Shakespeare and Macbeth

Shew

The Globe

The Globe

Stage Balcony

Thrust Stage:Main Stage

Groundlings: Cheap Seats

Heaven

Hell

Tiring Area: Backstage AreaStage Balcony

Groundlings: Cheap Seats

Theatres at this time had an open ceiling because there was no electricity. The only way to light a closed theatre was by torch light.

The GlobeEntrances for Actors

Alcove: Discovery Space

Hell

Heaven

The Competition

• The Thames and the Law– The Globe was just outside the jurisdiction of the law– Acting was illegal

• Prostitutes:– Prostitution was illegal in London but not on the banks of the Thames

• Bear Baiting– Early dog fighting

Actors, Plays, & Shakespeare

• Acting– Actors were the scum of the Earth– Paid to belong to guilds– Finding a rich patron

• Shakespeare– Came to London as an actor– Performed and wrote many plays for royalty– Sucked up but also questioned the extablishment

Shakespeare the Actor

• Shakespeare acted in all of his plays• At the height of his career he was acting,

directing, and writing• His company first joined up with Lord

Chamberlain– Became the Lord Chamberlain Gang– Were technically servants for LC

Shakespeare and King James I

• King James was also the king of Scotland• Shakespeare wrote Macbeth probably to get

in his good graces– It’s rumored James was a descendent of Banquo

from the play• James took on Shakespeare and his troupe as

his own– The Kings Men

The Basics of a Play

• Almost no scenery• No blocking• Stage Directions• Alcove• Clowns/ Fools• Sumptuary Laws and Customes• Heaven and Hell

Background

• Aristotle– Poetics• Katharsis- the purging of unwanted emotions/

cleansing• Hamartia- a personal flaw

• Hoarce– Ars Poetica• A work on all literature in general• Poetry should delight and instruct

Shakespeare the Playwright• Wrote three kinds of plays

– Comedies: characterized by surprise funny endings• Dramatic irony • No one dies

– Tragedies:• Someone dies• Usual exposes human condition• Always involves a woman at the source of the problem

– Histories• Kiss up to Queen Elizabeth and King James the First• Showed current monarch in a good light

– But usually pushed the envelope

The Plays

• There are– 10 Tragedies– 10 Histories– And about 17-18 Comedies

• Meant to be seen not read• Why we read them– The human condition– Universal themes

Shakespeare’s English

• Shakespeare wrote in Elizabethan English

• This is considered to be Modern English– Which all of you speak

• Shakespeare did what ever he wanted with sentences and language– Thus making many of his works and meanings difficult

to understand

Old English

'Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorweI knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,'Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother moThat wedded been

'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrowI know enough, in the evening and in the morning,'said the Merchant, 'and so does many anotherwho has been married.

Shakespeare: The Man the Myth

• Born on April 23, 1564• Died on April 23, 1616• At 18 he married Anne Hathaway– She was 26– Six months later Anne gives birth to their first kid

• Shakespeare drops outs of sight from 1585 and shows in London around 1592

• Became very famous and rich during his life

Shakespeare & Conspiracy

• Did he really write his plays?– University vs. the Common Man

• Second Best Bed• Died on the same day he was born– Called it?

• Shakespeare and Speculation• Plays vs. Poems• He ripped off every single one of his ideas

Universal Themes

• These are anything that refer to something that is common to everyone in the world.

• Love• Fear• Death• Hate• Ambition…

Shakespeare’s Tombstone

Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,

To digg the dvst encloased heare.

Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones,

And cvrst be he yt moves my bones

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Macbeth

• Written around 1606• Very Dark and Powerful– Macbeth fights for his soul and the struggle

between good and evil– He is the protagonist and antagonist

• Women in a bad light, but very masculine• Cursed Play– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LKMktAN4hc

&list=PLCIOCkOwkoI3_mXloMjwN3qS6aA9RhOnd

A Brief History

• Macbeth was probably written to please King James I– It was rumored he was descended from Banquo

• Revision…– It was not revised by Shakespeare

• Shortened• “Shakespeare's source for the tragedy are the

accounts of King Macbeth of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland”

Macbeth Synopsis, Themes, and ID’s

• Synopsis– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nlx2XzP-4&lis

t=PLCIOCkOwkoI3_mXloMjwN3qS6aA9RhOnd&index=4

• Themes– Women are strong and evil– Ambition leads to ruin– The soul is a battleground– Evil deeds and good people– Witchcraft and the Fantasical– Revenge Tragedy

ID’s• Masculinity

– Being a man and doing manly things• Going to far leads to monstrosities

• Uxoriousness– Excessive love of one’s wife

• Leads to evil: Adam and Eve

• Psychomachia– Battle of the soul

• Catharsis– Purging and becoming better

• Archetype– A universal symbol, idea, term, pattern of behavior

You, Me, and Shakespeare Makes Three

• His influence in your life:– Harry Potter– Twilight– Taken– All Disney Movies– Any TV Show– Basically anything you see or read

What I Can Teach You

• How to understand Shakespeare’s meanings

• How to read for meaning

• How to interoperate Shakespeare

• The history and meaning behind Macbeth

One Last Thing

• Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it.

• You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so.

• This is a sorry sight• Go the primrose way to th’ everlasting bonfire.• Confusion now hath made his masterpiece.

• Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.• Fit to govern? No, not to live.• Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, thou

lily-liver’d boy• I grant him bloody, luxurious, avaricious, flase,

deceitful, sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin that has a name.