INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

• Considered greatest playwright in history• Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford Upon Avon• Died April 23, 1616• Married Ann Hathaway (8 years his senior)

– She was pregnant with his child when they got married– 3 kids – 1st Susana, then twins (Hamnet and Judith)– 7 years following the twins birth there no records exist these are called

his “lost years” and there is much speculation as to what he was doing at this time

• Hamnet dies 1596 – leaving Shakespeare with no heir• End of 1500’s plays have deeper meaning - probably because of

his son’s death

William Shakespeare {continued}• Evidence suggests that he moved {without his family} to London

and worked as an actor and playwright sometime between 1585-88– He continued to live there for the next 25 years

• Acting group was called Lord Chamberlain’s Men• Eventually he and his partners built the Globe Theater.• Globe Theater – many performances, was destroyed and rebuilt

several times• Shakespeare becomes a very wealthy man.

– Bought a beautiful home for his wife and daughters in Stratford in 1597• He died in the home in 1616 leaving his wife Anne his “second

best bed "in his will.

Elizabethan Theater

• His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs.

• During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Drama emerged at the most important literary genre.

• Also known as the English Renaissance or the Elizabethan Era– Elizabethan London was the center of England’s social,

intellectual and business life

Elizabethan Theater

• 3 levels – higher class on top tier, middle in the middle tier and lower class would stand

• Few props, moveable/limited scenery• Only males performed on stage• No curtain – actors had to devise clever ways

to get dead bodies off stage {carried off as part of the action}

Shakespeare’s Work• Sonnets

– Shakespeare's sonnets are a collection of 154 sonnets, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality

• Plays – 37 in total– 3 Categories of Plays

• Histories – linked series, take place in medieval England, rise and fall of House of Lancaster, Dramas based on historical facts that explored the monarch’s pressure of public life, moral issues faced tragedy, importance of political order (Henry VIII, Richard III)

• Comedies – follow early comedic form – Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer Night’s Dream

• Romantic and Dark comedies as well• Tragedies – present heroic or moral struggle of an individual

culminating in his or her defeat, tragic flaw, misfortune, disaster, death– Roman (Julius Caesar) and Great (Hamlet and Macbeth) – 2 types

Tragedies

• Tragedies - Characteristics• Protagonist – elevated rank

• Alienated or estranged from family/peers• Actions affect others• The Hero arrives at some deeper

understanding or epiphany

Macbeth• Written during the reign of James the 1st (formerly King James of Scotland)

– James was Elizabeth successor and was also a huge fan and patron of Shakespeare

• Macbeth most clearly reflects Shakespeare’s close relationship with King James.

• Shakespeare places a character named Banquo in the play and James is thought to have had an ancestor named Banquo• Shakespeare does this to honor King James’ Scottish ancestry.

• King James was also fascinated by the supernatural and supernatural elements are incorporated into the play

• Setting – Scotland, early 11th Century• Two wars in progress

– Civil War – King Duncan vs. Macdonwald’s rebels– National War – Scotland (led by Duncan) vs. Norway (led by King

Sweno)

Macbeth - continued

• Macbeth was a real king in Scottish history (1040-1057)– Shakespeare's plot is only partly based on fact. – Shakespeare used Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and

Ireland for his historical information– Historical Macbeth had valid right to the throne and was a strong leader

• Not the ruthless, blood thirsty criminal we meet in the play• The real MB succeeded Duncan by defeating him in battle (not

murder)– Historical Duncan was a weak, ineffective leader, similar to Macbeth’s

age• not the respected elderly figure we meet in the play.

Synopsis of Macbeth

• Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed with ambitious thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself. He begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death.