1. Introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth
4/5/2019
Introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Today we're beginning our study of Shakespeare's "historic tragedy", Macbeth.
John Worston, Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches

2. The Many Meanings of Macbeth
4/5/2019
The Many Meanings of Macbeth
A historical thriller
a fast-moving, action-packed murder mystery demonstrating that crime doesn’t pay
A psychological study of a murderer’s mind
A play of political and social realism
how oppressive and hierarchical society can corrupt individuals
A play of illusions
the effect of the mysterious or supernatural on humans
A play of ideas or themes
for example, “appearance versus reality”
A tragedy
the fall of a great person brought about by a fatal flaw in their character
Everyone brings something unique to their reading of a play or a novel . . .
How people interpret something is largely due to their own prior experiences . . .
These are just a few of the interpretations of Macbeth that people have dreamed up over the years. More than anything else, I want to impress you with the fact that Macbeth is a really gutsy, interesting play.

3. Historical Context of Macbeth
4/5/2019
Historical Context of Macbeth
Shakespeare was a playwright, not an historian. However, he knew that history provided great material for plays: war, conflict, ambition, the downfall of great rulers.
Eleventh-Century Scotland was a violent and troubled country.
Feuding families and clans fought to control trade and territory.
The castle was the power base of each rival war-lord (thane).
Political murder and revenge killings were commonplace.
BEFORE INSERTING THE BULLETS . . .
Can anyone tell me when the action of the play takes place? Where the action takes place?
**Lay out the main characters and the basic plot line without giving too much away**
Bring in the bullets

4. 4/5/2019
The Real Macbeth
The real Macbeth was born in 1005, the son of a ruling family.
Macbeth’s father was murdered by his cousin.
Macbeth married the granddaughter of the High King of Scotland (Gruach)
Lots of politics, intrigue and dirty dealings going on in Scotland at the beginning of the Eleventh Century . . .
Martin, Banquo and Macbeth on the Heath

5. 4/5/2019
Duncan and Macbeth
Duncan was the king of Scotland at the time the real Macbeth was born
Duncan was 38 at the time of his murder - a murder possibly committed by the real Macbeth.
Macbeth was elected High King of Scotland in 1040.
Macbeth ruled Scotland for 17 years, during which time Scotland became comparatively peaceful and stable.
Duncan’s son, Malcolm, invaded Scotland in 1054, supported by Edward the Confessor.
Macbeth was killed on August 15, 1057 and buried at Iona, the sacred burial place of the Kings of Scotland.
BEFORE BRINGING IN THE BULLETS . . .
Anyone remember who "Duncan" is?
Remember, this play is loosely based on factual information. Where would this factual information be found?
How much to you trust the factual information?
That might be a good project for you - determine the extent to which the play is based on fact or deviates from established fact . . .

6. A Macbeth for King James?
4/5/2019
A Macbeth for King James?
King James succeeded Queen Elizabeth in a Stuart, he was already King of Scotland
Shakespeare’s Macbeth may have been performed for the first time before King James in 1606
Macbeth contains many echoes of King James’ interests . . .
Just a little more historical background. . .
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in the early 1600s. The time during which the play appeared is called the Renaissance.
Characteristics of the Renaissance from students.
Although he was writing plays and performing them in front of a Renaissance audience, Shakespeare and his contemporaries were most heavily influenced by the mores of the Elizabethan Era.
A little reinforcement of the Elizabethan World Picture (on blackboard)
Remember our discussion of the Globe Theatre? Well, it was likely that at any one performance, Shakespeare's audience would have consisted of the lowest of the low ("the unwashed masses") and the higest of the high (nobility, courtiers, perhaps even the King/Queen). How was Shakespeare paid? You must remember how important patronage would have been to a playwright at this time it's very likely that Macbeth was written with the preoccupations of the new King in mind sucking up would have been one way to 'get in good' with the new monarch . . .

7. A Macbeth for King James?
4/5/2019
A Macbeth for King James?
King James’ interest in witchcraft was well known
King James visited Oxford in 1605 and was greeted by three witches who hailed him as the descendent of Banquo interesting.
There are the weird sisters . . .
The weird sisters - the witches - open the play, Macbeth. They're a pretty gruesome threesome, and when we view one of the film versions of the play, you'll see just how awful one director thought they should look (Kenneth Branagh version)
Alexandre-Marie Colin, The Three Witches from Macbeth

8. Witches & Witchcraft A witch-mania characterized the Elizabethan era.
4/5/2019
Witches & Witchcraft
A witch-mania characterized the Elizabethan era.
Most people believed in witches and circulating pamphlets containing tales of witches and witchcraft were the equivalent of today’s popular newspapers.
Remember that a person is very much a product of their times.
Elizabethan and Renaissance audiences were morbidly fascinated with witches and witchcraft. Persecution of people for the "crime" of witchcraft reached terrifying proportions - between 1560 and 1603, hundreds of people (nearly all of them women) were convicted as witches and executed.
The most popular method of execution?
King James was as fascinated by witchcraft as were his subjects. There is a story that in 1590, a group of witches tried to kill James (before he was king). Their plot was discovered, and they were brought to trial. One of the "witches", Agnes Sampson, claimed that she had collected toad venom to poison the king, christened a cat, tied parts of a dead man's body to it (we don't know which parts), sailed out to sea in a "sieve" and had thrown cat and body-bits overboard in order to raise a storm that would sink James' ship. A bit elaborate . . .
King James personally interrogated one of the three accused witches, "Doctor Fian" - a male. The doctor was tortured during the interrogation: "his nails upon all his fingers were riven and pulled off his legs were crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the bones and flesh so bruised that the blood and marrow spouted forth in great abundance". Yuck.
So. . . all fired up by his witchy experience, King James personally investigated other cases, and in 1597 he wrote and published "Demonology", a book on witchcraft. When he became king of England in 1603, he ordered its immediate printing in London.
Henry Fuseli, The Three Witches

9. Witches and Witchcraft
4/5/2019
Witches and Witchcraft
Witches were said to have “diabolical” powers. They could:
predict the future
bring on night in the daytime
cause fogs and tempests
kill animals
curse enemies with fatal, wasting diseases
cause nightmares and sterility
take demonic possession of any individual
raise evil spirits by concocting a brew
It was believed that witches allowed the devil to suck their blood. Accused witches were examined for the “Devil’s Mark” - a red mark on their body from which the devil had sucked blood.
So here's some of the stuff Elizabethans and Renaissance people thought about witches . . .

10. Witches and Witchcraft - Misogyny?
4/5/2019
Witches and Witchcraft - Misogyny?
Between 1560 and 1603, hundreds of people, nearly all of them women, were convicted as witches and executed
In 1604 an official Act of Parliament decreed that anyone found guilty of practicing witchcraft should be executed
Those who confessed to being witches did so under torture or because they were in the grip of delusions recognized today as psychiatric disorders.
You would think that these "witches" would be pretty powerful people . . .
. . . but it was mostly single, old women who kept cats that were in danger of being accused of witchcraft. Remember, in 1604 an Act of Parliament decreed that if you were convicted, you were to be executed - and with the methods of "information extraction" used by the interrogators, people were likely to "spill their guts" (literally - know where that term comes from?)..
CHECK - does the group want to get into women's rights in the Seventeenth Century?
. . . here's another idea for your project: maybe you could examine Shakespeare's portrayal of women in Macbeth - very interesting topic . . .