Renaissance Theatre
Let’s have fun!
Medieval and Renaissance
Medieval Drama
• Evolved from Church
ceremonies
• Miracle Plays
– Saints
• Mystery Plays
– Bible History
• Morality Plays
– Taught people how to live and
die
Renaissance Drama
• Moved beyond the Church
• Influences from many
sources
Shakespeare
• Read pages 289-296
• 2 Monarchs during
Shakespeare’s career
• Three types of plays
Macbeth
The cursed play
Written specifically to be performed for, and
to please, King James I.
James Stuart was already King James VI of
Scotland when Queen Elizabeth's death
(1603) made him James I of England as well.
King James liked witches
• In the late 1500's,
Scotland had a witch
craze.
– Many people convicted
of wicked secret
practices without
physical evidence.
• James I believed the
witch hysteria.
– Wrote a book about the
supposed hidden world
of wicked witches,
entitled Demonology.
OR, ….
• Maybe James really
believed that there was
a secretive sect devoted
to malicious evil?
• Or, maybe he was just
another leader trying to
unite people against a
common, imagined
enemy with different
cultural practices?
One More King James I Link
• Macbeth deals
with the fictional
ancestors of the
Stuart line
(Banquo, Fleance)
– presents Banquo
more favorably
than did the play's
sources.
• Procession of kings
scene ends with a
mirror (fun fact)
• James could see
himself, thus
becoming part of
the action.
3rd King James Link
• Macbeth assassinates
the King of Scotland
• Gunpowder Plot – 1605
– Catholics try to
assassinate King James
– Blow up King James and
Protestant Parliament
– Guy Fawkes
• Now a fun-filled holiday in
England
One more thing you should consider…
• Producing Macbeth is
supposed to be unlucky.
• Fires, falls, and weapon
injuries have plagued
past productions.
• Superstition requires
those involved in
productions not to say
the play's title.
– The Scottish Play
– Mackers
– MacB
Bad Luck – is it true?
• Legends about the boy
actor who first played
Lady Macbeth getting
sick and Shakespeare
having to fill in.
• Theaters closed early
1700’s after people
thought the deviltry of
the play had caused a
bad storm.
• Some people think that
the play's vision of evil,
with witches, demonic
familiars, and so forth
explains the bad luck
Literary Terms / Vocabulary
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Ambiguity, Equivocation
Atmosphere
Blank verse
Catharsis
Contraction
Deus Ex Machina
Foot / meter / Iambic
pentameter / blank
verse
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Hamartia
Dramatic irony
Motif
Paradox
Soliloquy
Synecdoche
Tragedy / tragic flaw
Weird (Old English Def.)
Antimetabole
• Repetition in reverse
order
• "You like it; it likes
you."
• Fair is foul; foul is fair
Notes:
• Motifs:
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Fair is Foul
Blood
Hands
Clothing
Sight, blindness
Sleep
Gender
• Themes:
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Equivocation
Appearances
Ambition
Guilt
Gender
Macbeth – Tragic Hero
Macbeth and Banquo
Act I
• Review questions p. 318 • Blank Verse (p. 318)
– Iamb / pentameter
– Witches?
Meter and Foot
• Meter – regular pattern
of stressed and
unstressed syllables
• Foot – Meter’s basic
unit
• Consists of one stressed
and one or more
unstressed
Foot Types
2 syllables:
• Iamb = unstressed, followed
by a stressed
– “relief” / “respect”
• Trochee – stressed,
followed by an unstressed
– “bummer” / “Passler”
3 syllables:
• Dactyl = stressed, followed
by 2 unstressed
– “ecstacy”
• Anapest = 2 unstressed,
followed by a stressed
– “contradict”
Metrical Length
• Number of the feet each line contains
– Monometer: one foot
– Dimeter: two feet
– Trimeter: three feet
– Tetrameter: four feet
– Pentameter: five feet
– Hexameter: six feet
– Heptameter: seven feet
Put them all together
• Iambic Pentameter = 5
iambs
– Unstressed/stressed
pattern used five times
in each line
– “I dare do all that may
become a man”
• Blank Verse: Unrhymed
Iambic Pentameter
Homework
• Scan your name
• Are you naturally musical (fits a pattern)?
– Jennifer = Dactyl
– Passler = Trochee
– If I wanted my name to fit a pattern
• Jennifer Passaler = Dactyl Dimeter
Order and Chaos – Elizabethan Style
• When this order is out
of order = Chaos
• Duncan’s killing/murder
causes disturbances in
nature
– A horrible act (lying,
stealing, killing) =
storms, earthquakes,
physical harm
Knocking at the Gate
• Read the essay on
pages 330-331.
• What is De Quincy’s
main point?
• How does Macbeth’s
transfiguration confirm
his role as the tragic
hero?
• Continual Knocking
– Why?
• What is gained
• What is lost?
• Porter
– Why?
• What is gained
• What is lost?
Act II
• Review questions p. 333
Act III
• Review questions p. 351
Murder of Lady Macduff
• Macbeth’s actions become less grand
– Duncan’s murder – tragically grand
– Banquo’s murder – melodramtic
– Lady Macduff – creepy, ghoulish
Act IV, Scene 3, p. 359-364
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Malcolm and Macduff meet
Macduff was a friend of Macbeth
Malcolm is suspicious
Macduff says, “hey Malcolm, you should be king.”
Read Malcolm’s response, lines 50-66
Macduff says, “Oh no – yuck!”
Malcolm says, “Surprise – I was testing you!”
Let’s go get Macbeth! (10,000 Englishman)
ACT IV, Sc. 3 – Royal’s Touch
In Macbeth
• King Edward (England,
1003-1066)
• Heals people with his touch
• Real King = placed by God –
could do that
King James (England/Scotland –
early 1600’s)
• Performed the Royal’s Touch
• Read page 367
Act IV
• Review questions p. 369
Act V
• Review questions page
388-89