Gazing Long Into the
Abyss: An Introduction
to Macbeth
Feraco
Search for Human Potential
14 December 2010
 If you gaze long into an abyss, the
abyss will gaze back into you.
Frederick Nietzsche
 We are merely the stars’ tennis
balls, struck and banded, which
way chooses.
John Webster
 Maybe all one can do is hope to
end up with the right regrets.
Arthur Miller
Coins, Edges, and Consequence
 As we skid towards semester’s end, we
find ourselves teetering on the edge of
darkness
 We’ve joked about “SFHD” before, but
we’ve spent most of our time with
fairly heroic characters, or at least
characters who get what they want
 Macbeth, on the other hand, is about
the darkest coin flip a person can
imagine…and what happens
afterwards
 It’s also one of Shakespeare’s finest
plays, and a perfect capstone to the
semester’s studies
 The star in this play is blood-soaked
Some Basic Tech Specs
 Macbeth is five acts long, although the
acts vary in terms of length and scene
number
 The play is set in Scotland, and is
partly based on events that took place
during the 11th century
 Some of the names sound highly
similar – those of you who didn’t like
the names in Beowulf aren’t going to
like trying to keep Macbeth and
Macduff separate – but they’re easier
to understand than you’d expect
 This is because, unlike in Beowulf, the
characters have fairly wellrounded/defined personalities and
goals, and their needs matter
The “Scottish” Play
 Obviously, Shakespeare isn’t
Scottish
 His new king, however, was, and
Macbeth was written to directly
appeal to James I
 James tended to fall asleep
during plays, so Shakespeare had
an uphill battle ahead of him
 James was the descendant of one
of the play’s characters, Banquo
 This is really important in Act IV
More Tech Specs
 Shakespeare writes in blank (nonrhyming) verse
 His lines are generally ten syllables
wrong, with alternately stressed and
unstressed syllables
 However, those of you who have read
Shakespeare’s other works – Romeo
and Juliet, etc. – will notice that
Shakespeare’s structure is more
disordered than in his earlier works
 Not a lot of perfect iambic pentameter
 Shakespeare’s experimenting more
with language as he ages
 Also, this structure reflects the play’s
disordered world and action
The Action and the Actors
 In Scene I, we see witches plotting
something we don’t understand
 We then cut to our introduction to the
Scottish king, Duncan (stationed far
from battle)
 We discover that Scotland has just won
a war on multiple fronts, and that
Macbeth’s courage and honor are
largely responsible for the victories
 We also learn that the Scots were
betrayed by the villainous Thane of
Cawdor, and that the nobleman will be
replaced by Macbeth himself
The Action and the Actors
 Next, we see Macbeth and his best
friend, Banquo, as they return from
the battle scene
 They come across the witches from
Scene I, who greet Macbeth in
triplicate
 First, as the Thane of Glamis
 This is who he already is, since he inherited
the title from his father
 Next, as the Thane of Cawdor
 This is also who he already is, but he
doesn’t know yet – he hasn’t returned from
battle to receive his promotion from
Duncan yet
 Finally, they tell him he will be king
thereafter
Wait, What?
 They inform Banquo that he is both
less and more than Macbeth (?)
 They tell him that he will never rule,
but that he will be the father of rulers
(remember this!)
 Both men are skeptical
 Macbeth isn’t part of the royal line;
there’s no way he should be king
 For that matter, Banquo isn’t either
 They’re instantly suspicious of their
greetings – not just because of the
king business, but because they don’t
realize that the Thane of Cawdor
betrayed the country
But Then…
 Macbeth receives confirmation of
his promotion
 Instantly, his thoughts turn
darker: can the witches be telling
the truth?
 Could he be king?
 He and Banquo meet Duncan and
receive their commendations, but
Macbeth is alarmed to rediscover
that Duncan’s heir is preparing to
hold the throne one day
 That’s a small obstacle, no?
The World Turns
 Macbeth sends word of the prophecy
to Lady Macbeth, who immediately
begins plotting to take the throne
 Soon, Macbeth brings word that
Duncan will be staying at their castle
(by happy coincidence)
 Macbeth’s initial desire to murder his
way to the throne wavers
 Lady Macbeth’s never does, and she
proves quite convincing
 She and Macbeth resolve to kill the
king and frame others for the crime
The Day Approaches…
 Banquo and Macbeth speak with one another
alone
 While the latter pretends he doesn’t care
about the prophecies, Banquo confesses that
they’re haunting him in his dreams
 He’s so uneasy that he doesn’t recognize that
Macbeth is lying – an oversight that will have
fatal consequences
 After the conversation ends, Macbeth battles
with himself over whether to kill Duncan
 He hallucinates, believing he sees a dagger
floating towards him, and tries to convince
himself that the sight is an omen that
justifies his decision
 When he hears Lady Macbeth’s signal that
the stage is set, he leaves the scene and
murders the king.
The Aftermath, Part I
 In doing so, however, Macbeth is so
shocked and traumatized by his own
crime that he brings the bloodied
murder weapons home with him in a
daze
 Lady Macbeth seizes control, grabbing
the weapons and soiling herself with
blood as she returns the blades to the
murder scene
 When she returns, she orders Macbeth
to clean himself up and pull himself
together – just before company
arrives in the form of Macduff and
Lennox, who discover that the king’s
been killed
The Aftermath, Part II
 Duncan’s sons, fearing the worst is yet
to come, flee for foreign lands, thus
casting suspicion upon themselves
 Some believe they bribed the guards into
killing Duncan
 In reality, Lady Macbeth drugged the
guards, and Macbeth used their weapons to
kill the king
 After some time passes, Macbeth is
named king
 We learn this as we learn that
unnatural events are taking place
throughout Scotland, and as a
prolonged symbolic and literal
darkness falls over the nation
 More to come…