(or The Scottish Play)

(or The Scottish Play) William Shakespeare

The Scottish PlayIt is believed to be bad luck to even squeak the word Macbeth in a theatreLegend has it you will lose all your friends involved in the production--horriblyMORE ON THAT LATER...Basic PlotMacbeth is the Thane of Glamis (his title)Thane= Scottish noblemanHe is a subject of King Duncan of ScotlandHe is traveling home from a recent battle (where he showed great valor) Traveling with his best friend BanquoGoing to his home-Inverness

Basic PlotBanquo and Macbeth encounter the Wyrd SistersWyrd=Scottish word for fateThey make three predictions for each man

Macbeths ProphecyFirst Witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

Banquos ProphecyFirst Witch: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.Second Witch: Not so happy, yet much happier.Third Witch: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none

Macbeth & Banquos ReactionsBoth men are puzzled.Banquo doesnt really care about propheciesMacbethHe is currently Thane of GlamisBecause of his valor in the recent battle King Duncan has just named him Thane of CawdorHe thinks to himself how wonderful it would be to be kingBUT- What will he have to do to become king?Premise of the PlayMacbeth will stop at nothing to make these predictions come true.His ambition will destroy him.

The Big Question Is Macbeth a horrible monster?OR

Is Macbeth a victim of the Wyrd Sisters treachery?

ORIs Macbeth a victim of his own ambition?

Setting: 1th Century ScotlandHow do we know this?Shakespeare invented the plot by combining several stories taken from Scottish historyThe real story of Macbeth who kills a King DuncanKing James I was King of England when the play was written. He was the former King of Scotland King James IV (son of Mary Queen of Scots)Scotland is very dark and dreary. It is also full of superstition (Thanks to the pagan Celts).Macbeths Scotland

Historical ConnectionScotland at the time was a violent and troubled countryThe castle was the center of each rival aristocrats (thane) powerPolitical murder and revenge were not unusual means to gain powerPlundering Vikings and Norsemen attacked Scotland constantly12At the Start of the PlayMacbeth is a very successful and highly respected member of a social group, loaded with honors and enjoying every prospect of future commendations . He has a loving wife and a secure home in his castle at Inverness. He is praised for his heroic actions in defense of the kingdom. King Duncan thinks of Macbeth with high regard and treats him generously.13At the End of the PlayMacbeth is totally alone. He has no friends, he is universally despised, his wife is dead, and all his most eager hopes have been disappointed. He is a man without a place in the social community. He has become totally isolated.14ConflictMacbeth struggles with his conscience (before and after murder) evil (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth) struggles with good (Malcolm and Macduff)15ThemesAnatomy of EvilAmbitionHonor and LoyaltyFate and DestinyThe Supernatural

Anatomy of EvilSense of evil throughout the play1. Is evil contrary to human nature or is it part of human nature? 2. Is Macbeth inherently evil or do his surroundings change him? 3. Evil always disrupts the natural order of the world (Remember the Great Chain of Being?). The world will continue to be in chaos until the order is restored.

AmbitionMacbeths downfall is ambitionIt is his tragic flawTragic Flaw: An error in judgment or character weakness that will bring about the downfall of the protagonist or Tragic Hero.What is a Tragedy?A story in which a heroic character dies or comes to some other unhappy end. The characters downfall generally occurs because of some combination of fate, an error in judgment, or a personality failure known as a tragic flaw.

Has a tragic hero

Usually gains wisdom by the end of the story

What Makes a Tragic Hero?Four Characteristics of a Tragic Hero (According to Aristotles Poetics)

1. POSITION: The hero is royal or noble with great power, usually a king. He is a good, respected man who acts out of good intentions. He has much to lose

TRAGIC FLAW: (hamartia). In spite of his good intentions, the hero makes a tragic error which causes his reversal. The error usually stems from a character flaw, usually pride. (HUBRIS)

3. REVERSAL: (catastrophe). Because of his tragic error, the hero suffers a downfall from his happy, envied position to suffering and misery.

4. RECOGNITION: (catharsis). The hero realizes that his own flaw or error has caused his reversal. This recognition always occurs too late for the hero to prevent or escape his reversal.

Famous Tragic Heroes

Honor & LoyaltyMen of honor obey certain rules. Macbeth throws that out the window.Once he does that, the country is in turmoil.

Fate or DestinyThe play suggests that a person should trust his destiny to a higher power (God). When Macbeth tries to take fate into his own hands, his actions bring him nothing but grief.

SupernaturalWyrd Sisters (witches)Dark settingProphecies

James I had an interest in the occult and wrote a book entitled Daemonologie.

