Characters and Plot overview of Macbeth

 With a partner, please translate the following into modern American English Once yonks ago, I had a walkabout and met a banana bender. He was a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock. His car was a cactus chock a block with junk, and it went kaput. He was quite a lerrikin who would lag a lot, so he became a yobbo who had to do yakka. He told me a yarn about when he was a great aerial ping pong player. He was off his face and all he had to eat was a dead horse, so I gave him a chook and a used thong I had. Never seen him since, hope he has no worries, mate!

Once, a long time ago, I went for a walk and met someone from Queensland. He was not all there mentally. His car was a piece of junk and it had broken down. He was a rascal and irresponsible young man. He didn’t want to do much so he had to work as a manual labor. He told me a story about how he was a great Australian Rules soccer. He was extremely drunk and had nothing to eat, so I gave him a chicken and some used sandals. I haven’t seen him since then; I hope he’s fine, friend.

 Which words were particularly difficult?  Which words were familiar? Where did you learn them?  Which words still don’t make sense? Now, try to confuse me. With your partner, write 3-4 sentences using slang I won’t understand.

 Remember, many of Shakespeare’s references and slang would have been perfectly normal for his time  Shakespeare wrote plays; much of his audience would have followed the story based on the action, the emotions of the characters and the tone the actors. Even his audiences didn’t understand all of it.

Turn to page paragraph  At the beginning of each scene  Give a summary of the action  Provides some context

Turn to page 6 Footnotes to side  Give definitions of difficult or unfamiliar words and terms

Turn to page 7 Line numbers  Generally every 5 th line is marked  For citations, Act I scene I, lines 3-4 becomes (like Iliad)

Turn to page 23  Note the “aside” on line 125  Direction to whom the character is speaking. Sometime to the audience, sometimes to a particular character  Assume that only the intended listener can hear

Turn to Page 3 in your textbooks  Character Page.  Good reference for you to go back to as names are difficult to track

Major Players: Macbeth  Main character  General of the Scottish army  Ambitious  Shakespeare Language. Macbeth speaks in blank verse  Poetry of his speech shows humanity,

Major Players: Macbeth  Divided between his moral side and his corrupt, ambitious side  Reflective, intelligent, even sensitive in a way

Major Players: Lady Macbeth  Ambitious, savage woman  attempts Goads her husband into killing his king  Suffers terrible guilt for murders  Mrs. deVidal’s favorite literary villain

Major Players: Lady Macbeth  Shakespeare language: Lady M speaks in prose regular language (less poetic than Macbeth)  Her use of language fits her practical character  Contrast w/Macbeth’s poetic language

Major Players: The three witches  They set up the atmosphere in the beginning of the play “fair is foul and foul is fair”  Function is to give predictions of the future, sometimes encouragement, sometimes warning  These predictions cause a chain reaction in Macbeth  Macbeth hears what he wants to hear

 First witch, second witch, 3 rd witch  Duncan, Malcolm, Captain, Lennox, Ross,

 On a scale of 1-4, how comfortable are you with the language we just read? 1-no clue what was said 2-able to understand some with help 3-able to understand most 4-I can read this on my own and get it

Per 1-all; Per 3-3 only, PEr5-1&3 1. What do these opening scenes focus on? Point out at least two themes you see established, what lines make those themes clear 2. This play is set in a difficult time in Scotland. Based on the information we are given in 1.2, what is the situation in Scotland as the play opens. Be detailed 3. This play’s title character, Macbeth, does not appear in its first two scenes, but he is mentioned. What do we know about Macbeth based on the information given in these first two scenes? What is his character? Be Specific 4. King Duncan of Scotland will be of great importance as the play progresses—what do we learn about him in Scene 2? What are his strengths and weaknesses?