Transcription
Guys, welcome to another video. You've got Mr. Everything English. And today is a super important video. Today is a big video. Today is the video that was the video last year in the GCSE exams. It saved so many year 11s, and it will be the video for this year's GCSE exams.
Now, guys, a quick reminder. If you ever require classes for English, maths, or science, do head over to everything.co.uk and do check out the Everything Education app. It is amazing for exam testing. The app, guys, is available on the App Store, or you can use it on the desktop at everythingucationapp.co.uk.
Now, last year I gave the year 11s six quotes, and I said to them that these six quotes are the only quotes that they need to learn for their exams. This year I was feeling a little bit generous. I am going to give you guys eight quotes. In this video, guys, I'm going to be covering eight quotes from McBth, and I'm going to show you everything you need to know about these quotes. We're going to go over the devices, the context, and more importantly, I'm going to show you how you analyze these codes to fit every single question.
Now, for your GCSEs, out of these eight, you only need two to fit. Now, if me saying that is confusing you, then you've probably been sleeping under a rock for the past two years. In your exam, you will be given a question, and you will be given an extract. You will write four paragraphs: two paragraphs from the extract and two paragraphs from memory. The two paragraphs that we're going to do from memory will hopefully be using two of the quotes that I'm going to give you in this video. That is why, guys, out of the eight quotes that I'm going to give you, you only need to be able to use two. And guys, they're going to fit absolutely perfectly.
Finally, guys, before we begin, if anyone says to you that you need to learn 15, 20, 30, 40 quotes, it is for one of three reasons. Number one, they hate you. Number two, they can't do what I do, and they don't know how to make one quote fit lots of different questions. Or number three, guys, they haven't understood what we are preparing for. It isn't about how much you know about McBTH; it's what you can do with what you know.
All right, guys. Now, we're going to switch over to to the board. We're going to go over every single quote in super, super detail. Do get a pen, do get a paper, and do make notes. So, by the end of this video, you were ready to go for your exam when it comes to McBTH. Everything Education Tuition for Maths, English, and Science.
Behind me on the board are the eight quotes from McBTH that fit every single essay. Each quote has the quotation, has a technique, has something to zoom into, and it has context. So, each quote has everything that you need for that particular quote.
Now, let's start with quote number one, guys. This is the quote. This is the one. This quote fits every single question about McBth. The quote is "heat oppressed brain." And Paul McBth says this at the start of Act Two, Scene One, just before he goes off and kills Duncan.
Now, when it comes to techniques, guys, this quote is a soliloquy. Soliloquy comes under form. And what is a soliloquy? A soliloquy is when the character reveals their thoughts out loud. So, basically, nobody is supposed to be hearing this. It's their private inner thoughts. This is where you get to know the real character.
Then the context that we're going to use is Freud and the id. Now, Freud is the guy who said that as a human there are three parts of our brain. ID is one part of the brain. One part of our id is our instinct to worship. Every human being worships something. Some people worship money, some people worship footballers, some people worship houses, some people worship cars, but everyone worships something. In this quote, you can argue that McBth is a slave to his worship of his desires.
And for our zooming in, guys, we're going to zoom into the foreshadowing.
Now, what do you do with this quote, guys? The quote reads as follows: "Heat oppressed brain." This is what Mr. McBth is complaining about in this part of the court.
Now, let's take it back to front. The brain, this thing that lives in our minds, is the most important thing that we have. Your brain controls your ideas. And what defines you is your ideas. Who are you? What makes you you is the ideas that you carry. So, if you have nothing up here, then that will show in your life. But if your brain is firing and your brain is alive, then this will show in your actions. So, McBth isn't complaining about his hand. He's not complaining about his legs. He's not complaining about anything other than his brain, his ideas, his thoughts.
Now, our thoughts are what determine our actions. So, for example, if you don't like me, you're going to turn this video off because your thoughts will determine your actions. When I see a chocolate cake and I think, "M, that looks delicious," I think and then I go eat.
Now, McBth is complaining that the one thing that should be his, the one thing that should be free, is being oppressed. He says his brain is being oppressed.
Now, what does the word "oppressed" mean? "Oppressed" is when something is controlled in a negative way. It's when something is being controlled in a negative way. So, McBth's no idiot. McBth understands that there's something going on here. And then he says his brain is being controlled by heat.
Now, is somebody standing there with a Bunsen burner over McBth's head? Obviously not. What is this heat a symbol of? What is the heat a metaphor of? Guys, who is applying the heat to the brain of McBth? And why does Shakespeare use the word "heat"? Guys, if you apply heat to plastic, what can you do? You can change, you can alter, you can mold it. So, somebody is trying to change and alter and mold McBth's mind.
