Renaissance Theatre Let’s have fun!

Medieval and Renaissance Medieval Drama Evolved from Church ceremonies Miracle Plays – Saints Mystery Plays – Bible History Morality Plays – Taught people how to live and die Renaissance Drama Moved beyond the Church Influences from many sources

Shakespeare Read pages Monarchs during Shakespeare’s career Three types of plays

Macbeth The cursed play

Written specifically to be performed for, and to please, King James I. James Stuart was already King James VI of Scotland when Queen Elizabeth's death (1603) made him James I of England as well.

King James liked witches In the late 1500's, Scotland had a witch craze. – Many people convicted of wicked secret practices without physical evidence. James I believed the witch hysteria. – Wrote a book about the supposed hidden world of wicked witches, entitled Demonology.

OR, …. Maybe James really believed that there was a secretive sect devoted to malicious evil? Or, maybe he was just another leader trying to unite people against a common, imagined enemy with different cultural practices?

One More King James I Link Macbeth deals with the fictional ancestors of the Stuart line (Banquo, Fleance) – presents Banquo more favorably than did the play's sources. Procession of kings scene ends with a mirror ( fun fact ) James could see himself, thus becoming part of the action.

3 rd King James Link Macbeth assassinates the King of Scotland Gunpowder Plot – 1605 – Catholics try to assassinate King James – Blow up King James and Protestant Parliament – Guy Fawkes Now a fun-filled holiday in England

One more thing you should consider… Producing Macbeth is supposed to be unlucky. Fires, falls, and weapon injuries have plagued past productions. Superstition requires those involved in productions not to say the play's title. – The Scottish Play – Mackers – MacB

Bad Luck – is it true? Legends about the boy actor who first played Lady Macbeth getting sick and Shakespeare having to fill in. Theaters closed early 1700’s after people thought the deviltry of the play had caused a bad storm. Some people think that the play's vision of evil, with witches, demonic familiars, and so forth explains the bad luck

Literary Terms / Vocabulary Ambiguity, Equivocation Atmosphere Blank verse Catharsis Contraction Deus Ex Machina Foot / meter / Iambic pentameter / blank verse Hamartia Dramatic irony Motif Paradox Soliloquy Synecdoche Tragedy / tragic flaw Weird (Old English Def.)

Antimetabole Repetition in reverse order "You like it; it likes you." Fair is foul; foul is fair

Notes: Motifs: – Fair is Foul – Blood – Hands – Clothing – Sight, blindness – Sleep – Gender Themes: – Equivocation – Appearances – Ambition – Guilt – Gender

Macbeth – Tragic Hero

Macbeth and Banquo

Act I Review questions p. 318 Blank Verse (p. 318) – Iamb / pentameter – Witches?

Meter and Foot Meter – regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables Foot – Meter’s basic unit Consists of one stressed and one or more unstressed

Foot Types 2 syllables: Iamb = unstressed, followed by a stressed – “relief” / “respect” Trochee – stressed, followed by an unstressed – “bummer” / “Passler” 3 syllables: Dactyl = stressed, followed by 2 unstressed – “ecstacy” Anapest = 2 unstressed, followed by a stressed – “contradict”

Metrical Length Number of the feet each line contains – Monometer: one foot – Dimeter: two feet – Trimeter: three feet – Tetrameter: four feet – Pentameter: five feet – Hexameter: six feet – Heptameter: seven feet

Put them all together Iambic Pentameter = 5 iambs – Unstressed/stressed pattern used five times in each line – “I dare do all that may become a man” Blank Verse: Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter

Homework Scan your name Are you naturally musical (fits a pattern)? – Jennifer = Dactyl – Passler = Trochee – If I wanted my name to fit a pattern Jennifer Passaler = Dactyl Dimeter

Order and Chaos – Elizabethan Style When this order is out of order = Chaos Duncan’s killing/murder causes disturbances in nature – A horrible act (lying, stealing, killing) = storms, earthquakes, physical harm

Knocking at the Gate Read the essay on pages What is De Quincy’s main point? How does Macbeth’s transfiguration confirm his role as the tragic hero? Continual Knocking – Why? What is gained What is lost? Porter – Why? What is gained What is lost?

Act II Review questions p. 333

Act III Review questions p. 351

Murder of Lady Macduff Macbeth’s actions become less grand – Duncan’s murder – tragically grand – Banquo’s murder – melodramtic – Lady Macduff – creepy, ghoulish

Act IV, Scene 3, p Malcolm and Macduff meet Macduff was a friend of Macbeth Malcolm is suspicious Macduff says, “hey Malcolm, you should be king.” Read Malcolm’s response, lines Macduff says, “Oh no – yuck!” Malcolm says, “Surprise – I was testing you!” Let’s go get Macbeth! (10,000 Englishman)

ACT IV, Sc. 3 – Royal’s Touch In Macbeth King Edward (England, ) Heals people with his touch Real King = placed by God – could do that King James (England/Scotland – early 1600’s) Performed the Royal’s Touch Read page 367

Act IV Review questions p. 369

Act V Review questions page