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Review: Sir Gawain
• (c.1375-1400)
• “The Pearl Poet”
• Heroic age v. leisure
class
• Romantic, chivalric,
hero—”fighting for an
idea”
• Time—cyclic,
degenerative,
regenerative (fate goes
ever as fate must?)
• Pentangle, five: sense,
fingers, wounds of
Christ, joys of Mary
• Gawain’s virtues:
beneficence, brotherly
love, pure mind,
manners, compassion
• Hospitality: sacred
guest-host relationship
• Gawain’s response to beautiful
•
•
•
•
•
v. “toothsome” women
Reputation? “Instruct me a little,
do, / While my husband is not
nearby”
Adam & Eve, David &
Bathsheba, Solomon & his
idolatrous wives, Samson &
Delila
But as a sign of excess it shall
seem oftentimes
When I ride in renown, and
remember with shame
The faults and the frailty of the
flesh perverse. (2433-2435)
• Morgan le Faye &
Merlin: the
supernatural
• The green belt as
symbol…of what?
• The number three and
Christian symbolism
MACBETH
Théodore
Chassériau (1819–
1856), The Ghost
of Banquo 1855
History and Sources
• Shakespeare’s interpretation
of Holinshed’s Chronicles of
England, Scotland, and
Ireland.
• King Duncan is weak and
youthful, but Shakespeare
makes him more respected to
dramatize his consequent
murder.
• Lady Macbeth is hardly
mentioned.
• The historical Macbeth reigned
for 17 years.
The Witches & Superstition
• King James produced the book,
Daemonologie (1597), which
provided ways to recognize witches
as well as to defeat their spells.
• He was particularly concerned with
the threat of witchcraft after several
women were tried in connection
with their self acclaimed attempt to
sink his ship during his wedding
journey. These women claimed to
have sailed "in a sieve" which
Shakespeare uses in Act I, scene 3.
(All three of the women concerned
were burned-as were between
4,500 and 8,000 other supposed
witches during that century.)
Macbeth: Theatrical Terminology
• Tragedy
• Tragic Flaw
• Stage Direction
• Soliloquy
• Monologue
• Asides
• Blank Verse
• Act, Scene
Genre and the Theatre: Tragedy
Reading Questions: finishing Macbeth
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
In Act 3, Scene 4—the famous banquet scene—which character(s) see
Banquo’s ghost? Do audiences see him? Within the world of the play, how
does this inform Macbeth’s madness?
Why is Hecate angry in Act 3, Scene 5? What purpose do you think this
character serves?
List at least three ingredients the witches add to their cauldron. How are
these ingredients “monstrous,” even problematically so?
How does Macduff’s wife compare to Lady Macbeth is their respective
characterizations? How does the scene with Macduff’s wife and child serve
to characterize him?
Early in the play, Lady Macbeth conjures spirits to come to her “Stop up
th’access and passage to remorse…Come to [her] woman’s breasts / And
take [her] milk for gall.” Do you feel the spirits grant her request? Why or why
not?
What is the Doctor’s diagnosis and cure for Lady Macbeth’s sickness? What
is Macbeth’s response to this cure?
What do you make of Macbeth’s response to his wife’s death (hint: it’s one of
his most famous monologues)? What’s his state of mind at this time, and
thereafter?
What is Macbeth’s tragic flaw? Do you empathize with any characteristics of
Macbeth or Lady Macbeth?