Purpose: Introduction
To build background for better
understanding of the play
To relate to your own experiences
To appreciate Shakespeare’s skill
To increase knowledge of other cultures
To analyze Elizabethan drama
To plan, prepare, present literary
interpretations
To improve your reading, writing, and
analyzing skills
Who was Macbeth, anyway?
Scottish king from AD 1040 to AD 1057
 Scotland prospered under Macbeth’s
rule
 He appeared to be a good king
 Shakespeare changed all of that
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Why Study Shakespeare?
Did you know that there is a horrible
curse on the play?
 There are many strange accidents and
incidents that have occurred during
productions.
 “That Scottish Play” never say the
name of the play
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1272-1305 : Every man dies, not every man
lives.
Rob
Roy
William Wallace
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Kilts and tartans
What are Scottish clans?
Christie Tartan
Map of Scotland and Glamis
Nessie the
Loch Ness
Monster- a
neighbor of
Macbeth.
Fair is foul, foul is fair,
 Hover through the fog and filthy air.
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Fate and Other Things
Strange: “Something wicked
this way comes.”
Can you define Fate?
Is witchcraft still thriving today?
 Have you ever had your fortune told?
 Have you ever seen a ghost?
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Common Themes
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Corruption of power
Blind ambition
Appearance vs. reality
Superstition and its effect on human behavior
What are the characteristics of an evil
person?
Are temptation, desire, ambition evil traits?
Effects of concealed guilt
Common Repeated Images
Sleep
 Blood
 Disease
 Clothing
 Light
and Darkness
Some familiar terms
Tragic hero
 Aristotle’s concept of tragedy
 Hubris
 Hamartia
 Allusion
 Simile
 Metaphor
 Personification
 Alliteration
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Terms again
Foreshadowing
 Dramatic irony
 Aside
 Soliloquy
 Blank verse
 Iambic pentameter
 Rhymed couplet
 Tanistry
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More stuff
Great Chain of Being
God
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The Great Chain of Being
Angels
Man
Animals
Plants
Rocks
Framework of a Tragedy
Climax
Act III
Crisis-Pivot-Counterstroke
Rising Action
Act II
Falling Action
Act IV
Initial Incident
Act I
Denouement
and Resolution
Act V
Castastrope (2nd Climax)
Exposition
Act I
Shakespeare
and his own curse
Holy Trinity Church in
Stratford upon Avon, England
Shakespeare: The Greatest of
the Greats
Shakespeare: The Greatest of
the Greats: Let’s Review
A Final Thought
What’s on for Today?
Denotation
 Connotation
 Stress
 Inflection
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So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
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List synonyms for the words “foul” and
“fair.”
This statement is called a paradox.
 What others have you noticed?
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Stress
 He was a gentleman on whom I built an
absolute trust.
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Stress a different word each time you
read the line.
 How does the meaning change?
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Inflection
 Is
execution done on Cawdor?
Rise and fall of your voice…
 How does the meaning change?
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Nonverbal communication
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What meaning is implied without
words?
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How does Banquo feel about the witches’
predictions?
How does Macbeth feel?
Who is the topic of conversation at the start
of scene 4?
How might Duncan’s words to Macbeth, as
Macbeth enters, seem ironic?
How does Macbeth feel now that Malcolm has
been named Price of Cumberland?
Do we have any clues about how he will
behave in the future?
Sonnet- Elizabethan or
Shakespearean
14 line poem
 Contains 3 quatrains and a rhymed
couplet
http://www.rhymezone.com/
 10 syllable line of unstressed / stressed
syllables.
 Divided into five feet
 Rhyme pattern: abab cdcd efef gg
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