Now, who in the world is trying to do this? Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the past two years. In Act One, there are two characters that are trying to mold the mind of McBth. There are two characters that are trying to apply heat to the brain of McBth because there are two characters that want to control McBth for their own good. Number one, the witches. And number two, Lady McBth.
These two characters, they go on and they go on and they go on. Constantly going on at McBth in the whole of Act One. Noise, noise, noise, noise. The guy, guys, is mentally finished by the end of Act One. He's fried. He has nothing left to give. I've got nothing left. I've got nothing left. Mentally, guys, he's finished. Lady McBth and the witches. The witches tell him about the prophecies. Lady McBth, she says to him, "You're a coward if you don't do what I say and all my spirits in your ears and look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent." It's just constant noise. Constant noise. Constant noise over and over and over again.
Guys, honestly, McBth should have divorced Lady McBth in Act One and lived a life of peace. But because she goes on and on and on, because the witches go on and on and on, the noise, guys, the constant noise in McBT's mindba, it drives him crazy. And by the beginning of Act Two, Scene One, this brave, a powerful soldier, the guy who was chopping up people in Act One, he's sitting there by himself, mentally finished. He says, "My brain is gone. My ideas are gone. My mind is oppressed." But the important part is he says this in a soliloquy. No other character is supposed to hear this. He maintains his public image of the strong, powerful McBth. But privately, the guy is a weak shell of a man.
Now, this quote, how could you use it? Let's go through it one by one. If you get a question about Lady McBth, if you get a question about the witches, if you get a question about the supernatural, all three of them can be spoken about as being powerful in regards to this court because they go for McBth. McBth is the guy. In Act One, he is described as being the most powerful man in the entire kingdom. He's chopping up the enemy, and the king is going crazy over him, and everyone loves him. He is the guy. And the witches and Lady McBth, they target that guy, and they're able to do this to him. That guy who chops up enemies on the battlefield, by the end of Act Two, he's sitting there saying, "Oh my god, my brain is finished. My thoughts are not mine. What is happening to me?" That's McBth. And that happens because of the power of the supernatural, the power of the witches, and the power of Lady McBth.
Now, if you get a question about McBth, what do you do with this quote? If you get a question about kingship, about ambition, about power, about betrayal, how do you link this quote to all of that? Guys, first things first. If you get a question about ambition in regards to McBth, guys, this quote shows us the danger of uncontrollable ambition. This part of the play, McBth understands that he's being manipulated. He says, "My brain is being controlled." The guy is not an idiot. He accepts it, but he still goes on and kills Duncan. Why? Because he is a slave to his id. He is a slave to his desires. And this quote shows us the dangers of not being able to control your ambition because even when he knows that it's bad for him, even when he knows that this is not a good idea, he still carries on. He still goes and do and does the bidding of the witches and Lady McBth. So, this quote shows you, guys, the dangers of uncontrollable ambition and an uncontrollable desire for power.
You could also flip it on his head. If you get a question about McBth and power, talk about how in this quote, McBth is an absolute weakling. The guy is finished. Lady McBth and the witches, guys, have absolutely destroyed him. You want to argue how by the end of Act One, start of Act Two, McBth is a weak man. "He oppressed brain" shows us he's a weak man. Yes, he can fight with the sword, and yes, he can chop up the enemy, but inside, the part that nobody sees, the part that he reveals in his soliloquy, he's struggling. He's in a really, really bad place. He accepts and understands that his ideas are no longer his own.
Now, how would you link this quote to kingship? Guys, I have a really interesting way of looking at kingship in this play. McBth, for me, in this play, is collateral damage. What is collateral damage? Basically, he was in the way, and the witches had to use him to get what they wanted. The witches never really had an issue with McBth. He just happened to be the guy that they had to use to destroy their real enemy. What was their enemy? Their enemy wasn't McBth. Their enemy was the idea of kingship. They wanted to take out Duncan because they hated the kingship because they represented, uh, the devil and so on.
So, in this quote, guys, you can talk about how in the grand schemes of the world, in the world of kingship, McBth is led to believe that kingship is the the pinnacle of the mountain. It's the peak of the mountain. It's everything he should be desiring. But what this quote shows us, guys, is that kingship is what is destroying him. The idea of kingship and the witches use that to manipulate him when they oppress his brain with heat. One of the layers of heat, you can argue, is the dreams of kingship. They tell him, "You're going to be the king," and he gets so happy, and that plays on his mind. But the guy doesn't understand. They're using that. They're playing with him because all they're going to do is take out Duncan. And when they've taken out Duncan, they let McBth die. So, kingship, guys, in this quote is seen as something negligible, something not important. Rather, it's used as something to manipulate McBth. It's the carrot that they dangle. "Ah, you're going to be the king. Just do what we say. You're going to be the king. Just listen to us." And McBth chases the carrot. Chases the carrot a little bit more. Chases the carrot a little bit more until they break the carrot in half, chuck it in the bin, and he's there thinking, "What the heck have I done?" And that's what happens to him by the end of the plate.
