1. INTRODUCTING MACBETH Act 1, Scenes 1 – 2
Friday, 09 November 2018Friday, 09 November 2018
INTRODUCTING MACBETH Act 1, Scenes 1 – 2

2. Falling Action & Resolution Exposition & Rising Action
TRAGEDY
A play with an unhappy ending, usually involving the downfall of the main character, also known as the Tragic Hero.
Falling Action & Resolution
Exposition & Rising Action
Acts 4 & 5
Acts 1 & 2
Climax
Act 3
The story starts in an ordered society, with the Hero being a respected member of society.
The Hero comes into a direct and final conflict, usually resulting in his death.
At the very end, a new hope is presented for the future.
Extreme and often violent events take place, usually resulting in a character's death.
The characters’ personalities and relationships are changed.

3. The Tragic Hero How did these characteristics apply to Romeo?
Begins as a respectable, well-liked member of society often of a higher class
The Hero has a Tragic Flaw – a characteristic that at first may seem harmless, but will lead to the Hero’s downfall
The Hero has an encounter with a character or a powerful force that changes their priorities, attitudes, and overall behaviour
The Hero is consumed by the encounter, and starts committing questionable acts
The Hero commits an unforgivable actions which changes the lives of the Hero and everyone around them
The Hero loses control over their thoughts and actions, becoming a despicable member of society, almost a villain
In their final confrontation with their opposing forces, the Hero gives in to their Tragic Flaw, faces his mistakes, and dies
How did these characteristics apply to Romeo?
How might they apply to Macbeth?

4. Macbeth’s Downfall
Turn from hero to villain
Progression of the play

5. THEMES Ambition – ambition can corrupt even the most honourable people
Appearance vs. Reality – what appears to be one thing could turn out to be the complete opposite
Gender Roles – despite the Jacobean expectations of men and women, the difference between genders is not definite
Fate vs. Free Will – the choices made in life could either be decided by fate, or dictated by our free will
Good vs. Bad Kingship – absolute power corrupts absolutely

6. ANNOTATING THE PLAY Quotes about Macbeth’s character & transformation
Quotes about Lady Macbeth’s character & transformation
Quotes about the theme of Ambition
Quotes about the theme of Appearance vs. Reality
Quotes about the theme of Gender Roles
Quotes about the theme of Fate vs. Free Will
Quotes about the theme of Good vs. Bad Kingship

7. 11/9/2018
the witches
How have the Witches been portrayed in each version of the scene?
How does way they speak and deliver their lines change in each version?
Overall, are the Witches good or evil?

8. ‘More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!’
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
Antithesis = The use of opposites to communicate struggle, contrast, or complex meaning.
‘More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!’
How does this relate to the theme of appearance vs. reality?

9. List the phrases used to describe Macbeth.
Act 1, Scene 2
Duncan
Malcolm
Captain
Lennox
Ross
List the phrases used to describe Macbeth.
What kind of language is used to describe him?
What sort of person is he expected to be?

10. King James I
"The fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaves of the Devil, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloved reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine (...) to resolve the doubting (...) both that such assaults of Satan are most certainly practised, and that the instrument thereof merits most severely to be punished.”
King James VI
King of Scotland
1567 – 1603
King James I
King of England & Ireland

11. Contextual Timeline How are the events in the timeline interlinked?
Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England
1558
1563
Scotland passes the Witchcraft Act
William Shakespeare Born
1564
1597
James VI publishes Daemonologie
Elizabeth I dies
King James I is crowned (also becomes patron of Shakespeare’s theatre company)
1603
1604
England passes the witchcraft Act
Shakespeare writes Macbeth
1606
How are the events in the timeline interlinked?
How was Shakespeare affected by the beliefs of James I?

12. Introducing Context
Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, early in the reign of James I, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in James was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote under James’s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright’s close relationship with the King.
In focusing on Macbeth, a figure from Scottish history, Shakespeare paid tribute to his king’s Scottish background. Also, the witches’ prophecy that Banquo will have a line of kings is a clear nod to James’s family’s claim to have descended from the historical Banquo. In a larger sense, the theme of bad versus good kingship, embodied by Macbeth and Duncan, respectively, would have resonated at the royal court, where James was busy developing his English version of the theory of divine right.
Shakespeare wrote it to show what might happen if a king, in this case King Duncan, were to be murdered, and his play would have embodied the worries and fears of the English people at that uncertain time, only a year after the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when they plotted to kill the king and blow up parliament.