1. William Shakespeare
The Bard

2. About William Shakespeare:

3. Childhood Born April 23 (we think), 1564 Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Father was a local prominent merchant

4. Family Life Married Ann Hathaway 1582 (when he was 18, she was 26)
Three children: Susanna born in 1583, twins Judith and Hamnet born 1585
Hamnet died at age 11; the girls never had any children

5. The Lost Years
We have no records of his life during this time period
It is speculated that he might have been a teacher, a butcher, or an actor to support his family.
In 1592, he is in London, while Ann and the kids are still in Stratford-upon-Avon

6. 1590’s Queen Elizabeth I ruled
English explorers were crossing the ocean to the New World
And travelers coming to England LOVED watching plays...

7. The Playwrights... Christopher Marlowe (more about him later)
Thomas Kyd
And William Shakespeare was the original “New Kid on the Block”

8. The Theatres... The Theatre, built in 1576
The Rose, built in 1587 (London’s first “Bankside” theatre)
The Swan, 1595
The Globe (Shakespeare helped construct in )

9. •Protestants condemned the plays
About the theatres
•Protestants condemned the plays
•Theatres were on the outskirts of London--away from the authorities
•People who attended the theatres included:
-merchants
-lawyers
-laborers
-prostitutes
-visitors from other countries
-nobility & royalty

10. •No lighting
•No scenery--Just a curtain
•Could hold around 2,000 people

11. The most expensive seats were directly behind the stage, called the gallery.
Though the people sitting there could only see the actors from behind, they themselves could be seen by everyone in the audience.

12. The theatres were closed during the plague.

15. Costumes... •Richly decorated
•Didn’t always match up to the time period of the play
•Looking good was more important than being realistic!

16. Can you guess which play was the first to be performed in The Globe?
Where did they get the wood?
Can you guess which play was the first to be performed in The Globe?

18. Who were the Players? The Lord Admiral’s Men
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare founded; Richard Burbage was their leading actor)
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed mostly in The Theatre

19. Acting
The actors were all men; young boys (age 12-14) played the female parts
They were considered “shareholders” and owned stock or shares in the play texts, costumes, and props
Their pay depended on admission sales
Actors only had about 3 weeks to practice a new play
In one week, the troupes may perform 6 different plays (as many as 4,000 lines!)

20. By 1597, Shakespeare... Had written the following plays:
Romeo and Juliet
Merchant of Venice
A MidSummer Night’s Dream

21. The Competition Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
He was the first great playwright, paving the way for Shakespeare. He wrote and acted for The Lord Admiral’s Company--which was The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s arch-rivals. He was possibly Shakespeare’s biggest influence.
Most Notable Works Include: Tamburlaine the Great (1587), Dr. Faustus (1588), The Jew of Malta (1589), Edward II (1592)

22. 1603
Queen Elizabeth dies
Shakespeare’s troupe changes their name to The King’s Men, becoming the first OFFICIAL theatre company of England’s new king, James I

23. Shakespeare’s Last Days
Between , Shakespeare returns to Stratford to his wife and family.
Dies April 23, 1616 at the age of 53
His will, which he revised a month before dying, left the bulk of his estate to his oldest daughter, and the bed to his wife.

24. Shakespeare’s Epitaph…
"Good Friends, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the bones enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."

25. Love of the Language
In Shakespeare’s time, everyone loved the English language.
There were no grammar rules, punctuation keys, OR spelling!
The language was evolving and everyday new words were being made up.
Shakespeare’s language reflects this freedom and experimentation.

26. Iambic Pentameter Is a sound pattern
IAMB: one unaccented (or unstressed) syllable with one accented syllable
It’s like a heartbeat: ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum
Five “ba-bum”s in a row make one line of iambic pentameter (10-syllable lines)
Example: he WENT to TOWN toDAY to BUY a CAR
OR: In SOOTH / I KNOW / not WHY / I AM / so SAD

27. Why go to all the TROUBLE???
Using iambic pentameter kept things moving in the play (like a drum beat)
It made the words & play more interesting
It helped the actors remember their lines (like a song)

28. Where Did it Come From?
The Greeks and Romans started combining drama & poetry.
The English experimented with it, using verse and prose in their plays.
In the 1590’s “Blank Verse” (poetry that doesn’t rhyme) was the new Craze!
The English Language is harder to rhyme than French or Italian, and English is more heavily accented.

