Introduction to Shakespeare’s
Macbeth
John Worston,
Macbeth and Banquo
Meeting the Witches
The Many Meanings of Macbeth
 A historical thriller
– a fast-moving, action-packed
murder mystery demonstrating
that crime doesn’t pay
 A psychological study of
a murderer’s mind
 A play of political and
social realism
– how oppressive and
hierarchical society can corrupt
individuals
 A play of illusions
– the effect of the mysterious or
supernatural on humans
 A play of ideas or themes
– for example, “appearance
versus reality”
 A tragedy
– the fall of a great person
brought about by a fatal flaw in
their character
Historical Context of Macbeth
 Shakespeare was a
playwright, not an
historian. However,
he knew that history
provided great
material for plays:
war, conflict,
ambition, the downfall
of great rulers.
 Eleventh-Century
Scotland was a violent and
troubled country.
 Feuding families and clans
fought to control trade and
territory.
 The castle was the power
base of each rival war-lord
(thane).
 Political murder and
revenge killings were
commonplace.
The Real Macbeth
 The real Macbeth was
born in 1005, the son of a
ruling family.
 Macbeth’s father was
murdered by his cousin.
 Macbeth married the
granddaughter of the High
King of Scotland (Gruach)
Martin, Banquo and Macbeth on the Heath
Duncan and Macbeth
 Duncan was the king of
Scotland at the time the
real Macbeth was born
 Duncan was 38 at the time
of his murder - a murder
possibly committed by the
real Macbeth.
 Macbeth ruled Scotland for 17
years, during which time
Scotland became comparatively
peaceful and stable.
 Duncan’s son, Malcolm,
invaded Scotland in 1054,
supported by Edward the
Confessor.
 Macbeth was killed on August
 Macbeth was elected High
King of Scotland in 1040.
15, 1057 and buried at Iona, the
sacred burial place of the Kings
of Scotland.
A Macbeth for King James?
 King James succeeded Queen Elizabeth in
1603 - a Stuart, he was already King of
Scotland
 Shakespeare’s Macbeth may have been
performed for the first time before King
James in 1606
 Macbeth contains many echoes of King
James’ interests . . .
A Macbeth for King James?
 Banquo (pictured at right)
– an elaborate family tree of the
Stuart dynasty suggests that King
James is descended from a real
Banquo (Holinshed). In fact,
Banquo never existed.
– Shakespeare lays full
responsibility for Banquo’s death
upon the Macbeths
– the change to the traditional telling
of the story was probably made to
appease King James, who hated
King-killers (regicides).
Henry Fuseli, Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches on
the Heath
A Macbeth for King James?
 King James’ interest
in witchcraft was well
known
 King James visited
Oxford in 1605 and
was greeted by three
witches who hailed
him as the descendent
of Banquo . . .
interesting.
Alexandre-Marie Colin, The Three Witches from
Macbeth
Witches & Witchcraft
 A witch-mania
characterized the
Elizabethan era.
 Most people believed in
witches and circulating
pamphlets containing tales
of witches and witchcraft
were the equivalent of
today’s popular
newspapers.
Henry Fuseli, The Three Witches
Witches and Witchcraft
 Witches were said to have “diabolical” powers. They could:
– predict the future
– bring on night in the daytime
– cause fogs and tempests
– kill animals
– curse enemies with fatal, wasting diseases
– cause nightmares and sterility
– take demonic possession of any individual
– raise evil spirits by concocting a brew
 It was believed that witches allowed the devil to suck their blood.
Accused witches were examined for the “Devil’s Mark” - a red
mark on their body from which the devil had sucked blood.
Witches and Witchcraft – Misogyny
(dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women)
?
 Between 1560 and 1603, hundreds
of people, nearly all of them
women, were convicted as witches
and executed
 In 1604 an official Act of
Parliament decreed that anyone
found guilty of practicing
witchcraft should be executed
 Those who confessed to being
witches did so under torture or
because they were in the grip of
delusions recognized today as
psychiatric disorders.