But guys, this quote, I promise you, it is a beautiful quote. It is a fantastic quote to use for your GCSE exams. Number one, it's not a long quote to learn. Number two, it's a powerful quote because it has a soliloquy which gives us the mark for form. And in English literature, we got to speak about language, structure, form in at least one of our four paragraphs. And this one ticks the box for form. Number two, we can link it to Freud and the id, which is good grade nine context. Number three, it has structure because it's foreshadowing. And number five, guys, as I've just done, you can literally link it to so many different questions, so many different ideas. And that is how I would like you to use this quote, "he oppressed brain," for your exam.
Now, guys, the second quote that I would like us to look at is the quote, "Life is but a walking shadow." Now, this quote is a metaphor because it compares life to a shadow. Uh, I want to look at forward again, and we look at the verb "walking."
Now, guys, this quote is said in Act Five. McBth says this just after the death of Lady McBth, and at this point in the play, McBth is the guy. McBth is the king. And up until this point, he's killed Duncan, he's killed Banquo, he's tried to kill Fleance, he's killed Lady McDuff, he's killed Lady McDuff's child, he's killed a few of the oddbod characters here and there, but the guy has been on a bit of a madness. The guy has been going crazy up until this moment of the play. And then he hears that Lady McBth has passed away.
And at that moment, for a split second, he wakes up and he says, "What, what am I doing?" And he contemplates life. He says, "Out, out, brief candle," and then he says, "Life is but a walking shadow," and he carries on. He starts to deep life. He starts to question everything he's done.
First things first, the fact that this happens straight after the death of Lady McBth, it shows us that it's as though Lady McBth has some control. The way I see it, guys, is she had tied a knot on his mind, and the moment she dies, that knot loosens, and McBth kind of wakes up and he says, "Life is but a walking shadow." What does that mean, guys? Your shadow is something that is always there, but it's something that you can never catch because when you move, it moves. And this quote, McBth is using it as a symbol of his life.
At the beginning of the play, McBth would have been happy to have just been the Thane of Cordor. But because the witches told him that you're going to be the king, his mind started making him think about one day being the king. But then when he became the king, that wasn't enough. Now, he wanted to be a king for a long time. So, he went and killed Banquo and tried to kill Fleance. But then Fleance survived. And then he went back to the witches, and they gave him some more prophecies, and they said to him that no man born of a woman can harm you. But this wasn't enough because when they told him, "Beware Makdaf," he said, "You know what? Just to be careful, just to be super, super careful, I'm going to kill MDA's son and kill Makdaf's wife." What's the point, guys? He kept chasing more and more and more and more. The pursuit of life never ended.
And guys, this is something that we can all relate to. If you look at, just take my life for example, guy, there was a time in my life where I was broke. Like, I mean, broke, broke. And then I said to myself, "Okay, when I get this much money, I'll be okay." That'll be enough. But then you get that much money, and then you're like, "You know what? If I work a little bit more, if I try a little bit harder, I can get a little bit more." So, you carry on going and you carry on going and you carry on going, and then what you were wanting once upon a time, you've gone way past that point, but you're chasing and you're chasing and you're chasing because life is a walking shadow. You're constantly chasing something that you can never catch. And that's what McBth is talking about. He's saying, "What the heck have I been doing?" First, I wanted to be the king. Then I wanted to be the king forever. Then I wanted to do this. And on the way, I've just killed and killed and killed.
He shows some regret. He shows a sign that this guy isn't completely gone. McBth, the one that we met in Act One, Scene One, sorry, Scene Two, he's still there. But guys, it's too late. It's too late for McBth to to to apologize now. Why? The armies of Malcolm, the armies of Don Bane are waiting outside the castle. Um, they're going to enter any time. They're going to kill him. It's way too late for McBth to go back.
