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 = Corruption

When 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