Page 76 - Bellfort Magazine 2019

GCSE English An excellent standard of work Understanding Shakespeare
The worn out wheels of the old car At the beginning of the play, Lady
At GCSE level this year, students screeched to a halt at the lake Macbeth is presented as a woman
have been able to explore differ- house. Time has forgotten this old, whose lust for power is formidable.
ent aspects of the English lan- aching Chalet; its rotting wood pan- She defies every characteristic that
guage. They have focused on how els had cascaded down and decom- is expected of a Jacobean woman,

Spoken language can be adapted posed in the pungent dirt below. A starting off as a ruthless, ambitious
in different contexts, evaluating deep, grey sky engulfed the sur- and manipulative character which
tone, volume and language roundings of the house, accompa- only proves her downfall, all the
choice. nied by thick black clouds shroud- more unknowingly. Towards the

Students have also approached ing out the weak glow of the sun. end it is clear she has become
fictional and non-fiction texts, ex- Autumn winds sent leaves violently mentally unstable; Shakespeare
plaining and commenting on a dancing, as they convulsed they presents her constant conflict with-

writer’s viewpoint, language seemed to form mangled figures. in herself throughout the play and
choice and their intended effect Sharon struggled to open her car how this has an impact on her psy-
on the reader. door as the furious force of the chological stability.

In addition, students at KS4 have wind pushed against her advances, We first see Lady Macbeth as she
further enhanced their ability to her heels grounded themselves on reads a letter penned by her hus-
write to advise, persuade and in- the level concrete path leading to band. She is addressed by her hus-
band as a ‘dearest partner of great-
form their audience. They have the lake house as leverage against
ness’ within the letter, this shows
also thoroughly enjoyed writing the stubborn, hissing wind. Her re-
that not only did she have the re-
creatively, creating vivid imagery cently deceased aunt had left Sha- spect of her husband but that she
and rich descriptions. ron the house in her will, due to was viewed as an equal, in a time
the state the house was in now when gender equality was non-
Sharon viewed it as a burden. Vivid existent. This illustrates her superi-
memories of coming to the house ority in the relationship whereby
when she was a child came racing her husband views her as someone

back to Sharon but since then the greater than he. This suggests that
her inner conflict between power
house had become unrecognisable.
and the expectations of her as a
Hastily, Sharon strutted to the Jacobean woman is spurred by
stained, Mahogany door in an Macbeth, who encourages the
attempt to remain graceful as eve- view that she is more than a do-
ry step she took felt like a walk on mestic, inferior female.
a tightrope due to the sharp gale
Chloe Larmour
that howled loudly and taunted
her. The decaying leaves crunched
like bones underfoot. Her long,

black coat became caught in anoth-
er gust of wind and flew behind her
like a cape. She pulled the rustic,

engraved key from her handbag
and slid it into the gnarled lock in
the door.

Rachel McGall
76