ENGLISH 20-1
MACBETH
Read each sub-heading and complete the assigned task associated therein
(beside the bullet point) total of 4 questions) – you must complete the
readings
BIOGRAPHY
Most of what we think we know about William Shakespeare is highly speculative.
The authorship question persists to this day. If we examine most of the
conventional biographies, we find that the conclusions are qualified by words and
phrases such as probably, perhaps, might have, likely. We know surprisingly
little about Will Shakespeare from Stratford. For example, some have found it
highly suspect that the page recording his grammar school registration is
missing. Several of his peers and scholars and courtiers who came
immediately after him expressed incredulity that a person of his station and lack
of university education would be able to write plays which reflected such an
insightful and detailed knowledge both of the court and of the intellectual ideas of
the time. Accordingly, they suggested several more likely contenders for the
authorship – Francis Bacon, Queen Elizabeth I, Christopher Marlowe, and
Edward de Vere. An internet search on Shakespeare AND authorship question
will yield access to many of the 435,000 articles and books which explore the
probability of the farmer from Stratford’s having written the plays to which he (at
least) lent his name.

Find and Paraphrase 1 article (include the source) which supports
Shakespeare as the original writer of his works and one that claims
he is an imposter.
THE PLAY
Macbeth is the shortest play in the Shakespearean canon: the scenes with the
witches are widely accepted to be an interpolation, added by Thomas Middleton;
it is suspected that other scenes are missing.
Macbeth is certainly the play to which the most superstitions have accrued.
Indeed, it is widely thought to be accursed. Theatre folk refer to it as the Scottish
play and believe it is unlucky to use the title or quote from it in the theatre. Many
productions have been dogged by accidents and misfortunes. Find more
information, as well as some suggested reasons, from the following sites as well
as almost 24,000 others.
 In a chart identify some justification for these superstitions
(Appendix 2)
http://pretallez.com/onstage/theatre/broadway/macbeth/macbeth_curse.html
http://www.northern.wvnet.edu/~tcraig/sample.html
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Nevertheless, Lady Macbeth remains the character almost every female actor
yearns to play. The wyrd sisters or witches also interest us: are they weird – that
is, able to see into the future - or are they indeed witches?
THE THEATRE

Answer these questions in sentence format (Appendix 3)
1. What ideas and attitudes dominated the society in which Shakespeare
lived?
2. How did these ideas and attitudes shape the way in which Shakespeare
wrote?
3. What are the characteristics of a live performance in the theatre?

Useful information about the Shakespearean theatre, including a
virtual tour of the Globe, can be found at
http://virtual.clemson.edu/caah/Shakespr/VRGLOBE/VRGlobe.htm virtual tour of
Globe
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/globe/home.htm survey of new Globe and useful links
http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/shakespr/glob-stl.htm another view of the Globe
Elizabethan audiences were largely illiterate. They heard the play and they saw
the play. As you read the play, watch for key ideas and words that are repeated
to ensure we get the message. Watch for cues that this is a play intended to be
viewed rather than a poem intended to be read.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Writers, and creators of other texts such as plays and films, frequently explore
essential questions. These are the questions that raise issues central to our
lives, questions help us to define what it means to be human. Most important
thought during our lives will centre on such essential questions. Some Essential
Questions asked in Macbeth are:
What considerations might govern our treatment of other people?
What obligations do parents owe their children?
What are the consequences of thwarted ambition?
What is the role of conscience in our lives?
What is the influence of imagination on our actions?
Under what circumstances do we allow ourselves to be manipulated by others?
Why is it important to take responsibility for our actions?
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Under what circumstances do relationships constrain our freedom to act as
individuals?
As a society, how do we react to people who have fulfilled their ambitions? What
examples of the role of ambition exist in popular culture (think of songs, films,
television)? Can you think of examples where ambition is not tied to money?
Even the sceptics among us sometimes fulfil rituals “just in case”. For example,
when we spill salt, many of us throw a pinch over our left shoulder. What role
does superstition play in our society?

Which of the above questions are most prevalent to your study of
Shakespeare with Miss Kierstead in April 2013? (list in appendix 4)
CHARACTERIZATION
In a Shakespearean play, the plot is dominated by the thoughts and actions of
the principal characters. The playwright is denied the omniscient point of view.
Because the audience enters a world of ear and eye, Shakespeare restricts the
characterization to what the characters say and do.