Secondly, guys, a lot of people they say that this quote shows us that McBth goes full circle. Guys, you want to talk about McBth's change in this book as play, sorry, as being quite transformative. McBth begins by being a loyal soldier to the king. He then doesn't change a little bit. He completely transforms into being the man that kills the same king that he was defending. And he never truly goes back to that man, the man who was in the beginning. Even now, this quote it shows that there's some glimmer of the old McBth, but there's so much happened now, it's too late, he's too far gone for him to go back to transform one more time to the McBth he was. And this quote, guys, therefore, shows you the dangers of making wrong decisions in life. Sometimes there are certain decisions that you can't come back from. Stop chasing ing your tail. In life, when McBth was constantly trying to be more and more and more and more, it got to a point, guys, where he can't come back from it. He was trying to chase something that he never could accomplish.
And the second thing, guys, you can argue in this quote is that life is a walking shadow because McBth was chasing something that was never his. It was something given to him by the witches. It was the witches that made him become like this.
Now, how could you possibly use this quote for different questions? Guys, when it comes to McBth, it's an easy fit. It's an easy, easy fit. If you get a question about kingship, this this quote shows you that even kingship isn't worth it. It's not. Nothing in life is worth it. If something in life involves you having to sell your soul, compromise on your morality, destroy your family, destroy your peace, then it's not worth it. It is not worth it. This quote shows us that even kingship wasn't worth it. Because even though he became the king, the most powerful man in the kingdom, he still lives with regret. "What have I been doing?" This quote again shows you the danger of uncontrollable ambition.
Now, if you get a question about power, you can discuss this quote in both ways. Does this quote make McBth powerful or weak? I would say it can show him in both ways. How does it show him as being powerful? Because it shows that he's still able to recognize where he's gone wrong. Yes, it might be too late. And yes, too much damage has been done. But at least he was able to recognize and reclaim some control of himself before he died. But at the same time, guys, it shows you how weak he was because literally he says that life is a walking shadow. But he allowed this to go on for too long. If you look at all the damage he's done, this is something that maybe he should have realized when he killed Banquo or when he went back to the witches in Act Four. Why did it take Lady McBth to commit suicide by jumping out of a window for this to happen? And that's why you can show the weakness of McBth.
Um, if you get a question about Lady McBth, guys, you can talk about how this quote shows you the influence that Lady McBth had because the moment she died, McBth almost wakes up from the trance. This quote shows you the influence and the control of of the supernatural because they they literally made McBth chase something that he could never accomplish more and more and more and more.
All right, guys. Next quote. Next quote. Next quote. Next quote. This is a banging quote, guys. "Thunder, lightning, rain." It's probably my second favorite quote of the whole play. With "heat oppressed brain" and "in thunder, lightning or in rain," I believe these two quotes can carry your entire GCSEs. You don't even need the other six. Now, I'm going to give you eight because I want to be kind. But if someone said to me, "Sir, make a video of just two quotes that you can use for your GCSEs and get a grade nine," it would be "heat pressed brain" and "in thunder, lightning or in rain."
Now, guys, uh, techniques, techniques, techniques. You've got pathetic fallacy, you've got symbolism, you've got supernatural. We'll cover that as I'm talking.
Now, majority of Shakespeare plays, they begin with a prologue. Now, what is a prologue? A prologue is when somebody comes out on stage and says, "Hello everybody. This play is about so and so, so and so." And McBth hasn't got an official prologue. The play begins when the curtains open. And when the curtains open, we see three beautiful women on stage. I'm joking, guys. We see three ugly witches on stage. And the first lines of the play are, "When shall we three meet again?" "In thunder, lightning or in rain."
Now, the majority of people, when they see this quote, they say, "Thunder, lightning, rain shows that the witches are really evil because when it rains, I feel really, really sad, and thunder makes me really, really scared, and that's why because they make me feel really, really scared, and because they make me tense my butt cheeks." This shows how evil and scary the witches are. Well done. You got a grade three. We need to be better when it comes to analyzing quotes. And this is for teachers and students. The grade nine of English is in who can waffle but in the most eloquent way. Because the majority of stuff that you're going to hear in an English video, guys, you're probably thinking, "Sir, you're chatting a lot of rubbish, man. Where are you getting this from?" But guys, that's how you get your green night. If I said in my exam, "In thunder, lightning, rain shows that the weather is really, really bad," I'm gonna get a grade minus one. For me to improve my grade, I need to do grade nine wten. I need to go beyond the surface and make it make sense.
Now, what do I need you to do with this quote? I need you to analyze this quote the way I'm going to talk about it now. So, we have three things. We have thunder. We have lightning. We have rain. Let's go back from the first part. Let's look at the thunder first. Thunder is something you hear. You can hear the rumble in the sky. It's like when you're hungry and your tummyy's rumbling, but it's coming from over there, not over here. The thunder is the rumble in the sky. You listen to it, and then comes the lightning. Lightning is very rare. It comes and it hits one particular thing. Lightning doesn't go everywhere. It's not as though we're dodging, trying to avoid the lightning. Lightning is very specific, very precise. And then after the lightning, the rain comes, and everyone gets wet. Anyone who's outside gets impacted by the rain.