King Duncan of Scotland
– Murdered by cousin Macbeth
– Honest and good
Malcolm & Donalbain
– Sons of the King
– Malcolm is the eldest son
Macbeth
– Duncan’s most courageous general
– Ambition to become king corrupts him
causing him to murder Duncan
Banquo
– General and Macbeth’s best friend
– Suspects Macbeth in Duncan’s murder
– An actual ancestor of King James I
Lady Macbeth
– As ambitious as her husband
– A dark force behind his evil deeds
Macduff
– Scottish general, suspects Macbeth of
murdering the king
– Macbeth has his family murdered
– Swears vengeance
Remember, don’t read with your own
eyes…
 Shakespeare’s time was also considered the English Renaissance of 1500 – 1650.
 • Humans had potential for development.
 • The idea of medieval Christianity, that this world is a preparation for eternal life, was
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questioned. Instead, people began to see everyday life as meaningful and an opportunity
for noble activity.
• This was a time for heroes. The ideal Elizabethan man was a talented courtier,
adventurer, fencer, poet, and conversationalist. He was a witty and eloquent gentleman
who examined his own nature and the causes of his actions.
• Marriages were arranged, usually for wealth.
• Women had a lower social status than men.
• People were concerned over the order of things. They felt there was “a great chain of
being.” This concept originated with Plato and expressed the idea that there is a proper
order within all things, and among all things, based on complexity, from the tiniest grains
of sand to heaven and God. When everything was in its proper position, there was
harmony. When the order was broken, everything was upset and everyone suffered.
• People felt that their rulers were God’s agents. To kill a King was a heinous crime; the
heavens would show ominous signs when such evil was present.
Literary Devices
 Iambic Pentameter
 Blank Verse
 Shakespeare’s essential pattern in his plays is blank verse (unrhymed iambic
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pentameter).
Therefore, whenever a reader notices a change in this pattern (a change in
rhythm from iambic to trochaic; a shift in meter from pentameter to tetrameter;
a shift from poetry to prose) there is a reason for the change. With the change,
Shakespeare is creating a mood, establishing character … something.
Be aware of shifts in language like this. For example:
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the witches speak in rhymed couplets of irregular iambic tetrameter;
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the Porter (Act II, Scene III) speaks in prose;
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Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene (Act V, Scene I) is in prose.
Literary Devices
 Figurative Language
 Similes and Metaphors
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Compare and contrast Macbeth’s figurative language (abundant and complex) to Lady Macbeth’s (infrequent
and simple)
– Be certain not to miss the “like” or “as” or the text
will indeed seem incomprehensible.
Personification
Hyperboles
Understatement
Irony
Literary Devices
 Motifs
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Fair is foul, foul is fair;
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Cleaning Duncan’s blood from their hands;
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The witches’ abuse of words—ambiguities and hidden
meanings;
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Guilt, repression, and madness;
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Sleep and sleeplessness.
Literary Devices
 Characterization
– Dynamic vs static
– Round vs flat
– Foil
– Tragic hero: “Man of high standard who falls from that high
because of a flaw that has affected many” - Aristotle
• Macbeth is one of the most famous examples of the tragic hero.
Literary Devices
 An allusion is an indirect reference to another event, person or work with which the
writer assumes the reader is familiar.
– Shakespeare uses allusions as techniques for establishing character,
building theme, setting mood.
– In Macbeth, there are allusions to Greek and Roman mythology, history,
and the Bible.
 Use of the supernatural is another device
 Madness, either real or pretended, was another popular device in Elizabethan drama
 Conflict: internal vs external
Dramatic Devices
 A soliloquy is a monologue. The character is alone onstage. It is a device the
playwright uses to give the audience insight into the character’s thoughts and
emotions.
– Shakespeare uses soliloquies to allow the reader to witness the conflict
between Macbeth’s honorable nature and his ambition combined with his
desire to please his wife.
 • The aside is another device used by the playwright to give the audience
insight into the character. Here the character is speaking either to himself or
directly to the audience.
– There are other characters onstage who by convention do not hear the
aside.
How to Read Shakespeare
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Use the character list (dramatis personae)
Never break with end lines, but rather with punctuation
Use notes
Read more than once
Read aloud, remembering its meant to be acted
Read as a director
Identify subject, predicate, and object as a way to work through reversed,
inverted, or delayed syntax
Recognize and embrace the challenge that language is living and thus
changing
Let the text teach you and mold you into an effective reader
Paraphrase (using a similar length of prose, put into your own words)
Apostrophes take the place of letters
Verb roots are often the same, even in suffix changes
Pay attention to antecedents (the noun which the pronoun replaces)