Macbeth Notes Act 1 Characters The Witches (Supernatural) Macbeth - Protagonist? Antagonist? Coward? Ambitious? King Duncan - Tyrant? True Leader? Too trusting? Angus - messenger Malcom - messenger Ross - messenger Banquo - Too trusting? Best friend of Macbeth Lady Macbeth - Evil? Manipulative? Ambitious? Setting: Scotland Literary terms: - Paradox: A statement that contradicts itself Symbol: ex.) weather - foreshadows, mood + tone Dramatic Foil: A good character who is directly placed next to a bad character/ emphasizes negative characteristics of the bad character and vice versa Background Information Groups of people who are defeated early in the play: - 1.) Macdonwald - Leader of the rebel forces - 2.) Norway’s troops - Have come to aid the rebels - 3.) Thane of Cawdor - Traitor to the King Order of Succession in Scotland during the Anglo - Saxon times: - 1.) King - 2.) Prince of Cumberland - 3.) Thane of Cawdor - 4.) Thane of Glamis - Macbeth Macbeth 1.1-1.2 Act 1 Scene 1 ● Setting: Thunder and Lightning ● 3 witches meet Act 1 Scene 2 ● Duncan, King of Scotland, hears about success in battle of his nobleman Macbeth and Banquo ● Duncan orders the execution of the rebel, Thane of Cawdor, and send messengers to announce to Macbeth that he has been give Cawdor’s title Act 1 Scene 3 ● Macbeth starts out as Thane of Glamis ( Thane = Earl: A position of nobility similar to a knight) ● Macbeth receives 2 prophecies: 1- Become Thane of Cawdor / 2 - Become King - “King hereafter” ● Banquo asks for his prophecy - 1 - Banquo will get kings - a paradox ● After the witches give the prophecy they disappear ● Ross and Angus arrive with news that the king has named Macbeth “Thane of Cawdor” Thus - the first prophecy is fulfilled ● Macbeth immediately has 2 thoughts - 1. He must kill Duncan to make the prophecy to come true ( introduces murder to the play and shows that Macbeth has ambition) / 2. No - Let FATE take its course (Audience believes he has good qualities) ● INTERNAL CONFLICT created Look For…. ● ● ● ● Setting Motifs: Ambition, Greed, Power, Supernatural Literary Devices: Paradox, Dramatic Irony, Diction, Internal Conflict Elements of Tragedy Act 1 Scene 4 ● Duncan admits he is too trustworthy.Will he learn from his mistakes? ● Doesn’t seem so because he praises Macbeth and Macbeth thinks about murdering him ● Duncan names his oldest son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland ● Lady Macbeth - Thinks her husband is weak in character - questions his manhood - She proves to be VERY AMBITIOUS - Motif/ Theme Ambition - Plans to persuade Macbeth to murder Duncan - - Asks “spirits” to make her more manley, less stereotypically feminine - Gender Motif (Shows superstitious nature of characters and shows that Shakespeare wants the audience to see that women are much stronger than the men in their lives… maybe) When Lady Macbeth shows up - Lady Macbeth proves to be persuasive Act 1 Scene 6 ● Notice the change in weather ● Consider who greets King DUncan when he arrives at Inverness … Why is it significant? ● Macbeth’s concerns about the plot (internal conflict) - 1.) Plan might backfire - 2.) Eternal Damnation - 3.) “Double Trust” Loyalty is gained - 4.) Hosts should protect their guests - 5.) Duncan is loved; therefore, his killer will be despised, no reason to murder Act 1 Scene 7 ● ● ● ● ● Macbeth refuses to kill Duncan Lady Macbeth is DETERMINED to persuade him She compares him to a man afraid to wet his feet Says he is unmanly - this is repeated Claims SHE would never break a promise (watch how she describes herself) End of Act 1 ● 1. Drug the guards ● 2. Use their daggers to kill the king ● 3. Return bloody daggers to the guards to put the blame on them Macbeth Act 2 Notes Scene 1: Characters: Banquo, Fleance, Banquo’s son, Macbeth Soliloquy Time: ● Begin discussing witches ● Lady Macbeth alone - she drugged the guards and would have killed Duncan herself if he didn’t look like my father ● Characterization: Macbeth quotes - Bloody - claims two people in the castle woke up while he committed the act + yelled murder and went back to sleep ● Internal Conflict - Macbeth could not say “amen,” he believes his soul is damned forever ● He hears voices - “Macbeth doth murder sleep” ● Macbeth is unable to execute final stage of plan - framing the guards, so Lady Macbeth takes the bloody daggers and smears the blood all over them Annotations: - Gender roles - tone established Ambition Fate Supernatural Manhood/ Masculinity Internal Conflict SYmbols Motifs/ Themes Internal Characterization Act 3 Scene 2 Summary ● Lady Macbeth becomes unhappy because of his recent behavior ● Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth suffer from no appetite and no sleep from anxieties ● They are determined to become welcoming and jovial, want to hide agitation ● Macbeth indicates to Lady Macbeth that he plans to take care of the issue with Banquo ● Extended Metaphor - an author’s explanation of a single metaphor that continues at length Act 3 Imagery 5 Examples of imagery in Scene 2/ contribution to tone and action of the play 1.