Now, let's go back to the beginning. I said to you, guys, that the thunder is the sound. The th the thunder is the noise. The constant talking, talking, talking, please, please, please, just be quiet, constant noise, constant, constant going on 24/7. Where is the constant noise in our play? Where is the constant talking in our play? Where is the constant in our play where it's in Act One? Who doesn't be quiet? Lady McBth. The witches started off. Lady McBth carries it on, and they are talking and talking and talking, or she's talking and talking and talking. And whose ear is she talking? She says it in Act One, Scene Five: "I will pour my spirits in thine ear." What does that mean? That she's going to lick his ears? No. She's going to pour her spirits. She's going to pour her thoughts into the ears of McBth. Going to talk and talk and talk and talk. This is the thunder. This is how I want you to view thunder. Thunder is the symbol. Thunder is symbolic of the noise created by the witches and, more importantly, Lady McBth.
And then the thunder leads on to the lightning. The rare, once-in-a-lifetime act. What is the once-in-a-lifetime act that is caused by the noise that is caused by the thunder of the witches and Lady McBth? Again, unless you've been sleeping under a rock, it is the lightning. It is the act of reicide. McBth kills Duncan. Bang. One shot, one kill in Act Two. That is the lightning of the play that was caused by the thunder. So, the thunder is a symbol of the noise. The lightning is the once-in-a-lifetime act of reicide that McBth commits.
And after the lightning, everyone gets wet. The rain comes and impacts everyone. The moment McBth kills Duncan, Lady McBth is forced to get involved because McBth doesn't leave the daggers there. Malcolm and Don Bane lose their dad, pull their pants, and one of them runs to England. The other one runs to Ireland. Banquo is killed because McBth suspects him of knowing about the prophecy and so on. Fleance loses a dad. Lady McDuff is murdered. Lady McDuff's child is murdered. McDuff loses his family. Every single character, every single character is impacted by the lightning. The rain is what then spreads.
So, when you look at this quote, I beg you, don't say, "Thunder, lightning, rain, show, the weather's really, really bad. This makes me really scared. Thank you. Please give me a grade nine." Don't do that. Analyze it the way I've just given it to you.
Now, how could you link this quote to the witches and the supernatural? Guys, this is the most beautiful point I need you to make. Every other character in the play, their ambition is based on emotion. Their ambition is based upon emotion. So, for example, McBth gets gassed up. When the witches tell McBth, "Hey, McBth, you're going to be the king." The guy gets gassed before that he's not even thinking about it. But he gets emotional when the witches tell him that. Banquo gets emotional when he hears his prophecies. McBth writes a letter to Lady McBth, and this is what gets her gassed up.
But there's one character whose ambition is strategic, whose ambition is consistent, whose ambition is thought out, whose ambition is beautiful. And that is the witches. The witches are playing chess while these guys are playing checkers. The witches are not emotional. They are strategic. And they tell us from the very beginning of the play, "In thunder, lightning, rain," first we do the talking that will cause the act, and then we will take over the entire play. The witches, guys, are an absolute powerhouse. They are the only characters in the entire play who don't take a single L. Tell me one time the witches lose anything. That is why, that is because, guys, you want to argue that the witches are powerful. The witches are strategic. They're not emotional. They're not hysterical, but they are like a sniper, and they've got every character in the scope. And kill by kill, they are taking off heads, guys. This is how they are presented in this quote: as being powerful, as being strategic, as being thought out. That is how the witches and that is how the supernatural are presented.
And then every other character in the play, McBth, Lady McBth, Banquo, all of them, they are presented as victims. They were always just part of the game. The witches don't give a monkeys about Lady McBth. When she jumped out of the window, they're like, "Yeah, good. Good on you, mate. Why did you do that for? We weren't even talking to you." She just happened to be part of the damage. She was part of the reign. McBth was part of the act. McBth was part of the process. They needed McBth for the lightning, for the killing of the king. And then at the end, they disposed of him. They let him die. They don't care. Every other character is a victim. And that comes through this quote.
Kingship. If you get a question about kingship, guys, this quote, it shows you how the target of the witches is kingship. That's their goal. That's the focus of the play. You, it's, it's the witches versus the king. It's God versus the devil.
