William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Introductory Notes

Shakespearean Terms

• Allusion – a reference to a person, place, event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to know (ex. My friend lives on Yellow Brick Road.)

• Aside – a brief comment or speech that the audience can hear, but other characters cannot (think out of the side of your mouth)

• Characterization – the way a writer gives a character personality traits

• Dramatic Irony – where the audience knows something the characters on stage do not (think horror movies)

• Foreshadowing – use of hints or clues to suggest something will happen in the future

• Imagery – words or phrases that create pictures in a reader’s mind• Internal Conflict – a conflict w/in a person (Hector from The Iliad)

Shakespearean Terms (con’t)

• Monologue – an extended speech given by one character.• Motif – a recurring name, image, or phrase in a work of literature

(ex. The color red in The Sixth Sense.)• Paradox – a self-contradictory phrase that seems to reveal a truth

(ex. War creates peace)• Pun – play on words. Example: “I hear the Sylvester Stallone Film Festival

got off to a rocky start.”• Situational Irony – when the opposite of an expected situation

occurs (ex. A fireman’s house catching fire.)• Soliloquy – an extended speech given by a character alone on

stage• Theme – a statement about life that we can learn from the work• Verbal Irony – someone says one thing but, to the audience,

means something entirely different

Bill Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

• Fun Facts:– Born and died on the same

day, April 23rd

– Never went to college– Married Anne Hathaway

when he was 18 (she was 26) – Had 3 kids, including a boy

named Hamnet (inspiration for Hamlet); no relatives still living

– 12 years of his life are unknown; some think he fled London to escape deer poaching charges (abandoned his wife and kids)

Shakespeare Con’t: The Globe

• The Globe Theater– Shakespeare acted as

well as wrote his plays– Females couldn’t act;

males played female roles

– All classes went; rich sat in stands, poor on the floor, groundlings

– Often began with bearbaiting

Macbeth

• Setting: Scotland• Based on an actual 11th

Century Scottish King• Plot: a lord’s violent rise to

power • Principle Characters:

– Macbeth – a fighter who sees his chance at the throne

– Lady Macbeth – a wife who must act when her husband cannot

– Duncan – the king in power– Witches – the bringers of

good/bad fortune

The REAL Macbeth(s)

Two Different People Combined: Donwald

– A man named Donwald finds several members of his family killed by the King for dealing w/ witches

– Pressured by his wife, he and others plan to kill the King while he’s at their house

Macbeth– Macbeth and his friend meet

witches who give them a prophecy– Plots and kills the King– Reigns for 10 years but is

overthrown

The Curse of the “Scottish Play”

• In the drama world, the play’s title is forbidden to be spoken because it is thought that Shakespeare used spells from real witches in his play.– During the first performance

the boy playing L. Macbeth got sick and died

– King James hated the play it got banned for five years

– In 1672, a real dagger was substituted for a fake one, killing Duncan in front of a live audience.

The Curse of the “Scottish Play” Con’t

• 1721, an army had to be called in to break up a fight between the actors and hecklers

• 1849, 31 people were trampled to death in a riot

• 1934, the actor playing Macbeth became mute on stage; his replacement was hospitalized

• 1937, a 25 pound weight crashed inches away from Laurence Olivier, thought to be the greatest Shakespeare actor ever.

• 1937, the director and an actress got into a car accident, and the theater owner died of a heart attack

• 1942, three actors died during the production

• Abraham Lincoln reportedly read the play a week before he died.

How to Break the Curse

• If the title is said, you must do the following:– The person who said the title of the play must

exit the theater, spin around three times and spit over your shoulders, and then must ask to return.

– BEWARE!