1. British Literature Monday March 13, 2017 Day 40
ACTIVATOR:
Grab copy of the journal article from front table and answer questions on your own sheet of notebook paper…
ACTIVITIES:
Discuss journal article & collect answers
Introduce Macbeth Unit (tragedy / drama)
- Background story and terms…
Last 10 Silent Reading
SUMMARIZER:
- what is a tragedy?

2. Elizabethan Drama
Elements and Staging

3. History of Theater in England
Originally, actors would perform in any open area for spectators (halls, courtyards, taverns)
1574 – English government decreed that theaters must be licensed
1576 – first permanent theater built outside the city of London
1592 – 1593: theaters shut down when the plague infected London
1599 – Globe Theater built in “red light” district of London

4. History of Theater in England, cont’d.
Audiences varied from the wealthy upper class to the lower class
Plays were used for entertainment and also to deliver political messages
Actors were mostly men (who often played women) and were not considered celebrities or paid well

5. The Globe Theater
Built in 1599 for The Lord Chamberlain’s Acting Company of which Shakespeare was a member (Shakespeare owned 10%)
Made of wood
Held 2,000 – 3,000 people
1,500 seats were covered
Room for 800 – 1,000 people to stand in the “pit”, an uncovered area surrounding the stage
No lights so all performances were held between 2 – 5 pm

6. The Globe Theater, cont’d.
The stage was circular with all sides open
There was an enclosed building to the side for costume changes
No curtains so characters were “announced”, acts and scenes melted into each other, and dead bodies had to be carried off the stage

7. The Globe Theater, cont’d.
3 levels of the stage
* Main stage with small curtained area in the rear
* Upper area (heaven) for balcony scenes
* Lower area under the stage (hell) accessible by a trapdoor on the stage

8. The Globe Theater, cont’d.
The acoustics were poor so actors had to shout and use exaggerated gestures to be understood
Because there were no curtains to close at the conclusion, all tensions had to be “cooled” before the end of the play

9. The Globe Theater, concluded
1613 – burned during a performance of Henry VIII when a real cannon was fired onto the roof
1614 – rebuilt
1644 – Puritans destroyed it in an effort to “clean up” the morals of London

10. Scenery, costumes, and props
No curtains dictated that scenery be kept to a minimum since no changes could be made during a performance
Costumes were elaborate and highly decorated with hats and other accessories
Props were usually small and could be carried on by hand by the actors

11. William Shakespeare
His Life and Work

12. Childhood Born to wealthy parents in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564
Few details are known about his childhood
Well-educated in grammar school as evidenced by his references to classical works, his knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, and his extensive vocabulary

13. His Career as an Actor and Playwright
1589 – he wrote his first play (Henry VI, Part I)
1594 – he became a member of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men which developed into the premier theater troupe in London, first as an actor and then a playwright
1598 – he became the principal comedic writer and actor of the troupe
1603 – he became the principal tragic actor and writer of the troupe

14. His Career as an Actor and Playwright, Cont’d.
His success and good investments made him wealthy and well-respected in London society
He wrote the epitaph for his own tomb:
“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones
And cursed be he that moves my bones.”

15. Macbeth
-An Introduction-

16. Macbeth: An Introduction
Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy.
Believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606.

17. Macbeth: An Introduction
It is frequently performed at both amateur and professional levels, and has been adapted for opera, film, books, stage and screen.
Often regarded as archetypal, the play tells of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends.

18. The Real Macbeth king of Scotland (1040–57).
He succeeded his father as governor of the province of Moray c.1031
was a military commander for Duncan I.
(Right: portrait of Macbeth)

19. The Real Macbeth
In 1040, Macbeth killed Duncan in battle and seized the throne.
Possibly of royal descent himself, he acquired a direct claim to the throne through his wife, Gruoch; she was a granddaughter of Kenneth III, who had been overthrown by Duncan's ancestor Malcolm II.
(Right: portrait of Duncan I)

20. The Real Macbeth
Macbeth represented northern elements in the population who were opposed to the ties with the Saxons advocated by Duncan.
Macbeth was defeated in 1054 by Siward, earl of Northumbria, who regained the southern part of Scotland on behalf of Malcolm Canmore, Duncan's son.
Malcolm himself regained the rest of the kingdom after defeating and killing Macbeth in the battle of Lumphanan. He then succeeded to the throne as Malcolm III.

21. The Real Macbeth
William Shakespeare's version of the story comes from the accounts of Raphael Holinshed and Hector Boece.