But guys, this quote, I promise you, it is a beautiful quote. Talk about the prophetic fallacy. Talk about the symbolism of thunder, lightning, rain, just the way I did. Link it to the power of supernatural. But this quote and "he oppressed brain," guys, are your two powerful quotes.
Next, guys, we have everyone's favorite quote. We have everyone's favorite quote. It makes people giggle. It makes people get excited. It is the quote, "unexe." Why, why did I do that? Why did I do that, guys? Seriously, sometimes I need to control myself. All right, guys. The quote is "unexect"; this quote is said by Lady McBth in Act One, Scene Five. We're going to look at the id and juxtaposition.
Now, let's address the elephant in the room. There are some year 11s who, this close to their GCSEs, will say that in this quote it is clear that Lady McBth wants to become a man. Guys, this wasn't that world, guys. Today, women become men and men become women, apparently. And if you feel like being an animal, you could be an animal. Everything goes today. But in this world, that was impossible. So, please don't say in your exam that this quote shows us that Lady McBth wants to become a man. She doesn't want to become a man. She wants to become masculine, and she wants to become less feminine.
Lady McBth says, "Unsex me here." Now, if you undo something, if I, if I undo my buttons, so the buttons are done. Now, if I undo them, I'm undoing something that's already been done. So, she's already been sexed. Otherwise, you can't unsex her.
Now, what does it mean for a woman to be a woman in the Jacobian era? She's got to be beautiful. She maybe needs to marry a powerful man. She needs to be good with her words. She needs to carry herself elegantly and beautifully. Then, that's what makes her a woman. What makes her less of a woman? Just go and look at the witches. They've got choppy fingers, broken up lips. Maybe they've got a beard. They're wearing disgusting clothing. Everything about them is not feminine for a Jacobian society.
So, after Lady McBth is given the letter from McBth where he tells her that, "Babe, we're going to be king and queen," Lady McBth then gets the news that King Duncan is coming to the castle. And this just drives her over the edge. And this is what leads her to say, "Unex me here." And after she says this, she says, "Take my milk for gold and block up the passage of remorse." She basically tells us what it means to be unsexed. Essentially, she says, "Make me more evil than I currently am. Don't make me feel sympathy."
Now, unfortunately, her unsexing wasn't successful. Because by Act One, sorry, Act Five, Scene One, she's talking about the blood on her hands, and a couple of scenes later, she ends up committing suicide because the guilt got too much. So, obviously, it's clear that what she wanted in here, in and in "unsex me here," never actually happened. She was never actually unsexed.
Now, why is this a good quote to use? Guys, if you get a question about Lady McBth, power, ambition, and so on, or even Lady McBth as a woman, there's a few things I want you guys to talk about when it comes to her power and so on. I want you to talk about how Lady McBth appears to be desperate for power. Lady McBth is absolutely hellbent on becoming powerful. But there's something very interesting to think about. Lady McBth wanting power that bad wasn't normal for a woman in a Jacob society because McBth was already powerful. It's not as though McBth is a nobody. McBth was already powerful. So, they were doing okay, and her power was dependent upon his power. But she becomes so obsessed in becoming powerful.
And in my opinion, this is because it is loosely alluded that in the play, Lady McBth struggles to have children. She talks about breastfeeding and all these things. And for a woman to breastfeed, um, she has to give birth. And we allude to the idea that because there's no baby McBth in the play, but she alludes to having breastfed, we allude to the idea that most likely their child passes away. The child is dead. In a Jacobian society, if a child could not survive, they were generally going to blame this on the mother, and this will make her less of a woman, and it would almost push McBth to maybe go and marry somebody else. So, her obsession in becoming the queen and making him the king, it might not be because she wants to become that title, but maybe it's her only way of keeping McBth. And I say that because look at what happens to her. The moment she becomes the queen, she disappears. She literally disappears and ends up eventually killing herself. So, you can argue that maybe it was never about becoming the queen. It was maybe about keeping her husband, keeping McBth. And that's why she becomes so desperate. And that's why she understands that in her current state, she's not enough. She understands that in a patriarchal society dominated by men, for a woman to be powerful, she needs to be evil. She needs to adopt certain qualities. And that's what she shows us in this quote over here.
Now, um, this quote also, guys, shows us the power of the supernatural. Because when she says, "Unsex me here," she's calling upon the supernatural. She's calling upon the spirits. She's not calling upon God. So, therefore, it shows you the power that the supernatural had, um, for pe for what people believed would give them success.
The witches, this quote shows us how much the witches had to sacrifice. When Banquo says that they've got beards and ugly hands and fingers and brock up lips and disgusting clothing, they at one point had to become unsexed. They weren't always like that. They had to sacrifice their femininity to become powerful.