The character must be
 consistent - behaving in a particular manner unless there is sufficient
reason for change
 clearly motivated - the audience may immediately or by the end of the text
understand why the character acted that way
 plausible - believable, lifelike, not all good or all bad
Self-Revelation
In speech and action a character reveals himself/herself. Every speech and
action is important; it delineates the speaker and develops the plot. Moreover,
there is a close relation between the speech and action of one character and the
other persons on the stage at the same time. In analyzing character, the
audience must ask questions such as these: "Does the speaker mean what
he/she says?" Is he/she being true to him/her self or is he/she pretending? "
Thus, Shakespeare's universal theme is developed, one evident in every one of
his plays, and the source of all the irony of life: the difference between the way
things are, and the way they appear to be or the way we believe them to be. It is
the difference between expectation and assumptions and prejudices, and the
reality of a situation.
Because the playwright cannot penetrate the mind of a character in the way used
by a writer of fiction, he uses the soliloquy as a substitute. Literally, a soliloquy
is a "speech made alone"; that is, a speech made when no one else is on stage
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or when the speaker acts as if there were no one else on the stage. A soliloquy
is the actor thinking aloud, and thus we can trust him to be truthful.
The Shakespearean soliloquy is of major importance:
 it gives us the otherwise unexpressed motives of the speaker
 it extends our knowledge of his character
 it comments upon previous actions
 it prepare us for future actions
In other words, it is ultimately concerned with both characters and plot. It has a
realistic aspect. Talking to oneself is not uncommon when one is profoundly
moved; a Shakespearean soliloquy comes almost always at an emotional climax,
or a major event in the plot.
The aside is always spoken when other characters are present. It is introduced
solely for the benefit of the audience; the other actors are not expected to hear it.
Reflected Revelation
Often the character is delineated in the words and actions of the other people in
the play. In this case, the analysis required of the audience is both detailed and
meticulous. Each word and action has been chosen with deliberation. The
author intends it to be significant. Nevertheless, it must be judged by such
criteria as the following: Is the speaker friend or foe? Is he/she speaking coolly
and rationally or is he/she emotionally disturbed? Is his/her judgement sound?
Is he/she revealing the traits of another or of him/her self?
In Shakespearean tragedy, other characters, external events, even the
supernatural may influence the speech and action of the major character, but
his/her catastrophe is never decided by external influences. It is determined by a
fatal flaw of character within him/her self, and this flaw must be associated with
deliberate action. The catastrophe must never be attributable to mental
imbalance serious enough to be classed as "madness."
Character foil is often used, whereby a character's purpose is to emphasize the
characteristics of the main character by exhibiting contrasting traits.
Nemesis shows just or retributive punishment - the punishment fits the crime.
Macbeth's ambition leads him to believe the witches' prophecies. He murders
Duncan and Macduff kills him. Banquo fails to act and his inaction leads, in part,
to his death. He is seen to be complicit in the death of King Duncan because he
did not act on his suspicions and did nothing to prevent it. Duncan is a weak king
and falls victim to a strong man. Lady Macbeth compels her husband to the early
murder, and her punishment leads to madness and suicide.
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Character Summary
King Duncan: King of Scotland, evidently a mild-mannered and weak king,
murdered by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Malcolm: Duncan's son, named Prince Cumberland, or heir to the throne.
When Duncan is murdered, Malcolm is fearful of the same fate, and fears being
blamed, so he flees to England. There, Macduff beseeches him to return to
Scotland and claim his throne. His army of English and rebel Scots defeat
Macbeth and he is then King of Scotland.
Banquo: General of the King's army. Banquo is a dramatic foil for Macbeth.
The witches predict that Banquo's issue will be kings, but Banquo does not lift a
finger to hasten the day. He is murdered by Macbeth because: (1) Macbeth
realizes that Banquo suspects him of the murder of Duncan; and (2) the witches
have predicted that Banquo's issue, rather than Macbeth's, will rule Scotland.
Macbeth: General of the King's army, Thane of Glamis. Macbeth is a complex
character; imaginative and sensitive, he recoils at first from the murder of
Duncan, even though he is ambitious to become King. After the prophecy of the
witches and under the prodding of his wife he does the deed; then after he wears
the crown, he begins to understand that he is not safely king, and that crime
begets crime. Fearful on his shaky throne, he continues to rid himself of
perceived enemies, ordering murders again and again, until the Scottish Thanes
revolt and depose him. Macbeth is courageous and physically strong, a good
General; he is rewarded with another title, the Thane of Cawdor, by King Duncan
for his bravery in battle. Later, we see that he is a moral coward, ambitious,
superstitious and imaginative and thus easily persuaded, and his character
deteriorates throughout the play.
