Transcription
MacbethWith play notes byRoma Gilland an introduction and questions byMorgan Merrington9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 12015/05/22 1:02 PM
ContentsSECTION 1 IntroductionContext of and introduction to the play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vSummary of the play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiKey literary features of a Shakespearean tragedy . . . . . . . . viiiStructure of the tragedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiiThe action of the play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ixThemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiiConflict and resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xviiCharacters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xixShakespeare’s life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxvShakespeare’s language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviiGlossary of literary terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxxBefore reading activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiiSECTION 2 The text of the dramaMacbeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–104SECTION 3 AssessmentQuick quiz questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105Contextual questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108Quick quiz answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Answers to contextual questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119Essay questions and guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129Further activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136Further references and resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Grade 10–12 rubric for the marking of Home Languageliterature essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1429780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 32015/05/22 1:02 PM
vContext of and introduction to the playThe play, Macbeth, is about a Scottish tyrant, his bloody reign and hisdownfall. Shakespeare chose to write a play about Macbeth in orderto please the new Scottish-born king of England, King James I.When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, King James V1 of Scotlandcame to the throne of England and was crowned James I of England.He soon showed that he meant to support drama by becomingpatron of a select company of actors, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.This company, later named The King’s Men, was made up mostlyof actors from the Globe Theatre, and Shakespeare was their chiefplaywright. Whenever the king wished, The King’s Men could becalled upon to act in his palaces and sometimes to write new playsfor a royal occasion. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to entertain KingChristian of Denmark, the queen’s brother, when he visited England.It was put on in the Great Hall of Hampton Court in August 1606.While the plays were used to entertain the court and importantvisitors, they were also an important way of spreading propaganda.In the days before any mass media, play performances were thebest way of getting ideas across to a lot of people. In January 1606,a man called Guy Fawkes and seven other men were put to deathfor their attempt to blow up the king and the government in theHouses of Parliament. This became known as “The GunpowderPlot”. King James I wanted the people of England and Scotland to beaware of the evil of killing a rightful king and of the chaos the kingdomwould be thrown into should this happen. Shakespeare makes thispowerfully clear in Macbeth where the murderer himself – Macbeth –points out how monstrous it is to murder an anointed king. However,sometimes Shakespeare’s effort to portray King James’ ancestorsin a favourable light seems to have affected his creative genius. Forexample, the least successful scene in the play, Act 4, Scene 3, iscentred on Malcolm, who was King James’ ancestor. In comparisonto the energy and action of the rest of the play, this scene seemsstrangely stilted and much too long. No wonder directors of the playsince James’ death have often cut the scene to a fraction of its length.Shakespeare loosely based Macbeth on a historical source,The Chronicles of Scotland, which was compiled in 1577 byRaphael Holinshed. However, Shakespeare made some changes toHolinshed’s account to please King James I, while, at the same time,making his play more dramatic and appealing to his more ordinaryaudience. For example, in the Chronicles, Banquo joins Macbethin murdering the king – but, since King James was a descendant of9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 52015/05/22 1:02 PM
vicontext of and introduction to the playHampton Court Palace, where Macbeth was first performedBanquo, this part of the history had to be changed. So in Shakespeare’splay, Macbeth commits the murder alone, dramatically increasing hisisolation as a result of his evil deed.The way in which Shakespeare portrays the witches is anotherexample of how he changed the original account, both to suit theking and to entertain the wider audience. King James I was enthralledand terrified by witches, so much so that he had written a book aboutthem and how to detect them. In the Chronicles, the witches areportrayed more as fairy soothsayers than as witches. But Shakespeare’sfrightening, evil hags, who give the play its brilliant and sinisteropening and who, we feel, are always lurking in the background, musthave been much more to James’ taste as well as more dramatic forothers watching the play.9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 62015/05/22 1:02 PM
viiiKey literary features of a ShakespeareantragedyMacbeth shares with other of Shakespeare’s great tragedies King Lear,Othello and Hamlet a number of distinctive features:1. The play’s chief protagonist, the tragic hero, is a great man of noblebirth. