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England, 1606
The King’s Men in performance at
Blackfriars Theatre, London,
before James I
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Macbeth is the last of Shakespeare’s “great
tragedies” (following King Lear, Othello, Hamlet).
 It premiered in 1606 at Blackfriars Theatre, an
indoor venue in London.
 King James I of England (formerly James VI of
Scotland) reportedly attended the premiere.
 Macbeth is the only play WS set in Scotland.
 It features events & people from Scotland’s history,
as well as authentic witchcraft, albeit skewed by
WS to suit his audience (and king’s) interests.

Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Dawn. Three witches plan to meet with Macbeth.
Note that these witches will only meet during
tempestuous conditions….
When shall we three
meet again—
In thunder, lightning,
or in rain?
… When the
hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost
and won.
(1.1.1-4)
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Dawn. Three witches plan to meet with Macbeth.
Note that these witches will only meet during
tempestuous conditions….
hurlyburly means
chaos; disorder.
We’ll compare this word
to its Scottish
counterpart,
hurdygurdy, later....
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Try to characterize these witches as individuals by
comparing what they say & do!
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/macbeth.1.1.html
First Witch asks
questions…
Second Witch answers
questions…
Third Witch comments
on given answers…
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Try to characterize these witches as individuals by
comparing what they say & do!
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/macbeth.1.1.html
First Witch answers to
a cat (Graymalkin).
Second Witch answers
to a toad (Paddock).
Third Witch is just in a
hurry (Anon).
Act One, scene one (1.1)
“Fair is foul, and
 this begins the theme of
foul is fair” (1.1.10)
deceptive appearances
 that which is good
may be evil
 that which is
impossible may
become possible
(don’t confuse this
with the cliché,
“nothing’s
impossible”)
Act One, scene one (1.1)
“Fair is foul, and
foul is fair” (1.1.10)
 that which is good
may be evil
 that which is
impossible may
become possible
(don’t confuse this
with the cliché,
“nothing’s
impossible”)
Notice that the witches’
lines shorten as the scene
ends.
FIRST WITCH
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
SECOND WITCH
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
THIRD WITCH
That will be ere the set of sun.
FIRST WITCH
Where the place?
SECOND WITCH
Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH
There to meet with Macbeth.
FIRST WITCH
I come, Graymalkin!
SECOND WITCH
Paddock calls.
THIRD WITCH
Anon.
ALL
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Wherefore this
shrinkage?
Act One, scene one (1.1)
“Fair is foul, and
foul is fair” (1.1.10)
 that which is good
may be evil
 that which is
impossible may
become possible
(don’t confuse this
with the cliché,
“nothing’s
impossible”)
The witches speak like no other
characters in all of
Shakespeare’s 38 plays.
Act One, scene one (1.1)
“Fair is foul, and
foul is fair” (1.1.10)
 that which is good
may be evil
 that which is
impossible may
become possible
(don’t confuse this
with the cliché,
“nothing’s
impossible”)
Also, they look like dudes.
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Place stress marks above these lines:
/
˘ /
˘
/ ˘ /
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
/ ˘
/
˘ /
˘ / ˘ /
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
This is a slight perversion of a pattern known
as trochaic tetrameter…
four trochaic feet, [ / ˘ ], appear per line.
The witches frequently speak in this
metrical pattern.
Act One, scene one (1.1)
Place stress marks above these lines:
˘
/
˘
/ ˘
/ ˘ / ˘ /
The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
˘
/
˘ / ˘
/ ˘
/
˘ / ˘
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?
This is the meter everyone else speaks,
called iambic pentameter…
five iambic feet, [ ˘ / ], appear per line.
Only the witches consistently avoid
speaking in this meter. WHY?
Is it hurly-burly or hurdy-gurdy?
hurly-burly
(1539) a portmanteau of hurling-and-burling, close to hurling
“commotion, tumult”; verbal noun of hurl.
• Hurling time was the name applied by chroniclers to the
period of tumult and commotion around Wat Tyler's rebellion.
"hurly-burly." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 14 Mar.
2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hurly-burly>.
Shakespeare’s Scottish witches say hurly-burly,
but that connotes hurdy-gurdy (dissonance and
confusion) because the play is set in Scotland.
The 1623 Folio spells it as “hurley-burley.”
p.s. hurly-burly is an example of assonance…
h
urly-burly
The larger letters create assonance
(one unified sound)…
but the word itself suggests dissonance
(many harsh, disagreeable sounds).
