The Elizabethan Period and Macbeth

1. The Elizabethan Period and Macbeth

2. Introduction to MacbethLiterary terms to know • Renaissance Drama- Focused mainly on religious themes teaching moral lessons. • Most of the plays in this time periods fell into two categories: comedies and tragedies. • Tragic Hero- The main character who experiences an unhappy ending. • Tragic Flaw- A fatal error in judgment or weakness of a character. • Soliloquy- A speech a character makes on stage that reveals his or her inner personal thoughts. • Aside- A remark a character makes in an undertone to the audience or another character, but characters onstage do not hear the remark.

3. Historic Background of Macbeth • This play is based on a 11th century Scottish King named Duncan I. • Shakespeare wrote the play to please King James I (the current King of Scotland). • The King was very interested with the idea of witchcraft and how Shakespeare incorporated the supernatural in his plays. • The play takes place in 12th century Scotland

4. The Cold Hard Facts • type of work  · Play • genre  · Tragedy • language  · English • time and place written  · 1606, England • date of first publication  · First Folio edition, 1623 • publisher  · John Heminges and Henry Condell, two senior members of Shakespeare’s theatrical company

5. More Cold Hard Facts • tone  · Dark and ominous, suggestive of a world turned topsy-turvy by foul and unnatural crimes • setting (time)  · The Middle Ages, specifically the 12th century • setting (place)  · Various locations in Scotland; also England, briefly

6. Major Conflicts •  The struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and his sense of right and wrong; the struggle between the murderous evil represented by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and the best interests of the nation, represented by Malcolm and Macduff

7. Action • rising action  · Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the witches initiates both conflicts; Lady Macbeth’s speeches goad Macbeth into murdering Duncan and seizing the crown. • climax · Macbeth’s murder of Duncan in Act 2 represents the point of no return, after which Macbeth is forced to continue butchering his subjects to avoid the consequences of his crime. • falling action  · Macbeth’s increasingly brutal murders (of Duncan’s servants, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son); Macbeth’s second meeting with the witches; Macbeth’s final confrontation with Macduff and the opposing armies

8. Themes of Macbeth • Fate and our efforts to control it • Imagery • The supernatural • Reason and mental stability • Appearance vs. reality • Hallucinations • Violence • Prophecy

9. Foreshadowing The bloody battle in Act 1 foreshadows the bloody murders later on; when Macbeth thinks he hears a voice while killing Duncan, it foreshadows the insomnia that plagues Macbeth and his wife; Macduff’s suspicions of Macbeth after Duncan’s murder foreshadow his later opposition to Macbeth; all of the witches’ prophecies foreshadow later events.

10. Washing your hands clean • The idea of washing your hands clean is a religious reference from the Bible when Pontius Pilate washes his hands clean of Jesus’ blood • Macbeth states that not all the water in Neptune’ s sea can wash the blood from his hands, while Lady Macbeth states that a little water will clean them of this deed

11. Macbeth’s confidence • The witches really built up Macbeth’s confidence in Act Four by showing him the apparitions • He thinks no one can harm him • Meanwhile Scottish rebels get ready to attack and Malcolm and Macduff are going to storm the castle • Macbeth makes an important speech after the suicide of his wife about the uselessness of life and ponders if all he has done has been for nothing….”life’s a tale told by idiots signifying nothing.”

12. Aristotle's ideas about tragedy were recorded in his book of literary theory titled Poetics.   In it, he has a great deal to say about the structure, purpose, and intended effect of tragedy.  His ideas have been adopted, disputed, expanded, and discussed for several centuries now. The following is a summary of his basic ideas regarding the tragic hero:

13. 1.  The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness.  This should be readily evident in the play.  The character must occupy a "high" status position but must ALSO embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character. 2.  Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he/she is not perfect.  Otherwise, the rest of us--mere mortals--would be unable to identify with the tragic hero.  We should see in him or her someone who is essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.

