An Introduction to Shakespeares Macbeth Year 11 English

An Introduction to Shakespeare's ‘Macbeth’ Year 11 English

�Have you ever given in to temptation? �Are you a superstitious person? �How do you decide what is good and what is evil? �What is the difference between greed and ambition? �Do you believe you get back what you give in life? �Do you believe our lives are lead by our own actions or fate? Quick Questions:

� 1. People who are striving to get ahead often step on other people. � 2. Being powerful means you’ll be happy � 3. One mistake is usually followed by another � 4. Everyone is capable of murder under the right circumstances � 5. Criminals are still capable of feeling love, fear and concern for others Rate from 1 -10

Summarising

�Macbeth is a dark, relentless tale of a good brave Scottish general who, encouraged by the dark prophecies of three evil witches and by his own wife, murders Duncan, King of Scotland. Macbeth then becomes king and brings about his own destruction.

�Shakespeare wrote the play for James I, England’s new king, who had been king of Scotland. �To please James, Shakespeare set the play in Scotland, used many characters who were James ancestors, and included witches, a subject that James had written about. �The play is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, probably because King James often fell asleep during performances

�Shakespeare’s source for the story of Macbeth was the History and Chronicles of Scotland (1526), written by Hector Boece, a Scottish historian and humanist.

�There was no Tudor successor to the throne of England. Therefore Elizabeth I chose James VI of Scotland to succeed her. After her death in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England. �Elizabeth I had been instrumental in the death of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, who was beheaded. The King of England in 1606 was James I, a Stuart

�Oh her deathbed, Elizabeth wanted to ease her way into heaven, so she chose Mary’s son James to become the next King of England. �The appointment of James I was a good political move, unifying England Scotland under one king.

�Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, during King James’ reign �The setting is Scotland, King James’ homeland �Banquo was an ancestor of James and is shown in the play to be a virtuous person. �James believed himself to be an expert on witchcraft. Macbeth a tribute to King James I

�Shakespeare demonstrated the Elizabethan belief that the country is stable only if the King is good and virtuous. �Elizabethans believed that evil occurs in darkness, which is a reoccurring theme in Macbeth. �Shakespeare included a lot of blood and murder, which the Elizabethans expected to see in a play. Macbeth: an appeal to Elizabethan people’s interests

�When the play begins, there are two wars in progress: �Civil War-King Duncan vs. Macdonwald’s rebels �National War-Scotland, led by King Duncan, against invading Norway, led by King Sweno Before the Curtain Opens

�King Duncan is the King of Scotland �Edward the Confessor is the King of England �The time period is the eleventh century (1000 -1099) �(Shakespeare has used poetic license to bend some of the historical information) Setting

�Macbeth: brave general under Duncan who becomes too ambitious after three witches foretell him that he will be King of Scotland. He turns to evil. �Lady Macbeth: vicious wife of Macbeth, even more ambitious than Macbeth. She convinces Macbeth to murder the King. Later, she becomes insane from her wrongdoings and sleepwalks. Macbeth Characters

�Macduff: A general, believes that Macbeth killed the King. His family is murdered. �Banquo: Macbeth’s friend and general, suspected Macbeth of killing the King. �Fleance: Banquo’s son, who survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him.

�King Duncan: King of Scotland, murdered by Macbeth who was one of his generals, whom he had just promoted. �Malcolm: Duncan’s eldest son runs away to England after he learns of his fathers murder in order to escape the same fate.

�The three witches: They tell Macbeth that he is to become King, leading him to evil. They also tell him that he will be defeated, but they disguise it in a way as to give him false confidence.

�Good guy goes bad �Guy wants power �Married to a pushy control freak �She wants power �Kills people- LOTS of people �Gets power �Gets paranoid (a. k. a. goes crazy) �Ticks off a lot of people �Want more power! Kill! �Guy is served his revenge Super Basic Summary (you will get a proper hand out in class)

�It is believed to be bad luck to even squeak the word ‘Macbeth’ in a theatre. �Legend has it you will lose all your friends involved in the production- horribly THE CURSE OF THE SCOTTISH PLAY!

�Beginning with its first performance, in 1606, Dear Will himself was forced to play Lady Macbeth when Hal Berridge, the boy designated to play the lady with a peculiar notion of hospitality, became inexplicably feverish and died. Moreover, the bloody play so displeased King James I that he banned it for five years. A Few Gory Examples

�When performed in Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted a real dagger for the blunted stage one and with it killed Duncan in full view of the entranced audience.