1. Macbeth: before we start…
Saturday, 17 November 2018
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

2. Other introductory reading
My writing can be found here :
Have a browse. There are essays on The Porter, the witches, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Don’t be put off. Have a read and make some notes…
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

3. Basics of metre. The play is a mixture of VERSE and PROSE
Put simply, verse is poetry and prose more the form of writing found in a novel.
You can recogonise the verse by its layout – it rarely makes a rectangular pattern on the page and lines seem to be of random lengths.
This is not the case…
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

4. Shakespeare’s Verse
Is written generally in IAMBIC PENTAMETER. When this does not rhyme, it is called “BLANK VERSE”.
Iambic Pentameter is a Greek term for a simple idea: Each line is made up of a pair of syllables called an “IAMB”. This is one unstressed and one stressed syllable: de-DUM
5 of these (Penta) make a line of 10 syllables, the basic form of which is…
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

5. THE PINK PANTHER THEME! Actually it is…
If you hum that well known tune – de-dum, de-dum, de-dum de-dum de-dum, you have hummed an iambic pentameter.
All you need to do now is to add a line or two from the play to prove it.
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
“u / u / u / u / u /”
10 syllables that flow easily off the tongue as Macbeth enters.
Each u / unit comprises an IAMB.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

6. Variety 3 hours of this would be dull.
Shakespeare alters things depending on character and mood.
If you think of the IAMB (u/) as a domino, you can imagine how these dominoes can be shuffled or placed for effect.
For the witches, he places only 4 dominoes and makes a TETRAMETER: “When shall we three meet again?”
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

7. Verse and alteration
Verse is conventionally used of high status characters:
The King: “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air/ Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself/ Unto our gentle senses”
We can look a little closer on the next slide, but you might be surprised to learn that verse, with all its rules can be used to very stress and to create effect more easily than prose.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

8. Alterations “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
The opening line is an ordinary IP. Duncan is relaxed and calm, enjoying the Macbeth’s castle
Shakespeare alters the stress. No one would say nimBLY. The domino used is a TROCHEE. It allows for a stress on th eword and nice spring to the rhythm in the manner of a nimble movement
“This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
“u / u / u / u / u /
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
/ u u / u / u / u /
Unto our gentle senses”
u / u / u / u
A caesura is used to break up the line. When you read it , the sense flows from “the air” though to “Nimbly” with no pause
Only 7 syllables. Don’t worry, here Banquo completes the line “This guest of summer…” This might be a way of showing how Banquo and the King are allies and who follow each others thoughts
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

9. RECAP Iambic Pentameter = 5 x [u\] A trochee = 1 x [\u]
A caesura is a break within a line of verse caused by punctuation
When writing in verse, Shakespeare will split a line of Iambic Pentameter across 2 or more characters – it adds speed and can be used for other effects.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

10. GAPS There are few directions in a Shakespeare play
Verse can be used to create dramatic pauses
If we are used to the rhythm of the Pink Panther, we expect it. The effect of it stopping short can be confusing:
Macbeth: “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake/ Thy gory locks at me”
Here in Act 3 when he is horrified by the ghost of Banquo, Macbeth cuts a line short. There is no indented response suggesting a silent “de-dum, de-dum” during which he sees the ghost and all at the table are confused and shocked.
Look for these gaps – they can confer a stage effect or cue.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

11. Thou and You
If you do MFL you are probably familiar with the tu/vous or du/sie issue found in French and German resepctively
English in the 17th Century had 2 forms of the 2nd person as well: Thou (singular) and You (plural)
Thou is used by adults to children and between close friends.
Shifts matter
LM uses thy/thou and you to Macbeth in Act 1 BUT once she sees him to be scared she loses Thou and shifts to you for the rest of the play. It is as though she no longer has affection for him and simply uses his formal address as though to a stranger of high status.
Similarly when one of high status speaks to an equal, but no friend with thou, this can be perceived as an insult – it emphasises status.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016

12. We are ready Let’s begin Shakespeare did not write to be read.
Shakespeare did not write for students to study at IGCSE
Shakespeare wrote to be performed. I expect to hear you – no embarrassed mumbling! You will get out of a text what you put into it.
Jonathan Peel JLS 2016