CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:I have two nights watched with you but can perceive no truth in your report. Besides her walking, what at any time have you heard her say?
MADELINE APPIAH:That, sir, which I will not report after her.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:You may, to me, and 'tis most meet you should.
MADELINE APPIAH:Neither to you, nor anyone, having no witness to confirm my speech.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:How came she by that light?
MADELINE APPIAH:Why it stood by her. She has light by her continually.
MADELINE APPIAH:'Tis her command.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:You see her eyes are open.
MADELINE APPIAH:Ay, but their sense are shut.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Look how she rubs her hands.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:Yet here’s a spot.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Hark! She speaks. I will set down what comes from her. To satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:Out! Damned spot. Out, I say. One… Two… Why then, 'tis time to do it. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeared? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet, who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Do you mark that?
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean. No more of that my lord, no more of that. You mar all with this starting.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Go to, go to.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:You have known what you should not.
MADELINE APPIAH:She has spoke what she should not, I'm sure of it. Heaven knows what she has known.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:What a sigh is there. The heart is sorely charged.
MADELINE APPIAH:I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Well.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Well. Well.
MADELINE APPIAH:Pray God it be, sir.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:This disease is beyond my practice.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown, look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:He cannot come out on's grave.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Even so.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:To bed. To bed. There's knocking at the gate. What’s done cannot be undone.
AISLIN MCGUCKIN:To bed. To bed. To bed.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Will she go now to bed?
MADELINE APPIAH:Directly.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than the physician.God. God forgive us all.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT:Look after her. Remove from her the means of all annoyance. And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night. My mind, she has mated, and amazed my sight. I think, but dare not speak.
MADELINE APPIAH:Good night, good doctor.
Video summary
The doctor and lady-in-waiting witness Lady Macbeth sleepwalking.
Mottled lighting and a gloomy set create an oppressive atmosphere as Lady Macbeth appears haunted by remorse.
This short film is from the BBC series, Shakespeare Unlocked.
Teacher Notes
This short film might provoke further discussion on the character of Lady Macbeth and the consequences of her actions on her sanity.
In pairs, ask your students to discuss how Lady Macbeth is different from the way she has been in earlier scenes.
What is the actress doing physically and vocally that helps her to achieve this change?
What do her words suggest about her secrets?
Can the doctor and lady-in-waiting guess exactly what she has done? What else might they suspect?
Ask students to write a doctor's report on Lady Macbeth as a patient. What might he conclude about her illness?
This short film is suitable for teaching GCSE English literature and drama in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 4/ 5 in Scotland.
Act 5, Scene 1 - Candle in the dark (workshop) video
The director and actors experiment with the staging of the sleepwalking scene.
Act 5, Scene 1 - Sleepwalking Queen (workshop) video
The director investigates how knowledge of Lady Macbeth’s secret changes the lives of others.
Act 5, Scene 1 - Unlocking the words (workshop) video
RSC Head of Voice, Lyn Darnley, helps Aislín McGuckin through a series of voice exercises.
About the 2011 RSC production. video
A look at the production and how the design is informed by the period in which Macbeth was written.
Act 1, Scene 7 - Persuading Macbeth (workshop) video
A look at the different ways of performing the scene when Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill the king.
Act 1, Scene 7 - To Kill the King. video
Macbeth debates the murder of King Duncan and decides against it. Lady Macbeth uses a battery of strategies to change his mind.
Act 1, Scene 7 - Whether to kill the king (workshop) video
Analysis of Macbeth’s soliloquy and key images in the speech.
Act 2, Scene 2 - Bloody Daggers. video
Macbeth has committed the murder and is overcome with guilt and fear.
Act 2, Scene 2 - Hearing noises (workshop) video
The cast explore how Lady Macbeth takes control as Macbeth struggles with his guilty conscience.
Act 2, Scene 2 - Rhythm of the language (workshop) video
The cast discuss iambic pentameter and explore the rhythm of Shakespeare’s language.
Act 2, Scene 2 - The king is dead (workshop) video
The actors and director explore the Macbeths' very different responses to Duncan’s murder.
