MACBETH

SCHEDULE
ACT i: Together

ACT ii: Small groups

*Act I-II Quiz & Journal Entry

ACT iii: Listen to recording

ACT iv: Comic book (*& partially summarized)

ACT v: Performed
*Act III-V Journal Entry
Shakespeare &
The Renaissance
The Life of Bill
~ April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616 ~
The Life of Bill: Family
 PARENTS:
Understood all walks of life and social classes -
Father was a glover and a leather merchant,
mother was a land heiress, which put them in the
working class, but with benefits and respect.
 FAMILY:
○ Married Anne Hathaway in 1582. (He was 18
while she was 26 and pregnant)
○ 3 kids: Susanna & twins – Hamnet and Judith
The Life of Bill: Career
 ACTING CAREER:
1594 – actor, writer, and a
managing partner for the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men’s Company
The Life of Bill: Works
Wrote 154 sonnets, 2 epic narratives, and 38
plays including:
Comedies: 12th Night,
Measure for Measure, Taming
of the Shrew
Histories: Henry’s and
Richard’s
Tragedies: Hamlet, King
Lear, Othello
Late Romances: Tempest
The Life of Bill: Language
 Known for prose, witty poetry, and blank verse

No dictionaries or grammar books =

learned from other educated writers

Credited with introducing 3,000+

words/phrases into the language:

EXAMPLES: Bedroom, dawn, gossip, gloomy, fashionable, bump, cold-

blooded, Break the ice, breathed his last, dog will have his day, good-
riddance, sent packing, seen better days, heart of gold
The Life of Bill: Language
 Only one generation from what we speak today

OTHER HINT:
 Reading Hints:
 Thee/Thou = you Don’t pronounce the
apostrophe at the end of
 Thy/Thine = your words; apostrophes are
 Art = Are for other vowels
 T’is = it is
 Alas = unfortunately Ex. cat I’ th’ adage
=
cat in the adage
The Life of Bill: Language
The only thing that is different from modern time is
the WORD ORDER in which the characters speak. For
example:

○ YODA: “Size matters not.

Look at me. Judge me by size,
do you?”

○ TRANSLATION: “Size doesn’t

matter. Do you judge me by
size?
DON’T STRESS…WE will work on this specifically before we
start reading!
 PG. 4 IN
PACKET

The Globe Theater:

The Globe Theater: History
○ 1576 – Known as “The Theater”
- 1594 – closed briefly for the
plague… ugh.

○ 1599 – Tore down and drug across the

Thames river after a legal dispute.

○ 1613 – Burnt down from a fire

started by a canon shot during a
Henry VIII performance.
The Globe Theater: History
○ 1642 – Officially closed by Puritan regime

○ *Overall: Run predominately by Shakespeare’s

group the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Company
The Globe Theater: Construction
 Open octagon, 3 stories high, 100 ft. in
diameter

 Fits 3,000 spectators

 Microcosm of London
○ Pit– (1 pence) Groundlings/Peasants;
standing room only, fruit and nuts sold
○ 3 tiers – (2 pence) upper class seating

○ Behind stage – royalty (so everyone

could see them )
The Globe Theater: Construction
○ No real scenery:
- audience goes off of
exaggerated language
and movement

○ SPECIAL EFFECTS:
- Trap doors, balcony
entrances, rope riggings,
etc.
- Fireworks (lightning),
rolled canon balls
(thunder)
The Globe Theater: Plays

Plays performed during

the day for lighting (2-
5pm)

 Actors were ONLY men.

Young boys played the
roles of women.
 PG. 5 IN
PACKET

Shakespeare’s
Macbeth
 Macbeth:
Writing Patronage
THE PLAY WAS WRITTEN FOR KING JAMES I:
(1) He was obsessed with demonology, the idea
of magic and witches.
(2) He experienced the Gun Powder Plot, an
assassination attempt.
(3) Banquo was written as a “good guy” since
King James was his descendant.
(4) The play was short because he liked short
plays
 Macbeth:
The Curse
Supposedly, saying "Macbeth" inside a theater will
bring bad luck to the play and anyone acting in it.
People actually refer to the play as “The Scottish Play”
or “MacB” when at the theater
 Macbeth:
The Curse
WHY IT STARTED:
Used an authentic 17th century black-magic ritual for the
opening scene of Macbeth's Act IV (a sort of “how-to” for
budding witches.) That means he provided his audience with
step-by-step instructions of how to create a real spell! As
punishment, the witches supposedly cursed the play and its actors.
 Macbeth:
REVERSE The Curse
1) Exit the theater,
2) Spin around three times saying a
profanity
3) And then ask for permission to
return inside
*OR
4) Some believe that you can repeat the
words "Thrice around the circle
bound, Evil sink into the ground,"
 THINGS TO
CONSIDER
Do you believe in
prophecies or
predicting the future?

If yes…
–would someone’s prediction
about you make you change
what you’re doing now or how
you currently live your life?
 Macbeth: Setting
*Scotland
Inverness (Macbeth’s Castle near Dunsinane
and Birnahm Woods)
Fife (MacDuff’s Castle)
Cawdor & Glamis (territories in Scotland)

England
Ireland
Norway
 Macbeth: Setting
Macbeth!
 Macbeth: WHO’S WHO?
SCOTLAND
KING DUNCAN MACBETH LADY MACBETH
(Commander &
Thane of Glamis)
Malcolm & *Thane = baron, lord
Donalbain
(Malcolm is
the eldest) BANQUO
(Commander under AT WAR WITH
Macbeth; Macbeth’s BFF) NORWAY:
-Macdonwald
Fleance -King Sweno