Lady Macbeth: Wife to Macbeth. She has often been played as a villainess;
certainly she seems more resolute, ambitious and bloodthirsty than her husband
in the early stages of the play. However, all her ambition seems to be for
Macbeth rather than for herself; she suppresses her natural instincts as a woman
in order to steel him to do what he hesitates to do. Her sleepwalking scene in
Act V shows her as possessing a conscience, undergoing penance for her
misdeeds, weakening under the strain of her guilt.
MacDuff: Macbeth's special nemesis. He is noble, wise and clear-sighted. He
is loyal and patriotic, and neglects his family, abandoning them to Macbeth's
murderers, in order to flee England to support Malcolm. Because of his manner
of birth, he circumvents the prophecy made to Macbeth by the witches.
The Wyrd Sisters: also known as the Witches; in the context of this play, "wyrd"
means "fate". They influence the action of the play. The messages they deliver
are vague and open to interpretation; their initial prediction to Macbeth and
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Banquo causes Macbeth to take action and Banquo to do nothing. Hecate is
their Queen.
Supporting Characters:
Donalbain, younger son of Duncan
Fleance, Banquo's son, who manages to escape his father's fate
Ross, Lennox, Angus, Caithness, Menteith - Scottish nobles
Siward, Earl of Northumberland
Young Siward, son of Northumberland
Seyton, an officer attending Macbeth when all others have fled
THE APPEAL OF MACBETH
To an Elizabethan audience:
 the witches create a mood of mystery, superstition, evil
 identification with a great general and hero - first Macbeth, then Macduff
and Malcolm
 suspense - created by the prophecies
 conflict - murders and battles
 the porter - coarse humour
 the "perturbations" in nature - marvellous phenomena
 the ghost of Banquo - the supernatural, the unexplained
 satisfaction of the desire for revenge when Macbeth is killed
 state affairs - the banquet, the coronation
To the nobility:
 flatters the Stuarts - Banquo
 noble warrior as hero - Macbeth and Banquo
 dignity of high-born characters - Duncan, Malcolm
 problems of government and the wielding of power
 problems of ambition and advancement
 glamorization of history, tradition, lineage
 patriotism - Macduff and Malcolm
 defeat of the usurper
To the psychologist:
 problems of repression
 disguise of the real person - borrowed robes
 factors which influence decisions
 procrastination as revelation of fear
 power of suggestion
 guilt and hallucinations
 sensitive imagination
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
conflict of ambition and intelligence
To the philosopher
 Man and universal forces - cooperation with them leads to happiness;
interference leads to catastrophe; rewards taken without deserving them
leads to punishment
 Tragic Hero - A man can be almost perfect, but one flaw can destroy him
 Retribution - we receive what we give
 Morality - taking the right action
PLOT SUMMARY
ACT 1: EXPOSITION Temptation and Decision
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Witches strike keynote
Macbeth's prowess reported.
Witches meet Macbeth and Banquo; First prophecies.
Macbeth meets Duncan. Malcolm named heir.
Lady Macbeth introduced
Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle
Macbeth's decision. Lady Macbeth's plan
ACT 2: RISING ACTION First great crime
1.
2.
3.
4.
Prelude to murder; dagger soliloquy
Macbeth murders Duncan.
Macduff discovers murder
Macbeth is crowned King
ACT 3: CLIMAX/CATASTROPHE Second great crime
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Macbeth plans murder of Banquo.
Macbeth keeps plan secret from wife
Murder of Banquo; Fleance escapes
Banquo's Ghost appears at Banquet
Hecate's harangue
Macduff's departure reported
ACT 4: FALLING ACTION Third great crime
1. Macbeth visits witches; second prophecies
2. Murder of Lady Macduff and children
3. Malcolm tests Macduff.
ACT 5: CATASTROPHE - Denouement
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking scene
Scottish nobles desert Macbeth
Macbeth learns of their desertion and the condition of his wife.
Meeting of Scottish and English forces; Malcolm's order.
Third prophecy fulfilled.
Malcolm prepares to attack.
Death of Young Siward
Macduff kills Macbeth and hails Malcolm King of Scotland.
BIOGRAPHY
Using research methods provide a brief biography of William Shakespeare
including his life as a playwright, theatre owner and actor. (Early years not so
important) DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA – CITE YOUR SOURCES BY COPY AND
PASTING THE URL (APPENDIX 5)
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Appendix 1:
Article 1 paraphrase
Article 2 Paraphrase
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Appendix 2
Reasons for superstition in Macbeth
Event/Reasoning
Justification
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Appendix 3
1.
2.
3.
Appendix 4
Choose 3 of the most prevalent questions to the study of Macbeth (IN
YOUR OPINION)
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
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Appendix 5
Citations for Biography