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is King Duncan’s greatest warrior.2. The hero has a fault usually in the form of an unfulfilled desire thatwill eventually lead to his undoing and downfall. Macbeth’s fault ishis evil ambition, a secret desire to be king of Scotland.3. When the hero achieves the fulfilment of his desire, his fortunesand his morale begin to decline rapidly. Macbeth throughmurdering King Duncan becomes King of Scotland, but far frombeing satisfied, he is tortured with anxiety and seeks to get rid of allwho he sees as threatening.4. The hero starts to lose control of himself and the situation.Macbeth deteriorates into becoming a blood-thirsty tyrant whomurders even innocents.5. The hero is destroyed and the situation is restored to order.Macbeth is killed fittingly by Macduff, and Malcolm, the rightfulking, restores order and harmony.Structure of the tragedyAll Shakespeare’s plays have five acts. It would be convenient if thefive main components of the play’s action – the introduction, therising action, the climax or turning point, the falling action and thedenouement corresponded with the five acts, but they do not. InMacbeth, only the first two scenes are the introduction to the play andthen from the third scene in Act 1 to the third scene in Act 3 are theevents leading to the fulfilment of the hero’s desire (the rising action).Act 3 scene 4 is the turning point (the climax) when reaction hardensagainst the hero. Macbeth realises at the banquet that his dream offounding a line of kings has been foiled by the escape of Banquo’s son,Fleance, from his assassins. From the banquet to Macbeth’s last duelwith Macduff there is a sharp decline (falling action) that ends in hisdeath and the restoration of the situation to harmony (denouement).9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 82015/05/22 1:02 PM
the action of the playACT IACT IIACT IIIACT IVixACT mentThe action of the playKey sceneKey speechThe setting at the start of the play is a stormy battlefield in Scotland.Macbeth and Banquo, captains in the Scottish army, have foughtcourageously and have helped to defeat the invading Norwegian army.The grateful King Duncan of Scotland decides to reward Macbeth.Act 1Act 1, Scene 1The three witches first appear in this short scene. In the background a battle is beingfought amidst a great storm. Thus, the play begins with strife, uproar, and violentforces of nature.Act 1, Scene 2King Duncan learns of the victory against the rebel MacDonald, of a second victorywon by Macbeth against Norway and the traitorous Thane of Cawdor and of Macbeth’sbravery. Duncan bestows Cawdor’s title upon Macbeth and condemns the thane todeath. Macbeth, not present, does not yet know of this new honour.9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 92015/05/22 1:02 PM
xviiConflict and resolutionIn any good story there is conflict. This includes plays and films.Conflict creates tension and interest and, in fact, creates what wecall drama.In Macbeth, there are three levels of conflict – conflict introducedby the witches, conflict in the minds of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth,and conflict in Scotland caused by Macbeth’s tyranny. The witches arethe drivers of the conflict and Macbeth and, indirectly, Lady Macbethare their chosen instruments. The following sections discuss the threelevels of conflict and how they create tension and interest and, finally,lead to the resolution of the play.Conflict introduced by the witchesThe meeting of the three weird and bearded sisters in a storm in theopening scene of the play tells the audience that conflict is coming.Their plan to meet Macbeth on the heath and their strange evilchant, “Fair is foul”, show they are up to no good. Just the mention ofMacbeth’s name by the witches creates tension in the play. It starts theaudience wondering why they have singled out Macbeth.The impression that the witches are evil and powerful and benton causing conflict is strengthened in Act 1, Scene 3, where they waitfor Macbeth and Banquo. One witch has a grudge against a sailor’swife for not giving her chestnuts and they all join gleefully in a planto punish the woman: they condemn the woman’s husband to a slowdeath by sending an off-shore wind that will trap his ship at sea. Theirability to command winds and their chosen form of punishment, outof all proportion to what the poor woman has done, tell us a greatdeal about the witches and what is to come. We can see that they havesupernatural powers and amuse themselves by playing with the lives ofhuman beings.Macbeth meets the witches only twice in the play, but it isplain that they set in motion all the forces that cause him and LadyMacbeth to murder the king and plunge Scotland into a reign ofterror. Their first prophecy feeds Macbeth’s greed and ambition, so,despite his noble and courageous character and his conscience, hegives in to his wife’s determination that he will be king and murdersDuncan. Their second prophecy gives Macbeth a wild, false hope thatnobody can harm him and he can continue his bloodthirsty reignunchecked. Both prophecies create dramatic tension in the play. Thefascinated audience watches the defeat of Macbeth’s conscience,9780190407315 Shakespeare for SA Macbeth masterset.indb 172015/05/22 1:02 PM
xviiiconflict and resolutionso that the dagger he sees in his mind becomes the real dagger withwhich he murders his king. The second prophecy makes Macbeth sobloodthirsty that, after the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children,the audience longs for him to be checked and pu cent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful dayAnd with thy bloody and invisible hand2015/05/22 1:02 PM
105Quick quiz questionsThese questions are straightforward ones that you will find useful forchecking how well you have read the play. You and a partner might liketo use them to test each other.Act 11. What have the witches been planning in the opening scene ofthe play?2. Who gives King Duncan the news of Macbeth and Banquo’svictory over the rebel forces?3. What reward does King Duncan decide to give Macbeth forthis victory?4. How does the First Witch punish the sailor’s wife, who wouldnot give her some chestnuts?5. What do the witches prophesy for Macbeth?6. What do the witches prophesy for Banquo?7. What does Macbeth first decide to do about the witches’prediction that he will be king?8. How does Lady Macbeth learn about the witches’ prophecy?9. What does she believe could stop Macbeth from fulfilling hisambition to be king?10. Lady Macbeth’s attendants bring news of two people comingto the castle. Who are they?11. What does this news of their arrival make her decide to do?12. Macbeth, at first, is persuaded to murder Duncan, but thenchanges his mind. Give one reason that he has for this changeof mind.13. What taunt does Lady Macbeth use to persuade Macbeth asecond time to murder Duncan?Act 21. Banquo hands Macbeth a gift from King Duncan for LadyMacbeth. What is the gift?2. When Banquo mentions that he had dreamed about thewitches, what is Macbeth’s response?3. What signal does Lady Macbeth give to tell Macbeth that shehas drugged Duncan’s servants?4. What is
Macbeth shares with other of Shakespeare's great tragedies King Lear, Othello and Hamlet a number of distinctive features: 1 The play's chief protagonist, the tragic hero, is a great man of noble birth Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is King Duncan's greatest warrior 2 The hero has a fault usually in the form of an unfulfilled desire that
