Macbeth

1
Macbeth

• An introduction to the play
• Angela Ivey

2
Settings

• The action of the play takes place in northern
  Scotland and England.
• In Scotland, the play is set at or near the
  following locations
• King Duncans castle at Forres
• Macbeths castle at Inverness
• Macduffs castle at Fife
• Birnam Wood
• Dunsinane Hill in the countryside..
• A scene is also set at a castle in England.

3
Character List

• Macbeth protagonist ambitious army general in
  Scotland viewed as a hero at the onset of the
  play for his success in battle
• Lady Macbeth Wife of Macbeth very persuasive
  and aggressive in her marriage
• King Duncan King of Scotland
• Malcolm Oldest son of King Duncan Prince of
  Cumberland
• Donalbain Youngest son of King Duncan

4
Character List (cont)

• Banquo Army general good, loyal friend of
  Macbeth
• Three Witches Hags who can predict the future
  for Macbeth also called the weird sisters Weird
  is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word wyrd,
  meaning fate. The three witches are also a
  reference to the three goddesses of fate
  (Hesiod).
• Hecate (Witch 4) Mistress of the witches charms
  and queen of Hades referred to as the Queen of
  the witches

5
Character List (cont)

• Macduff Scottish nobleman and Lord of Fife
  known for his wisdom and integrity
• Lady Macduff Wife of Macduff
• Son of Macduff
• Lennox, Ross, Menteith, Angus, Caithness
  Scottish noblemen
• Fleance Son of Banquo
• Siward Earl of Northumberland general of the
  English forces
• Young Siward Son of Siward

6
Character List (cont)

• Seyton Officer attending Macbeth
• Soldier
• Porter
• Doctor
• Old Man
• Three Apparitions Three ghosts of great
  significance for Macbeth symbolic

7
The Real Macbeth

• Macbeth was an 11th Century Scot who took the
  throne in 1040 after killing King Duncan I, his
  cousin, in a battle.
• The real Macbeth was believed to be a wise
  monarch who reigned over Scotland for seventeen
  prosperous years.
• In 1057, King Duncans oldest son, Malcolm, ended
  Macbeths reign by killing him in battle and
  assuming the role as King Malcolm III.

8
(No Transcript)
9
Shakespeares Inspiration

• Shakespeare got his idea for Macbeth from Raphael
  Holinsheds Chronicles, which tells a different
  tale using similar characters and references to
  husband-wife relationships, murder, deceit, and
  mutiny.
• Shakespeare was also influenced by the Roman
  dramatist Seneca (4-65 A.D.), who wrote horrific
  plays about revenge and murder. Shakespeare
  appears to be inspired by some of the same themes
  as Seneca.

10
Fascinating Facts

• The words blood and night (or forms of them, such
  as bloody and tonight) occur more than 40 times
  each in Macbeth.
• Other commonly occurring words that help maintain
  the mood of the play are terrible, horrible,
  black, devil, and evil.

11
POOR KING JAMES

• James was taken from his mother (Mary, Queen of
  Scots) shortly after birth
• Father murdered soon after (by his mom?)
• His mom was forced from the throne of Scotland,
  imprisoned for 19 years in England ((by cousin
  Elizabeth), and finally beheaded (also by cousin
  Elizabeth)

12
Things are looking up

• James began ruling Scotland at age 19
• Married Anne of Denmark
• Had 9 children
• Survived numerous assassination attempts
• In 1603, Elizabeth died without an heir and James
  IV of Scotland becamesimultaneouslyJames I of
  England

13
Helping the Bard

• James was taken with Shakespeares plays.
• Gave Shakespeare and his company royal protection
• In 1606, he commissioned Shakespeare to write a
  play in honor of his brother-in-law, King
  Christian IV of Denmark, who came to visit.

14
Here Comes Trouble

• James was fascinated by witchcraft and demons.
• In 1591, when he was King of Scotland, King James
  was almost murdered by a group of witches and
  sorcerers. Their trial and testimony convinced
  King James that they were sources of evil.
• He had written a book on demonology and was
  considered the foremost authority on the subject.
• With this in mind, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth,
  his only play including witches. Shakespeare knew
  very well of King Jamess superstition, and he
  also knew that a play about witchcraft would
  cause a stir and make a quick buck. Therefore, he
  wrote Macbeth, a play full of elements of evil!

15
The Curse Begins

• The plot of Macbeth is really a thinly disguised
  telling of the death of James father.
• The witchcraft scenes are authentically detailed.
  Some say too authentic
• Some people believe that the incantations in the
  play are actual incantations which create a curse
  and that the curse is renewed each time the words
  are spoken.

16

• Others say that the local witches were so angry
  at having their secrets revealed that they placed
  a perpetual curse on the play.
• For 400 years, the play has been surrounded by
  death and disaster.

17
The Curse of Macbeth

• In the first production, the young man scehduled
  to play Lady Macbeth came down with a fever right
  before the performance. Some say he died.
• King James, horrified by the death scenes, banned
  perfromance for 5 years.
• After the ban, the play was performed in the
  Globe. A few days later it burned to the ground.

18
Disaster Strikes!

• Early 1900s Prompter found dead in prompting
  box
• 1937 Old Vic theatres founder suddenly died of
  a heart attack just before the play opened.
  Laurence Olivier was almost killed when a sandbag
  fell from the rafters
• 1948 Actress playing Lady Macbeth fell 15 feet
  off the edge of the stage.
• 1942 One of the witches died of a heart attack,
  Duncan died of a heart attack Another witch
  died of a heart attack set designer committed
  suicideall in one production!
• Russian version to be filmed in Georgia was
  canceled when 9 members of the crew died of food
  poisoning.
• 1971 7 burglaries, one fire during a 3 month
  run.

19
Macbeth Superstitions

• It is considered bad luck to even say Macbeth
  except during rehearsal or performance. When
  referring to the work one instead uses terms,
  such as the Scottish play or Mackers or the
  Scottish business or the Glamis comedy or just
  that play."
• Some say this rule applies only when inside a
  theater its OK, therefore, to use the dread
  name in other settings like classrooms, for
  instance.
• The remedy, if someone does happen to utter the
  unutterable, is to leave the room, close the
  door, turn around three times, say a dirty word
  (or spit, some say), then knock on the door and
  ask tobe let back in. If you cant do all that,
  you simply quote from Hamlet, act 1, scene 4
  Angels and ministers of grace defend us!

20
Macbeth Superstitions cont.

• In fact, it is said that, the night before he was
  assassinated, Abraham Lincoln was quoting from
  Macbeth!