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 was elected High King of Scotland in 1040.

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 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

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

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: • the witches speak in rhymed couplets of irregular iambic tetrameter; • the Porter (Act II, Scene III) speaks in prose; • Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene (Act V, Scene I) is in prose.

Literary Devices

Figurative Language Similes and Metaphors

– 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 • Fair is foul, foul is fair; • Cleaning Duncan’s blood from their hands; • The witches’ abuse of words—ambiguities and

hidden meanings; • Guilt, repression, and madness; • 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 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)