22. Holinshed’s Chronicles
Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580) was an English chronicler.
He was given the ambitious project of chronicling British history from the time of the Great Flood (approx BC) to Queen Elizabeth (reigning ).

23. Holinshed’s Chronicles
Raphael Holinshed. The first and second volumes of the Chronicles, comprising 1 The description and historie of England, 2 The description and historie of Ireland, 3 The description and historie of Scotland: first collected and published by Raphaell C, William Harrison and others: now newlie augmented and continued (with manifold matters of singular note and worthie memorie) to the yeare 1586 by John Hooker alias Vowell Gent and others. London: printed [by Henry Denham] in Aldersgate street at the signe of the Starre, 1587.

24. Holinshed’s Chronicles
“‘We care about Holinshed's Chronicles because Shakespeare read them’ was the 1968 verdict of Stephen Booth, who, along with his academic contemporaries and predecessors, felt this great work was of little intellectual value, a vestige of erratic medieval historiography. Its importance for several of Shakespeare's plays - it underpins all the conventional English history plays, as well as King Lear, Macbeth and Cymbeline - has long been understood, but until late in the twentieth century it was overlooked as an object of serious study”.
-Jenny Alder, Information Assistant,
Foyle Special Collections Library, King’s College London

25. Hector Boece Lived 1465-1536 A Scottish philosopher
Wrote Historia Gentis Scotorum (1527)
Shakespeare used this text as a basis for the character of Macbeth

26. “The Scottish Play”
A large mythology has built up surrounding this superstition, with countless stories of accidents, misfortunes and even deaths, all mysteriously taking place during runs of Macbeth (or by actors who had uttered the name).
Many actors will not mention the name of the play aloud, referring to it instead as "The Scottish play".

27. “The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes
When performed in Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted a real dagger for the blunted stage one and with it killed Duncan in full view of the entranced audience.

28. “The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes
During its 1849 performance at New York's Astor Place, a riot broke out in which 31 people were trampled to death.

29. “The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes
In 1937, when Laurence Olivier took on the role of Macbeth, a 25 pound stage weight crashed within an inch of him, and his sword which broke onstage flew into the audience and hit a man who later suffered a heart attack.

30. “The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes
In the 1942 Macbeth production headed by John Gielgud, three actors -- Duncan and two witches -- died, and the costume and set designer committed suicide amidst his devilish Macbeth creations.

31. “The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes
The indestructible Charlton Heston, in an outdoor production in Bermuda in 1953, suffered severe burns in his groin and leg area from tights that were accidentally soaked in kerosene.

32. The Witches
They tell Macbeth that he is destined to be king, and urge him to do bloody things.

33. The Witches
Their character is modeled after Norse mythology- the Norns (three Fates)
the name Urðr (Wyrd, Weird) means "fate" or simply "future",
The norns- by Arthur Rackham

34. Images of Macbeth

35. Creation Theatre Company-Summer 2006 production, Oxford, England

36. Roman Polanski’s 1971 film

40. British Literature Tuesday March 14, 2017 Day 41
ACTIVATOR:
make sentence corrections on back of combining page from last week…
ACTIVITIES:
Discuss sentence correction handout
Introduce unit 4 words - quiz Friday
- complete cartoon captions by Wednesday (2 words each)
Macbeth - Act One reading
Silent Reading!
SUMMARIZER:
- What is a tragedy?

41. British Literature Wednesday March 15, 2017 Day 42
ACTIVATOR:
underline subject and circle verbs on sentence corrections handout
ACTIVITIES:
Sentence correction handout (s/v identifications)
Share / submit vocabulary 4 cartoon captions
Macbeth - Act One reading
- complete study questions
Silent Reading, Baby! n
SUMMARIZER:
- What does “aside” mean?

42. British Literature Thursday March 16, 2017 Day 43
ACTIVATOR: (4-6 sentences, S.E.E.D. format)
Are kids today BETTER or WORSE than previous generations? Explain…
ACTIVITIES:
Discuss / collect journals
Review for vocabulary unit 4 quiz (tomorrow!)
Macbeth - Act One reading
- complete all study questions from packet
Last 10 Silent Reading!
SUMMARIZER:
- what is a tragic flaw?

43. British Literature Friday March 17, 2017 Day 44
ACTIVATOR:
- Complete a “ONE PAGER” for article from front table to turn in…
ACTIVITIES:
Discuss and turn in one-pagers
Vocabulary Unit 4 QUIZ, baby!
Macbeth – Finish Act One (cartoon review)
Last 10 Silent Reading
SUMMARIZER:
- What are three characteristics of a tragedy?