24DaemonologieA spirit will return to one who seeks revenge, is ignorant, is evil, or who hates God.An evil spirit finds it easy to work on a melancholic mind.A spirit may cause madness, a humor imbalance, or force the inflicted to test the good.Murderers will be haunted by the ghost of their victims. Their wounds will bleed in the presence of the murderer.Characters: DuncanKing of ScotlandOld manGood and gracious Well-lovedHis castle DunsinaneHas two sons Malcolm & Donalbain

Terms Associated with the KingThane Scottish nobleman Regicide murder of a king The king is chosen and anointed by God. He rules the secular world(Great Chain of Being). If he is murdered or if his first-born son does not get the crown, chaos will ensue until the order is restored.Primogeniture The crown moves from father to the first-born son (Malcolm)

MacbethProtagonist and Tragic HeroThane of Glamis at the beginning of the playVery ambitious

Lady MacbethMacbeths wifeVery ambitiousRelentlessRuthlessBehind every man is a strong woman

BanquoScottish thane Macbeths best friendMan of integrityTrustingWill not compromise his honorHas a young son named Fleance

Foil CharacterBanquo is a foil of Macbeth Foil Exact opposite; Character who contrasts another character in order to bring out the flaws in the first character.

Wyrd SistersThree sistersWitchesHave supernatural powersCan cause storms, curse people, appear and disappear, prophesy the futureTheir predictions are temptation to MacbethThey never tell him to DO anythingAgents of the devil They want Macbeths soulThey trick him into damning himself

MacduffImportant Scottish thaneMacbeths adversary

Cast ofCharacters

Literary Terms Irony An unexpected twist in a story Verbal Someone says one thing but means the opposite.Situational- When you expect one thing to happen in a story and the opposite occurs.Dramatic When the character in play thinks one thing is true, but the audience knows better.Hyperbole- An excessive exaggeration for literary effect. Example: All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. -MacbethParadox: an apparent contradiction that is somehow true. Example: Fair is foul, and foul is fair - Macbeth

Motif Definition: is a recurrent device, image, object, phrase, word, incident, situation, or action that is used to unify a work. Certain motifs occur frequently and are repeated in many works. For example, the hero saving the damsel in distress is a common motif in melodrama.Remember that a motif occurs several times within a work whereas a symbol may occur only once.

A leitmotif is a motif which is specific to a particular work such as the idea of Big Brother IN 1984 by George Orwell or the phrase Catch 22 from the Joseph Heller novel of the same name. As some of these become familiar to more and more people, they actually become symbols.

Motifs in Movies The old Jaws movies used music as a motifevery time the Jaws theme music resounded in the background and then increased in volume and pace, you knew something treacherous lured beneath the waves.

A movie which uses the motif of a phrase is the James Bond series in which the name Bond, James Bond is often repeated.

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the recurring phrase We got a future, is used as a motif to express George and Lennies hopes for the future.

In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the mist is a motif that clouds Pips vision on several occasions.

In Henry David Thoreaus Walden the pond serves as a motif, especially when it reflects the changing of seasons.

Motifs Cont.Blood Hands Sight, Light, Darkness, and BlindnessManhoodBabies and childrenSleepClothngKingshipHeaven and HellTheatrical Terms Soliloquy: a meditative kind of speech in which a character, usually alone on stage and pretending that the audience is not present, thinks out loud. Example: To be or not to be speech from Hamlet

Aside: a characters private comments on what is happening at a given moment in the play. They are spoken out of the side of the mouth, for the benefit for the audience; the other characters on stage pretend that they do not hear them.

Funky Poetry Terms Iamb: metrical foot (section) of poetry that contains One unstressed and one stressed syllableExample: Mac bethsuc cess to win

Pentameter- each line of verse has five feet, or five sections of unstressed, stressed syllablesExample: Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fearIambic Pentameter: five feet of stressed, unstressed syllables for each line of poetry. Shakespeare uses this because it most closely mimics the rhythm of regular speech.

Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter Form of poetry that comes closest to imitating the natural rhythm of English speech. Lower-ranked characters speak in blank verse.

CoupletDefinition: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.Usually at the end of a scene to sum up the action of the scene and provide closure. Example: In Act I scene II, "Go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth"

"I'll see it done.""What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won."

Reading Shakespeare End-stopped Line: A line of poetry in which the meter and the meaning concludes at the end of the line. As a reader we always read to the punctuation marks, NEVER just stop at the end of the line of poetry unless there is an end mark there.

Run-on Line: A line of poetry does not contain a pause or conclusion at he end, but rather continues on to the next line.