For example…
Look: a hurdy-gurdy!
What is a hurdy-gurdy?
hurdy-gurdy
1. a barrel organ or similar musical instrument played by turning a crank.
2. a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution
of hammers against the strings of a rosined wheel, turned by a crank.
[Origin: 1740–50; var. of Scots hirdy-girdy uproar, influenced by hurly-burly] a
musical instrument that makes music by rotation of a cylinder studded with
pegs [syn: barrel organ]
Source: "hurdy gurdy." WordNet® 2.1. Princeton University. 14 Mar. 2007.
<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hurdy gurdy>.
H
U
R
D
Y
G
U
R
D
Y
To WS’s contemporaries,
Witches
•
•
•
•
•
•
are real and dangerous
follow Hecate
have familiars
cast spells
get things done (or undone)
provide reasonable scapegoats and useful
examples for church and crown
Explication: Act One, Scene One
Write a paragraph to explicate Act One,
Scene One, explaining Shakespeare’s
perspective, style, OR sociohistorical
context with evidence contained in the
scene. Avoid summarizing the scene,
and use evidence from the scene to
support your answer.
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene two (1.2)
Morning. Scotland emerges victorious from a civil war.
Duncan is Scotland’s king
Scotland’s best warriors are
Macbeth (Thane of Glamis) & Banquo
Scotland’s traitors are
the Thane of Cawdor & Macdonwald
“bloody” (1.2.1)  notice how many times blood
is mentioned in this play …
bloody conditions will be a motif in this play,
& blood will become a symbol.
Act One, scene two (1.2)
Three foes lead an attack
against Scotland’s king.
Sweno
(Norway)
Duncan
(Scotland)
Macdonwald
(Ireland)
Cawdor
(Scotland)
Act One, scene two (1.2)
Macbeth gets a promotion (Glamis  Cawdor)
which means… more POWER
As whence the sun ’gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break
(1.2.25-6)  theme of cosmic disorder
foreshadowing  disturbances in human nature
cause disturbances in earthly nature
Remember for later: Duncan calls Macbeth
“valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” (1.2.24), &
“noble Macbeth” (1.2.67) 
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene three (1.3)
Three witches speak to Macbeth & Banquo; Macbeth gets a promotion.
Witches reappear; they’ve been gathering
spell ingredients for revenge. (1.3.1-37)
The ingredients contain dirty jokes that WS’s
audience would’ve appreciated.
Witches’ prophecies about promotion:
• Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor & King
of Scotland. (1.3.49-50)
• Banquo’s “sons will be kings,” yet he will
not reign. (1.3.65-8)
Act One, scene three (1.3)
Is it possible to predict the future?
The witches cannot possibly know about
Macbeth’s promotion unless they can see
the future… right?
… Or are the witches just telling Macbeth
what he wants to hear?
One of my favorite quotes:
… have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner? (1.3.84-5)
Act One, scene three (1.3)
“The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress
me / In borrow’d robes?” (1.3.108-9)
What does clothing symbolize?
Clothing symbolizes social status.
• Macbeth says Cawdor’s title (robes) is
“borrowed” at best, and not his.
• He doesn’t know that Duncan has already
decided to bestow Cawdor’s title upon him.
• Titles symbolize social status & class.
Act One, scene three (1.3)
Banquo uses clothing
symbolism as well:
New honors come upon him
Like our strange garments, cleave not
to their mould
But with the aid of use.
(1.3.144-6)
What is true about strange
garments?
New clothes take time and
wear to break in.
Act One, scene three (1.3)
Irony occurs in Ross’s lines:
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan
ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst
make,
Strange images of death. (1.3.95-7)
Remember for later:
Duncan praises Macbeth’s lack of
fear through Ross’s lines.
“The greatest is behind.” (1.3.117)
 The big promotion (kingship) is
next (behind Cawdor).
 It’s called Cumberland.
Theme of Deceptive Appearances appears:
• when Macbeth comments
on the weather & the
Scottish civil war (1.3.38)
• when Banquo describes
witches as both alien
AND human (1.3.39-43)
• when Banquo describes
witches as both female
AND male (1.3.45-7)
I told you they look like men.
Theme of Deceptive Appearances appears:
• in the witches’ prophecies
about Banquo (1.3.65-8)
• when Banquo warns that
The instruments of darkness tell us
truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray us
In deepest consequence.
