Download - The Scottish Play
The Scottish Play
Duncan: King of ScotlandMacbeth: a general—thane (noblemen)—king Banquo: a general later killed by MacbethMacduff: a nobleman-out to get Macbeth later
in the playMalcolm: Duncan’s eldest sonLady Macbeth: Macbeth’s wife3 Witches: The “weird sisters”
Important Characters
MacbethWritten between
1603 and 1607Shakespeare’s
shortest tragedyOften referred to as
“The Scottish Play”
Tragedy with some history…Macbeth was a
Scottish King in 1040
Ruled for 17 yearsKilled King Duncan
to become King Macbeth’s son took
the throne but was killed in 1058
Killing royalty back then…
Written for King James?James renamed
Shakespeare's group to The King’s Men
James was from Scotland
Someone tried to kill King James
King James wrote a book about witchcraft
It has been said never to utter the word, “Macbeth” in a theater. The following disasters have occurred, thus rendering the play cursed:In the first performance of Macbeth, Shakespeare
himself had to play Lady Macbeth as the young actor with her part became sick and died.
In 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted a blunt dagger with a real one, thus killing Duncan live on stage
In 1721, hecklers annoyed the actors so much that a brawl broke out and the army had to break up the fight
In 1849, 31 people were trampled to death in a riot that broke out in the theater
The Curse of Macbeth
The worst tragedy was in 1937,when the following mishaps occurred:A 25 lb. stage weight nearly crashed on
Laurence OlivierOlivier’s sword broke and flew into the
stage, hitting an audience member and causing him to have a heart attack
the director and Lady Macduff were involved in a car accident on the way to the theater
The theater owner also died of a heart attack during dress rehearsal
The Curse of Macbeth cont.
Themes/Symbols
Power = CorruptionWhen we first meet
Macbeth, he does not appear to be a villain
As titles and land are heaped on him, his lust for power grows
With the help of his wife, they commit evil deeds to get and secure the crown
Masculinity = CrueltyLady Macbeth, one
of literature’s most evil females, asks for her feminine features to be replaced with masculine ones
She talks about willingly killing infants in order to become queen
BloodThis is one of
Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays, huge body count!
As the play progresses, blood represents guilt in Lady Macbeth and Macbeth