal society of
the play fuels the ideas and values of masculinity of the time and spreads them to all the
members of Scotland. This means that if these ideas are being spread to all the people
masculinity becomes a burning idea at the core of all people within the society making it
the most important theme of Macbeth. Through the people it fuels all the other themes
of the play, whether it be ambition in which the values and beliefs of masculinity
influence people's ambition or guilt which it fuels the lady macbeth’s inner guilt causing
the guilt that brings the reign of Macbeth crashing down and can be seen in the lines
“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”.

Macbeth is one of the greatest plays of all time and without the use of masculinity within
the play it would not convey the same amount of meaning it does.

Reflection

This term for our year 9 English assessment we had to create a multimodal presentation explaining what we believe
to be the most significant theme within the play of Macbeth and why. I chose to do Masculinity and I created a
presentation which I recorded with a Voiceover. Overall I am rather happy with my final process and was pleased with
the theme I chose as there is a lot in the play surrounding the theme of masculinity. I used sufficient multimodal
elements with many photos and artworks tinning the idea together and I created many intriguing designs such as the
Scotland castle and masculinity symbol drawing them together. I found time management challenging as I had trouble
planning it out so that I would be able to do it on time as well as all the other assessments I ahd. To solve this
problem I used the bread crumb strategy which my English teacher told us about and is where you do one thing per
day. It really helped me to write and film by the time points I wanted them to be done by. If I did this assessment again
I would focus more on the planning stage of the assessment as I dived straight into it without a solid plan leaving me
lost when I was writing. This meant I had more trouble with time management than expected and was unaware of
how much I still needed to do as I was writing. I ended up with an overall alright assessment and am pleased with the
result.