The Tragedy of Macbeth William Shakespeare

Background Written between 1604-1606 (approximately) Is a tragedy-a story in which a heroic character dies or comes to another unhappy end. The main character in most tragedies is dignified, courageous, and often high-ranking. Their downfall occurs because of a tragic flaw-a character weakness or error in judgment, or because of circumstances beyond his/her control.

Historical Background Based on real people from history Shakespeare was inspired by Macbeth’s career as king of Scotland (1040-1057) The history differs: the real Macbeth had a much more legitimate claim to King Duncan’s throne than Shakespeare’s Macbeth The historical Macbeth had the support of other nobles while Shakespeare’s Macbeth only had his wife as a supporter. Most likely, there were no witches in the historical story of Macbeth.

Act I Characters Scene 1- First witch Second witch Third witch King Malcom Captain Lennox Ross Scene 3- Macbeth Banquo Angus Scene 4- No new characters Scene 5- Lady Macbeth Messenger Scene 6- Scene 7-

Act II Characters Scene 1- Banquo Fleance Macbeth Scene 2- Lady Macbeth Scene 3- Porter Macduff Lennox Donalbain Malcolm Scene 4- Old man Ross

Act III Characters Scene 4- Lords (2 people to speak in unison) Lennox Ross Scene 5- First witch Hecate Scene 6- No new characters Scene 1- Banquo Macbeth Lady Macbeth Attendant First murderer Second murderer Scene 2- Servant Scene 3- Third murderer