(1.3.124-6)
• when Macbeth realizes that
Two truths are told… [and]
… nothing is
But what is not. (1.3.127-42)
The Art
of
Macbeth
--------------------
Henry
Fuseli
(17411825)
Act One, scene three (1.3)
MACBETH (to Ross, Angus, & Banquo)
Give me your favour: my dull brain was wrought
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains
Are register'd where every day I turn
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king.
(to Banquo only)
Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.
(1.3.50-6)
What makes this significant?
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene four (1.4)
Malcolm reports that the former Thane of Cawdor is dead:
… nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it. He died
As one that had been studied in his death.
(1.4.7-9)
Remember for later: Duncan trusts everyone unconditionally,
until convinced otherwise:
There's no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
(1.4.11-4)
How good a leader is Duncan?
Evaluate Duncan as a leader.
Rate Duncan on his:
• military might
• foreign policy
• subjects’ loyalty
• domestic issues
What would be Machiavelli’s opinion of Duncan?
How does Duncan compare to our President?
Act One, scene four (1.4)
Macbeth mentions a step in his “Stars, hide your fires” speech.

SCOTLAND
CUMBERLAND
CAWDOR
GLAMIS
SINEL’S SON
Act One, scene four (1.4)
The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies.
(1.4.48-50)
What is the choice Macbeth must make?
Either he falls down upon Cumberland/Malcolm
(kills him)…
or he overleaps the step
(exiles Malcolm once he’s king).
??
?
What will he do?
Act One, scene four (1.4)
With the last traitor dead, Malcolm & Macbeth
have received promotions.
Before Macbeth exits, he makes an aside:
Stars, hide your fires
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
(1.4.50-3)
What does starlight symbolize?
Why does Macbeth want to diffuse starlight?
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene five (1.5)
Late afternoon. Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband.
The setting has changed:
• Inverness (Macbeth’s castle)
• still the same day, just later
Contents of Macbeth’s letter:
• witches told me I’d be Cawdor, & King
• they vanished before I could question them
• you, my wife, are to share in my happiness 
“greatness is promised thee”
Act One, scene five (1.5)
Lady Macbeth doubts her husband’s
resolve to act:
I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.
(1.5.16-8)
Lady Macbeth mentions milk
(which connotes maternity)
because she thinks her husband is too
nice “to catch” Duncan’s crown.
Act One, scene five (1.5)
Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it.
(1.5.18-20)
 She knows that her husband
has the ambition for greatness,
but he lacks the courage to do
all that he must to become
great.
How will she get him to act?
Act One, scene five (1.5)
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty!
(1.5.40-3)
 establishes the motif of gender identity
Lady Macbeth wishes to lose that which makes her
feminine…
she rejects her femininity, since it is weaker than
masculinity…
& she asks for her compassion to be removed:
• she wants no guilt for evil deeds
• she wants her natural life-giving force (breastmilk)
to become a destructive force (gall)
Act One, scene five (1.5)
… look like th’innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ’t. (1.5.65-6)
This is the theme of deceptive appearances….
 She advises her husband
to hide his serpentine intentions
with a flowery disposition.
Notice Macbeth’s attitude concerning his wife’s plan:
We will speak further.
(1.5.71)
That’s all he has to say? Why so terse?
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Act One, scene six (1.6)
Lady Macbeth welcomes Duncan to Inverness.
Notice all the times Duncan compliments the Macbeths in
this scene:
• “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air / Nimbly and
sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses.”
(1.6.1-3)
• “See, see, our honored hostess!” (1.6.10)
• “… his great love, sharp as a spur….” (1.6.23-5)
• “Conduct me to mine host: we love him highly, / And shall
conduct our graces towards him. / By your leave,
hostess.” (1.6.29-31)
These quotes are important for later—especially the
last one!
Act One, scene six (1.6)
“Where's the thane of Cawdor?” (1.6.20)
• Duncan lost a race to Inverness against
Macbeth, because “he rides well” (1.6.22)
• Duncan believes “great love” caused Macbeth to
arrive home quickly. (1.6.23)
Why doesn’t the man of the house greet
this most honorable guest?
Does anyone traveling with Duncan
find this behavior odd?
Act One, scene six (1.6)
Review tonight’s guest list….
•
•
•
•
•
•
Duncan
Malcolm & Donalbain
Banquo
Macduff
Lenox, Ross, & Angus
unnamed servants & soldiers
Who are the freeloaders in the group?
