The Man That Would Be Shakespeare• Born April 23rd, 1564• Started out performing

with “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men”

• Gave him a chance to write a play

• Henry IV, Pt. 1- It stunk but they gave him another shot

• Many playwrights with nowhere to “play” raised money to have it built

• Barn turned into theatre• Puritans burn it down

(Evil theatre! Boo!)• Globe built! (Yeah!)• Globe burns (sniff, darn

cannon!)• Globe rebuilt! (Yeah!)• Globe burns (Dang that

Fire of London!)

Reconstructed in the 1990’s

o Aristocratso The Queen/Kingo The Groundlings!

When in a play...• Only men were permitted to perform

• Boys or effeminate men were used to play the women

• Costumes were often the company’s most valuable asset

• Costumes were made by the company, bought in London, or donated by courtiers

The Cost of a Show• 1 shilling to stand• 2 shillings to sit in the

balcony• 1 shilling was 10% of

their weekly income• Toronto Theatres:

–$120 Orchestra–$60 Balcony–10% of a teacher’s

weekly salary

• Set in Scotland• Written for King James I

(formerly of Scotland, now England)

• Queen of Denmark (James’s sister) was visiting

• Shakespeare researched The Chronicles (Banquo is an ancestor of James I) & read about witchcraft

• King Duncan of Scotland–Murdered by cousin Macbeth–Honest and good

• Malcolm & Donalbain–Sons of the King–Malcolm is the eldest son

• Macbeth–Duncan’s most courageous general–Ambition to become king corrupts him

causing him to murder Duncan

• Banquo–General and Macbeth’s best friend–Suspects Macbeth in Duncan’s murder –An actual ancestor of King James I

• Lady Macbeth–As ambitious as her husband–A dark force behind his evil deeds

• Macduff– Scottish general, suspects Macbeth of

murdering the king– Macbeth has his family murdered– Swears vengeance

The Scottish Play• It is believed to be bad luck to

even squeak the word ‘Macbeth’ in a theatre

• Legend has it you will lose all your friends involved in the production--horribly

• MORE ON THAT LATER...

• Def’n: “Man of high standard who falls from that high because of a flaw that has affected many” - Aristotle

• Macbeth is one of the most famous examples of the tragic hero.

What is Macbeth’s tragic flaw?

So what really happens?

• Good guy, loved by all (including the king) and all is well with the kingdom

• Good guy goes bad• Guy covet power; the power of the king• Married to a pushy control freak• She wants power, too• Seeks out the witches to tell him his fortune & falls into the trap of

only seeing what he wants to see and believe what he wants to believe

• He (with her help) kills people- LOTS of people• He gets the power he wanted• He becomes paranoid because of his own • Ticks off a lot of people along the way; important peopl• Still wants more power! Kill! Kill!• Gets what’s coming to him in the end• Good is restored to the kingdom

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.

V, v, 19-28

In the final analysis…

It would be a tragedy to NEVER read Macbeth because it teaches us that the

corrupting power of unchecked ambition is man’s ultimate downfall.