And then, guys, the last point about McBth, you could argue McBth is to Lady McBth what the witches were to McBth. What do I mean by that? It was the witches that sparked that fire, that sparked that interest. And it was the witches that got McBth going. And from that point onwards, after he heard the prophecies, he started thinking about becoming the king. And then it was McBth who wrote the letter to Lady McBth. And in that letter, he uses certain phrasing, "my dearest partner of greatness." He drops signs that if I'm going to be great, you're going to be great. He gets her thinking about this. He pulls her in. And you can argue that the re one of the reasons she's behaving like this is McBth because he's the one that ignites that fire of ambition inside her. The way the witches ignited it inside of him.
Next, guys, we have everyone's favorite quote. One of the more popular quotes, and this is unseen him.
From the nave to the chaps. In some copies of the play, it says chops. In some, it says chaps. You pick which one. It doesn't make a difference.
We've got crimomorphism because you don't unseam. You unseam clothing. You've got patriarchy and you've got violent imagery.
Now, what's this quote about, guys? This quote is in Act One, Scene Two. And in Act One, Scene Two, when we are introduced to Macbeth, we are introduced to Macbeth as though Macbeth is an absolute menace. Like he's the god of war. You can't mess with Macbeth.
Guys, when I was younger, right? I used to watch Dragon Ball Z. And in Dragon Ball Z, when Goku turns Super Saiyan, he's glowing and he's walking, and it's as though he's oozing the energy of being a Super Saiyan. And every punch that he lands when he's in Super Saiyan mode completely destroys the enemy. That's Macbeth in this quote. He is in full Super Saiyan mode. He's glowing, guys. He's walking through the battlefield. Chop, chop, chop, chop. Nobody stands a chance with this guy. That's how Macbeth is presented.
Like when people say to me, "Oh, Macbeth is really, really powerful." That's good. Well done. But no, he's more than just powerful. The guy is supernatural. The guy fights as though nobody can come anywhere near him. Look at how he kills the person. It says he unseen you from your nave to your chops or your chaps, from your nave to your chin, from your belly button to your chin.
Now, for this to happen, he can't be one meter away sword fighting. He needs to grip you, bring you close to him, get his sword, shove it straight inside you. Then he's got to pull that sword slowly up, going through your body, up your chest, through your heart, up your neck, and down to your chin until you open up completely. That's how Macbeth kills you. He's not there poking far away. He's close, guys. He smells you. He feels the sword destroy every part of you inside until he lets it go at the top. That is how Macbeth kills each person on the battlefield, one by one.
The verb "unseam." When you unseam something, you tear it apart. If I unseam this jumper, I tear it apart. This guy is unseamming human beings. He's tearing humans apart. And it shows you that he loves to kill. He's not there doing chop, chop, chop, chop. He's there enjoying every single moment. He's, he's soaking it all in. He's there living for the kill. That is Macbeth in this quote. He unseams you from the belly button to the chaps, guys.
The way he kills is beautiful. He is that guy. He is the god of war. So don't just say that this quote presents Macbeth as powerful. This quote presents Macbeth as untouchable, as somebody who enjoys the kill, as somebody who lives for this moment. He is the guy single-handedly destroying the entire enemy. That is how Macbeth is presented in this particular quote.
How does this quote present the witches and Lady Macbeth? You can use it for them. How would you use it, guys? It shows you the bravery of these characters. This is the guy they go after now. Yeah, you can mock it and say this is the same guy who was complaining about his "oppressed brain" and the guy is going a bit crazy. Yeah, but that happens because of them when they targeted him. Lady Macbeth calls this guy a coward. Imagine this is the guy she's calling a coward. That takes courage. That takes bravery. That's why when she says, "I'm going to, I'm going to chastise you with the valor of my tongue."
Guys, this quote shows us how brave Lady Macbeth and how brave the witches are, and how powerful the supernatural is because they were able to transform this man. They were able to change this man.
Last point, guys. If you get a question about ambition, for me, guys, for someone to fight the way he does, they need to be ambitious from the very beginning. Somebody who's a wet wipe, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, could never fight like this. Somebody to fight like this, they've got a bit of a fire burning under their backside. They've got something they're living for, and that is Macbeth, guys. Macbeth is living for this. There's an ambition that exists inside him. The witches don't make him ambitious. The witches simply redirect that ambition and take it that way. That's a very good point. Use it in your exams.
All right, guys. Last one. Last one. Last one. Last one. Last one. Last one. The war cry. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." Hover through the fog. The next part of the quote, guys, is plenty juxtaposition, patriarchy, symbolism of fog. How is it juxtaposition? Because "fair is foul, foul is fair." Good is bad and bad is good. That's juxtaposition.