What’s Lady Macbeth’s reaction?
Act One
1.1: A desert place.
1.2: A camp near Forres.
1.3: A heath near Forres.
1.4: Forres. The palace.
1.5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
1.6: Before Macbeth's castle.
1.7: Macbeth's castle.
Night falls on Scotland . . .
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
Evening. The Macbeths debate regicide; Macbeth has reasonable doubts.
Macbeth’s first soliloquy:
• He ponders the consequences of murder: guilt,
karma, and the Great Chain.
• He knows that Duncan’s murder will upset the
world’s natural order & cause chaos.
• He knows Duncan sleeps in his house as both his
kinsman and his guest (in “double-trust”).
He successfully talks himself out of killing the king…
when he concludes that fair is fair and foul is foul.
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
Macbeth’s first soliloquy (the famous quotes):
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor.
(1.7.8-10)
 For every evil action there is an equal and
opposite evil reaction.
I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the other.”
 I have ambition, but I lack motivation.
(1.7.25-8)
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
Some quotes that connect to established themes:
He's here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself.
(1.7.12-6)
 theme of deceptive appearances
… And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind.
(1.7.21-5)
 theme of cosmic disorder
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly…
We’d jump the life to come.
(1.7.1-7)
Macbeth poses a key question:
Will we be judged after death for the sins
we commit during life?
What do you think?
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
Review the compliments Duncan paid the
Macbeths in 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6.
Then notice when Macbeth puts his foot down:
We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
(1.7.31-5)
Why does Macbeth harbor doubts about
regicide?
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
What convinces Macbeth to obey his wife?
(1.) Being called a coward?
“Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire?”
(1.7.39-41)
(2.) Being called a woman?
“When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And, to be more than what you were, you
would / Be so much more the man.”
(1.7.49-51)
(3.) Being told that failure only happens to cowards?
“… screw your courage to the sticking-place / And we’ll not fail.”
(1.7.60-1)
(4.) Having the plan explained clearly, including alibis and scapegoats?
(1.7.61-72)
(5.) Being instructed to appear distraught when the king’s body is discovered?
“… we shall make our griefs and clamor roar / Upon his death”
(1.7.78-9)
Which is the reason?
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
(1.7.46-7)
Who is a bigger man than Macbeth?
This is a qualifying statement, e.g. Anchorman:
“I AM A MAN; I AM AN ANCHORMAN!”
Macbeth defines what he is by comparison:
1. Men can achieve anything they want.
2. Women are weaker than men.
☼ No one can achieve more than men.
Therefore: No one can do more than Macbeth, a man…
or, the person more masculine than Macbeth doesn’t exist.
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
In the end, Macbeth will obey his wife:
I am settled, and bend up
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth
know.
(1.7.79-82)
Notice how Macbeth echoes his wife’s advice:
… look like th’innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ’t.
(1.5.65-6)
Which theme do these quotes represent?
Macbeth voices the common
Elizabethans’ belief in
The Great Chain of Being
• The Great Chain explains the
Elizabethans’ worldview.
• This is a hierarchy, not a
ladder.
• Unlike the British class
system, no one can move up
or down the chain; none are
unfix’d.
• The Great Chain gave kings
absolute authority to rule
absolutely, & to claim Divine
Right.
• Kings had to behave divinely;
this relates to Machiavelli’s
study of leadership styles in
his seminal work, The Prince.
Major links of the Great Chain:
God (triumvirate creator) 
angels (“ruled” by cherubim,
seraphim, & archangels) 
humans (king rules all) * 
birds (eagle rules all) 
fish (whale rules all) 
beasts (lion rules all) 
plants (oak rules all) 
rocks (& 4 Elements) 
demons (Satan rules all) 
* Within the human rank:
king (appointed by God, ruling
by Divine Right)
clergy (called to duty by God)
nobles (appointed by king)
landed gentry (wealthy
landowners)
men (other than gentry)
children (parents’ possessions,
expendable, & source of
cheap labor)
women (sorry, ladies)
Act One, scene seven (1.7)
The Great Chain is connected to the theme
of cosmic disorder 
Deific transgression results in chaos
(hurlyburly).
If we follow laws  Order is preserved  we achieve God’s mercy
If we transgress laws  Order is destroyed  we suffer God’s Wrath
From the Elizabethans’ perspective, what will happen to the
universe if Macbeth murders Duncan?
What will happen to Macbeth’s soul?
To be continued...