29. a mixing of old styles and new sounds.
When Shakespeare set his words to iambic pentameter it is compared to the birth of
rock-n-roll:
a mixing of old styles and new sounds.

30. What would you do if you just lost your only copy of the paper you wrote?

31. •In Shakespeare’s time, you only had one copy of a play, and after you wrote it for the acting company, you no longer owned it! •Scripts were thrown out when they were no longer wanted or needed. •NO copies of Shakespeare’s plays in his own handwriting have survived. The only known evidence of anything in his handwriting is his signature (shown above) on the play Sir Thomas More that Shakespeare might have written.

32. Companies may perform plays for years before they became printed.
Plays weren’t thought of as works of literature. They were “entertainment.”

33. “Quartos” Small books of published plays were called “quartos.”
The first published works of Shakespeare’s vary considerably, making it probable that they were written from actors’ memories, or shorthand notes from a scribe working for a publisher, as opposed to Shakespeare himself.
Scholars believe these are faulty versions, calling them “bad quartos.” Or as we say today, “Pirated” versions.

34. Plagiarism back then?
Acting troupes didn’t want other acting troupes stealing and performing their plays.
It was common that people would go watch the play and write down the lines they remembered, then sell the “quartos” to other acting troupes.
Many think that much of Shakespeare’s own work was stolen from other playwrights.
Remember, back then there were no copyright laws!
It says, in short:…because the author is dead, we are writing this for him...

35. The first full collection of Shakespeare’s work was published in 1623, seven years after his death.
It was called “First Folio”
It contained 36 plays (compiled by John Heminge and Henry Condell--friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare’s)

36. A Case of Bad Editing!
“First Folio”, as well as many other works at that time, contained many errors, due to the fact sometimes the printers could not read the handwriting and had to memorize the lines as they set them on the press.
The printers were the ones who decided how a line should be punctuated & spelled (not the writers)!

37. “First Folio” contained multiple errors--for example, there was no indication where Acts or Scenes began or ended.
Today’s Act and Scene divisions are based on shrewd “guesses” by generations of editors.
There are many uncertainties, so even today’s editions have variations in the text.

38. Why study Shakespeare?
Chances are, you’ve quoted Shakespeare without even knowing it!
Have you ever said the following...

39. “Too much of a good thing.”
“in a pickle”
“It’s Greek to me.”
“Too much of a good thing.”

40. “as luck would have it” “good riddance” “foul play”
“dead as a door-nail”
“foul play”

41. “without rhyme or reason”
“a laughing stock”
“an eyesore”
“send me packing”
“without rhyme or reason”

42. Even today, Shakespeare lives on.
We can relate to his tales of love, hatred, revenge, courage, trust and deception.
So much of our world today has been influenced by Shakespeare.

43. “All’s Well That Ends Well”
T. Orman,

44. Introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth
4/9/2019
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

45. Shakespeare + TedEd

46. Introduction to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
4/9/2019
Introduction to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
The Meanings of Macbeth
Brief examination of the historical context of Macbeth
Witches and Witchcraft in Macbeth
We'll be looking at some of the meanings that people assign to this play in "The Meanings of Macbeth". I encourage you to keep these multiple meanings in mind as we begin to study the play. Toward the end of this study you will be creating a project that will demonstrate your understanding of the play, and playing one meaning off another and/or finding and justifying your own meaning for the play is quite an interesting topic. . .
We'll look - very briefly - at the historical context of the play and at the "witches" (the weird sisters) that open the play and are very important throughout . . .
And here's a little warning of what we'll be up to next class. . .

47. The Many Meanings of Macbeth
4/9/2019
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 play about gender
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.