14. 3.  The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially her/his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or villainy or some overriding, malignant fate.  In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above.   This error of judgment or character flaw is known as hamartia and is usually translated as "tragic flaw" (although some scholars argue that this is a mistranslation).  Often the character's hamartia involves hubris (which is defined as a sort of arrogant pride or over-confidence). 4.  The hero's misfortunate is not wholly deserved. The punishment exceeds the crime.

15. 5.  The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some discovery on the part of the tragic hero.. 6.  Though it arouses solemn emotion, tragedy does not leave its audience in a state of depression.  Aristotle argues that one function of tragedy is to arouse the "unhealthy" emotions of pity and fear and through a catharsis (which comes from watching the tragic hero's terrible fate) cleanse us of those emotions.   It might be worth noting here that Greek drama was not considered "entertainment," pure and simple; it had a communal function--to contribute to the good health of the community.  This is why dramatic performances were a part of religious festivals and community celebrations.

16. Hamartia--A flaw or error of judgment Peripeteia--A reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero's hamartia Anagnorisis--The discovery or recognition that the reversal (peripeteia) was brought about by the hero's own actions Hubris--excessive pride Equivocation- the use of ambiguous expressions in order to mislead.  Macbeth's Hamartia- Ambition  ("Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other." ) Macbeth's Peripeteia- Fleance's escape.  Banquo's dying words, ordering Fleance to revenge. ("Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou may 'st revenge —O slave!")Macbeth's Anagnorisis--His discovery that the witches have manipulated him with equivocations. ("And be these juggling fiends no more believed, That palter with us in a double sense;")Macbeth’s Hubris—his inability to see the true danger in the apparition’s prophecies. Macbeth’sequivocation-the theme of equivocation to effectively illustrate the evil nature of the witches. The prophecies of the witches play the mischief in this play, as a form of deception They are at times That vague language use to dodge year issue. 

17. Example of Equivocation: All banks are beside rivers. Therefore, the financial institution where I deposit my money is beside a river. In this argument, there are two unrelated meanings of the word "bank": A riverside: In this sense, the premise is true but the argument is invalid, so it's unsound. A type of financial institution: On this meaning, the argument is valid, but the premise is false, thus the argument is again unsound. In either case, the argument is unsound. Therefore, no argument which commits the fallacy of Equivocation is sound.

18.  Hero must suffer more than he deserves.  Hero must be doomed from the start, but bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw.  Hero must be noble in nature, but imperfect so that the audience can see themselves in him.  Hero must have discovered his fate by his own actions, not by things happening to him.  Hero must understand his doom, as well as the fact that his fate was discovered by his own actions.  Hero's story should arouse fear and empathy.  Hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death.  The hero must be intelligent so he may learn from his mistakes.  The hero must have a weakness, usually it is pride  He has to be faced with a very serious decision that he has to make

19. Initially, the tragic hero should be neither better or worse morally than normal people, in order to allow the audience to identify with them. This also introduces pity, which is crucial in tragedy, as if the hero was perfect we would be outraged with their fate or not care especially because of their ideological superiority. If the hero was imperfect or evil, then the audience would feel that he had gotten what he deserved. It is important to strike a balance in the hero's character. Eventually the Aristotelian tragic hero dies a tragic death, having fallen from great heights and having made an irreversible mistake. The hero must courageously accept their death with honor.

20. What is meter? Meter is the pattern of a line of verse (for example, iambic pentameter). If the rhythm of each line of a piece of verse is iambic pentameter then we can say that the metrical pattern of that piece of verse is iambic pentameter. LIKE THE BEAT OF A HEART: Da DUM Blank Verse – poetry that does not rhyme; easily used to emulate the natural rhythms of English speech within iambic pentameter Foot – Unit of meter – each foot contains 2 syllables An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. We could write the rhythm like this: Da DUM (Iambic – meaning push, persistency or determination). Iambic Pentameter: Five forward-moving feet (10 syllables of ‘Dee DUM’) A line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row: Da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM