Introduction video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD5goS69LT4 Ted Talks- 6 min

Act II sc i-iii Complete the quotations. Fill in the blank. Macbeth: Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder _________.” Lady Macbeth: “My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so __________.”

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 1 Act I, Sc. ii Macbeth is a valiant warrior who is greatly respected by his peers and the King. He is praised for the valor and bravery he displays on the battlefield

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 2 Act I, Sc. vi Macbeth is torn, he wavers back and forth between murdering Duncan and staying out of the way of fate. He is truly conflicted, desperate to hold on to his virtue but becoming drunk on power.

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 3 Act II, Sc. i Macbeth’s angst is palpable. He is hallucinating, seeing a bloody dagger that draws him towards Duncan’s chamber to commit his murder. Power and manipulation have seized Macbeth.

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 4 Act II, Sc. ii Macbeth is an emotional wreck. His hands are gilded in Duncan’s blood. Lady Macbeth chastises his infirmity. At this moment, he simply cannot carry on with the plan any further. The reader can still see shades of Macbeth’s character from Act I.

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 5 Act III, Sc. i Macbeth, now fully corrupted by power, maliciously plots Banquo’s murder. He himself becomes a manipulating force in the play, when he convinces the hired murderers that Banquo is their true enemy.

Tracing Macbeth’s Downfall- 6 Act III, Sc. iv Macbeth’s dissent into paranoia is on full display, as he sees Banquo’s ghost on his banquet table. There are no traces of once brave and noble Macbeth

Theme: Ambition Ambition and the devastation which follows when ambition oversteps moral boundaries. Act I, Sc. v: Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth's letter, analyses his character, and invokes the forces of evil. Act I, Sc. vii: Macbeth reflects on what is needed to achieve his ambition and Lady Macbeth taunts him to 'screw your courage to the sticking place.' Act III, Sc. i: Macbeth determines to kill Banquo in order to prevent his children succeeding to Scotland's throne.

Theme: Fate and Free Will Fate and free will and the extent to which we control our own destinies. Act I, Sc. iii: Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches on the heath. Macbeth reflects on their prophecies. Act II, Sc. i: Macbeth talks with Banquo about their encounter with the witches, sees a visionary dagger and makes his decision to kill Duncan. Act IV, Sc. i: Macbeth visits the witches who offer him further prophecies.

Motif: Nature Nature /The natural world and its disruption when the bounds of morality are broken. Macbeth’s evil deeds are symbolized by disturbances in nature ''Tis unnatural,/ Even like the deed that's done.' Act II, Sc. iv 'And his gash'd stabs looked like a breach in nature' Act II, Sc. iii 'Boundless intemperance/ In nature is a tyranny.' Act IV, Sc. iii

Motif: Light and Darkness Light and darkness, representing innocence and evil. 'Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires' Act I, Sc. iv 'that darkness does the face of earth entomb,/When living light should kiss it?' Act II, Sc. iv Come, seeling night,/ Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day' Act III, Sc. ii

Motif: Blood Blood, representing evil plans and consequences of overreaching ambition. 'Make thick my blood' Act I, Sc. v 'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?' Act II, Sc. i 'Here's the smell of blood still.' Act V, Sc. i

Motif: Sleep Sleep, a natural process and its disruption as caused by the fracture of the moral order. 'Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse / The curtain'd sleep' II.i 'There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried 'Murder!'‘ II.ii 'Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep' II.ii 'we may again / Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights‘ III.vi 'A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching!' V.i

Blank verse Blank verse – unrhymed iambic pentameter The majority of Macbeth is written in blank verse Effective for drama b/c it closely approximates the natural rhythms of English speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5lsuyUNu_4

Tragedy Elements of a tragedy Central character who makes mistakes and is high-ranking Catastrophe near the end or conclusion Tragic flaw - a trait in a character leading to his downfall, and the character is often the hero of the literary piece Macbeth Lust for power

Additional Notes Malicious - intending or intended to do harm. Weird sisters’ tale of the sailor Barren scepter No heirs to the throne Figurative language Simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc Lennox speaks about Macbeth’s sorrow in a sarcastic tone - III.vi Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow - V.v Macbeth thinks life is a meaningless path to death

Unit Vocabulary Virtuous Unmerited Depravity Hubris Inversion Stage action Elizabethan Valor/valiant Weird Harbinger Palpable Infirm Gild Sacrilegious Posterity Treachery Malevolence Paradox Monologue Blaspheming Avarice Interdiction Perilous Purgative Soliloquy Aside Dramatic irony Motif Theme

Background information You don’t have to watch this. I show it in class if we have extra time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFYE3XglSpE Timeline: The Real Macbeth video