1. Characters Guide and Introduction

2.   Take your paper and fold it long ways.  Take the folded paper and on the outside make 16 sections.  Make the same sections on the inner fold just beneath.  You will flip up the name of the character and see the important characteristics beneath. Instructions for Character Guide

3.   King of Scotland  Model of the virtuous ruler Duncan

4.   Son of Duncan  Rightful heir to Duncan’s throne  More cunning than his father Malcolm

5.   Son of Duncan, younger brother of Malcolm Donalbain

6.   Thane of Glamis with more titles to come.  Scottish General  Easily tempted but later plagued by guilt Macbeth

7.   Macbeth’s wife  Deeply ambitious  Loyal to her husband  Also affected by guilt Lady Macbeth

8.   Drunken doorman who works at Macbeth’s castle  Provides comic relief Porter

9.   An officer serving Macbeth Seyton

10.   Serves Lady Macbeth Gentlewoman

11.   A Scottish Thane  Brave and noble general  Represents the path Macbeth could have taken Banquo

12.   Banquo’s son  Presumed to eventually fulfill the witches predictions to Banquo  Like his father, an ancestor of King James I Fleance

13.   Thane of Fife  Opposes Macbeth’s treachery Macduff

14.   Wife and son of Macduff  Lady Macduff serves to contrast Lady Macbeth Lady Macduff and Son

15.   Thanes Lennox, Ross, Mantieth, Angus, & Caithness

16.   Siward is Earl of Northumberland, is Duncan’s brother, and has a son, Young Siward Siward and Young Siward

17.   3 Witches  Plot mischief through predictions of the future  Allude to the three Fates of Greek mythology  Followers of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft The Weird Sisters

18.  Historical Context  Written in England in 1606 for King James I.  James I was a strict Protestant who believed, amongst other things, that:  God had a supernatural influence on human affairs  Witches and magicians were agents of the devil, working to punish sinners and tempt the virtuous  God distinguished kings from ordinary men

19.   To please James I, Shakespeare set the play in Scotland, used many characters who were James' ancestors (including Duncan and Banquo), and included witches, a subject that James had written about.  The play is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy, probably because King James often fell asleep during performances. Historical Context continued

20.   Shakespeare's source for the story of Macbeth was The History and Chronicles of Scotland (1526), written by Hector Boece, a Scottish historian and humanist.  (Many scholars question the factual reliability of Boece's work, and point out that Shakespeare took liberties with Macbeth's history for dramatic purposes.) Historical Context continued

21.  Setting  11 th century Scotland  Hereditary succession to the throne was only three generations old  Duncan is king; he has two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain  He is supported by a number of noblemen as they battle Norse invaders  Macbeth is a General in the king’s army

22.  Great Chain of Being People in Shakespeare's time didn't think like us. We live in the post Darwinian age. Things are supposed to improve over time as the weak die out. Before Darwin, people assumed that the further we lived after the date of Creation the worse things got, because we lived more distantly from the “perfect time”. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maggieoh/Macbeth/chain1.html

23.  History vs. Macbeth  Macdonwald’s rebellion & the invasion of Sweno took place at different times—Shakespeare combined them  Duncan is supposed to have been killed by four hired servants—Shakespeare has Macbeth commit the murder  History represents Banquo as equal in guilt with Macbeth—Shakespeare whitewashes Banquo’s character as a compliment to King James

24.   History makes no mention of Lady Macbeth—her character is almost wholly the creation of Shakespeare  In history, Macbeth fled before Macduff— Shakespeare shows Macbeth bravely fighting

25.  Great Chain of Being God Angels Kings/Queens Dukes/Duchesses/Thanes Bishops Earls/Countesses Knights/Local Officials Ladies-in-Waiting Priests/Monks Squires Messengers Merchants/Shopkeepers Tradesmen Yeomen Farmers Soldiers/Town Watch Household Servants Beggars Actors Thieves/Pirates Gypsies Animals Plants Rocks http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/09/20/searc h-moving-up-the-buzzword-chain-of-being/

26.  Disruption in the Chain could cause anything from storms to deaths to absolute chaos.

27.   supernatural  blood  sanity / insanity  order / disorder  light / darkness Motifs and Imagery to look for...

28.   Soliloquy – a speech that a character makes while alone on stage to reveal his or her thoughts to the audience.  Aside – remark a character makes in an undertone to the audience or another character. Soliloquy and Aside

29.   A tragedy is a drama in which the fortunes, misfortunes, and disasters befall human beings of title, power, and position.  A tragedy inevitably ends in the ruin or demise of the hero, contains an element of fate with the façade of free will and acts as a cry against the tragic situation unfolding.  A tragic hero is the main character of the play and must submit to six basic characteristics. What is a tragedy?

30.   Since tragedy often involves the “fall” of the hero, he or she must have a high position to fall from, or else there is no tragedy.  People who fall from a high position in society, such as king, affect the lives of others. #1: Noble Stature

31.   The hero must “fall” due to something wrong his or her personality. One of the most common flaws is hubris (too much pride).  In Greek mythology, this is seen when mortals think they can do better than the gods.  In Shakespearean drama, it is seen when characters think they can avoid or change their fate. #2: Tragic Flaw

32.   The hero falls because he chooses one course of action over the other. In other words, he has made a life-changing mistake.  Look for warnings from other characters that go unheeded, for example. #3: Free Choice

33.   The audience has to feel sorry for the tragic hero. They must feel that he did not get what he deserved.  Death is the most common punishment that cannot be reversed AND seems the harshest. #4: Punishment Exceeds the Crime

34.   The hero must come to some sort of an understanding of what went wrong or what was really going on before he dies. He must come to accept a truth. #5: Increased Awareness

35.   The audience must not feel guilty for what happened to the tragic hero. They must feel emotionally drained, but happy. The ending must leave them satisfied that all has happened for a reason, and all characters have had life- altering realizations. #6: Produces Catharsis for Audience