The Tragedy of Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Macbeth
• Macbeth is the last of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies
and perhaps the darkest. Almost all of the scenes
take place at night or in the darkness. The presence of
the witches and powers of darkness augment the
dismal and ominous mood.
• Setting: 11th century Scotland (circa 1000 AD)
• The play was written for King James I (King James VI
of Scotland) around 1606, after his succession to the
thrown upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
The King James
Connection
• King James I (James VI of Scotland) succeeded Queen
Elizabeth I upon her death in 1603.
• Because James was considered the eighth descendent
of the Banquo-Fleance line, Shakespeare "polished"
the historical representation to present Banquo's
character in a more honorable light. (The Banquo of
Holinshed's Chronicles is actually involved in the
conspiracy to murder King Duncan).
• Shakespeare undoubtly chose this story to tell in his
play due to the ancestral connection to King James.
The Gunpowder Plot
• “Remember remember the 5th of November”Catholics (Papists) hid kegs of gunpowder under the
house of Parliament in an attempt to assassinate King
James and other members of Parliament.
• Guy Fawkes was discovered with the detonation
material before the plot could succeed.
• James I turned the plot into a propaganda instrument.
• If the plot had succeeded, the natural order would be
disturbed leading to chaos.
Characteristics of
the tragedy
• The main character, called the tragic hero, comes to an
unhappy or miserable end.
• The tragic hero is generally a person of importance in
society, such as a king or queen.
• The tragic hero exhibits extraordinary abilities but also
a tragic flaw, fatal error in judgment or weakness of
character, that leads directly to his or her downfall.
• Outside forces may also contribute to the hero’s
downfall.-antagonist
• A series of casually related events lead inevitably to the
catastrophe, or tragic resolution.
• The tragic hero usually recognizes his or her tragic flaw
by the end and so gains the audience’s sympathy.
• The tragic hero meets his or her doom with courage
and dignity, reaffirming the grandeur of the human
spirit.
Historically
speaking
• William Shakespeare's talents were in the creative
dramatization of a story full of imagery and imagination
rather than in the origination of the story itself. For his
inspiration, he often consulted Holinshed's Chronicles of
England, Scotland, and Ireland.
• In Shakespeare's main historical source, Holinshed's
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1587),
Banquo aids Macbeth in the murder of the King. In
Shakespeare's Macbeth the witches who tell Macbeth that
he would be king tell Banquo that he will be the father of
kings, but Banquo seems determined not to get involved in
trying to make the predictions true. There are many other
changes made from the historical source to the
Shakespearean play.
• According to the Chronicles, the "real" Macbeth
became King of Scotland in 1040 after having defeated
a historical Duncan who was a weak, youthful ruler
with little experience. Shakespeare presents an older
King Duncan who is due the respect of his thanes;
consequently, his murder is more heinous in the
dramatic interpretation.
• In the Macbeth of Holinshed's Chronicles, the wife of
Macbeth is hardly mentioned. Shakespeare develops
the impressive character of an ambitious lady Macbeth
from a different story found in the Chronicles.
• The historical Macbeth reigned for 17 years and
survived the battles which returned Malcolm to the
throne: whereas, Shakespeare presents a series of
events which speed to the conclusion of a Macbeth
defeated and beheaded.
The Elizabethan World
Elizabethans
believed in an
ordered
universe
where all
things were
ranked in
order by
superiority
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•
•
God
Angels
Man
Animals
Plants
Inorganic matter
Chaos
The
universe in
Macbeth
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
God
Angels
Duncan
Malcolm
Other nobles (Macbeth,
Banquo, Macduff)
Knights
Gentlemen
Peasants
Animals
Plants
Inorganic matter
Chaos
Man’s Ranking
Man was
ranked by
the
categories
listed to
the right.
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•
King or Queen
Nobility
Knights
Gentlemen
Professions and
Trades
• Peasants
Natural order and
Macbeth
When Macbeth kills the king his crime is not
solely a personal crime but a crime with social
and cosmic implications
The Macbeth Curse
• So many performances of Macbeth fail
that not uttering the word Macbeth in a
theatre has become a dramatic tradition.
It is instead referred to as “The Scottish
Play.”
Macbeth and Witchcraft
• In the Renaissance Era witches were not fantasy;
people believed they were minor powers fueled by
spirits.
• It is impossible to know whether Shakespeare
believed in witches or he used fantasy as a literary
tool to invigorate his plot.
• James I was fascinated by witches (he produced a
book named Daemonologie in 1597) so the inclusion
of witches in the plot are obviously for his approval.
Witchy
Powers
• They could speak with the devil, and with his help they
could communicate with the dead. Some could see into
the future,
• They could make people fall ill by using spells and
potions, and kill people at a distance.
• They could fly through the air, and make themselves
invisible at will,
• They use animals such as cats as disguises for the evil
spirits who serve them.
• They can cause bad weather and storms, affecting ships
at sea and spoiling the crops,
• In other words, they could be blamed for everything and
anything that went wrong,
Motifs in Macbeth
Darkness
Blood
Sleep
Themes
• AMBITION (THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY)
• THE CONSEQUENCE OF PRIDE
• A REFLECTION OF HONOR
• THE CORRUPTION OF POWER
• APPEARANCE VS REALITY
• TYRANNY VS KINGSHIP
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRUELTY AND
MASCULINITY- WHAT MAKES A MAN A MAN?