48. Historical Context of Macbeth
4/9/2019
Historical Context of Macbeth
Shakespeare was a playwright, not a historian. However, he knew that history provided great material for plays: war, conflict, ambition, the downfall of great rulers.
Eleventh-Century (1000s) 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

49. 4/9/2019
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

50. The Real King Duncan and Macbeth
4/9/2019
The Real King 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 . . .

51. What’s the take-away?
Shakespeare modeled his play after an actual historical figure.
Some of the plot points are the same.
But…the real Macbeth was (almost) universally loved and respected; Shakespeare’s Macbeth wasn’t.

52. 4/9/2019
James I Comes to Power
Since there was no successor to the English throne, Queen Elizabeth I selected James VI of Scotland (a distant cousin) to succeed her—he was already King of Scotland.
After Elizabeth’s death (1603), James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, unifying the two countries, though there was still controversy between them.
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 . . .

53. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605
A failed assassination attempt against King James!
Disgruntled Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords.
Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding their horde of explosives in the basement of the House of Lords on November 5, (“Remember, remember the 5th of November.”)
The traitors were sentenced to death, and this day is still celebrated in England as Guy Fawkes Day.
Shakespeare weaves references to the Gunpowder Plot into Macbeth. Was this rebellious?

54. Back to the play… Before the Curtain Opens:
When the play begins, there are two wars in progress:
Civil War in Scotland- King Duncan vs. Macdonwald’s (a thane’s) rebels
National War - Scotland, led by King Duncan, against invading Norway

55. *Brain Break!*
Stand up at your seat. Your task: organize yourselves in line from youngest to oldest.
The trick: you must remain silent!
You have exactly 4 minutes to complete the task. Go!

56. Quick Review The “real” Macbeth: James I from Scotland
Killed king, became king, succeeded, was murdered by King’s son
James I from Scotland
Follows Elizabeth I
Gunpowder Plot: assassination plot
Was Macbeth written for him?

57. A Macbeth for King James?
4/9/2019
A Macbeth for King James?
Banquo (pictured at right)
an elaborate family tree of the Stuart dynasty suggests that King James is descended from a real Banquo (Holinshed).
Shakespeare wasn't the first playwright to interpret the story of Macbeth, King of Scotland. Earlier, a playwright named Holingshed created a similar play. Holingshed's play described a really elaborate family tree that showed King James as a direct descendent of Banquo. In Holinshed's play, Banquo was an accomplice to the murder of Macbeth. Shakespeare lays full responsibility for Macbeth's murder on the Macbeth clan Why would Shakespeare make this change?
Banquo is a fictional character - unlike many others in the play, he never existed (or, at least, his existence cannot be proven!). The appearance of Banquo in Shakespeare's version of the Macbeth story shows you the extent to which Shakespeare's play is modelled on those that came before it.
. . . another good project - compare/contrast the Shakespeare version of Macbeth with others . . .
Henry Fuseli, Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches on the Heath

58. Modern Associations with Witches?

59. A Macbeth for King James?
4/9/2019
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

60. Witches & Witchcraft Witch-mania in the Elizabethan era.
4/9/2019
Witches & Witchcraft
Witch-mania in the Elizabethan era.
Most people believed in witches!
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

61. Witches and Witchcraft
4/9/2019
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 . . .

62. Witches and Witchcraft - Misogyny?
4/9/2019
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 . . .

63. What would Macbeth’s audience have thought about the witches?

64. beginning Macbeth. . . Trance Changed Appearance Inability to Pray
4/9/2019
beginning Macbeth. . .
Trance
“look how our partner’s rapt”
Changed Appearance
“why do you make such faces”
Inability to Pray
“ “Amen” stuck in my throat”
Visions
“Is this a dagger I see before me?”
Disturbed Behaviour
“I have a strange infirmity”
Lack of Fear
“I have almost forgot the taste of fears”
Indifference to Life
“She should have died hereafter”
Invitations to evil spirits
“Come, you spirits”
OK - pull out your texts and we're going to begin to look at some quotations in context. Let's find these quotations, then discuss what they mean, bearing in mind the discussion we've just had and the information you've just been presented.
REMEMBER - if you're working with a different version of Macbeth, the line numbers may vary slightly different quarto editions . . .
I, iii, l. 141
III, iv, l. 67
II, ii, ll
II, i, l. 33
III, iv, l. 86
V, v, l. 9
V, v, l. 16
I, v, l. 38