The symbolism, guys, is I want to talk about the symbolism of the word "fog" in a second. And this is patriarchy because this is not normal for women to behave like this. Now, this quote, guys, comes at the beginning of Act One. It is the last lines of Act One, Scene One. And it is the war cry. It is the war cry. How the witches say, "Fair is foul, good is bad, and foul is fair." So good is bad and bad is good. They're basically telling the audience that we are the gods for the next hour and 30 minutes. We are in charge of morality. We decide what is good and what is bad.
"Fair is foul. Good is bad." So what you think is good, we're going to make it bad. And what you think is bad, we're going to make it amazing. So you think killing the king is bad? Watch how we make killing the king seem good. You think lying and deceit, being deceitful is bad? You watch how we turn that on its head. You think Macbeth is good? Fear. Watch how we make this man become foul. The witches here are telling the Jacobean audience that the evil, the devil, the supernatural is now in charge of this play, is now in charge of this stage because we are turning morality upside down.
But then they say, we're not just here to impact one character. We're not just here to affect Macbeth. Forget about Macbeth. We're here to destroy the lives of every single person. How do we know that? "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." And it's going to spread. It's going to hover through the fog and filthy air.
Now, what does the fog and filthy air refer to? For me, guys, fog and filthy air is a reference to society. They're cursing society. They're calling it dirty, disgusting. "You people are nasty." But our evil is going to spread throughout this society. So first, we're going to pollute Macbeth. Then we're going to pollute Lady Macbeth. Then we're going to make these two kill X, Y, and Z. But evil is going to be like an avalanche. And it's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And nothing is going to happen to us. That is why I said earlier, in the entire play, these are the only characters that don't take a single L.
But guys, this quote is a lovely quote, guys, because it really does show you the power, intention, and the impact of the supernatural. They are here to destroy and pollute the entire society for the next one and a half hours on this stage. They simply want to replace God and let themselves do the bidding of the entire play. It shows you, guys, how none of the characters had a chance. They were all in the way. They were all collateral damage to the supernatural.
Now we have these eight quotes: "He oppressed brain," "Life is but a walking shadow," "In thunder, lightning, rain," "Unsex me here," "Wicked this way comes," "Instruments of darkness," "Unseen him," and "Fair is foul." Remember, guys, on the day of your exam, they will be giving you an extract. Your job is to plan two paragraphs from the extract, which we don't know what it's going to be. If you get one of these quotes, lovely, because you already know what to do with it. And then we're going to write two paragraphs from the whole text. Which means on the day of your exam, out of these eight, you simply need to use two.
Here's my advice. As long as they don't give this to you on the day, the two quotes that I recommend you use is number one, please try your best to make sure you use the quote, "He oppressed brain." Number one. Why? There is so much you can do with it. Number two, it's got form, structure, and lovely context. The second place quote is "In thunder, lightning, and rain" or or "in rain." And this only works if you use my analysis. And all the other quotes work as well.
Now, I didn't apply these these quotes to questions about Donalbain or Malcolm, and those are too specific. You're going to get questions about Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, um, the Supernatural, the Witches. If Banquo comes up, he'd always come up with somebody else, most likely Macbeth. But you get my drift, guys. I applied it to all the main characters, all the main themes.
Your job now is this. You've got these eight quotes. Go to everythingucation.co.uk, guys. Go to everythingucation.co.uk. And when you go to everythingucation.co.uk, if you want to join any of my classes, click on tuition at the top. But anyway, click on past papers, guys. Click on past papers. And when you go to past papers, go to English Literature, go to Paper One, and open up random past papers and plan full answers. So, open up a question and look at the question and plan two paragraphs based upon the extract, and then plan two paragraphs based upon two of these quotes. And do that for one paper, second paper, third paper, fourth paper, fifth paper, sixth paper. Keep doing that. Train yourself between now and your GCSE exam to use these quotes over and over again. So when you walk into your exam next week, you're calm, you're confident, and you know exactly what to do.
Finally, guys, do check out the Everything Education app. That app will help you a lot with your testing and your remembering of quotes for Macbeth. Link is in the bio for everything you need.
Finally, guys, genuinely guys, I hope this video helped. I know it's a lot. Um, I've been talking for an hour and a bit. I hope you were able to grasp some ideas. I hope the video was beneficial. Tomorrow we do Romeo and Juliet, then A Christmas Carol, then The Jack Hyde. As always, guys, it's been Mr. Everything English. Thank you for your support. Peace.