Macbeth
description
Transcript of Macbeth
Macbeth
Learning goals:1. Try strategies for reading
Shakespearean language2. Get familiar with the characters
and themes in Macbeth
Macbeth
Homework: Read the
intro material
Have you ever heard
the saying…Without rhyme or reasonIn a pickleSalad days
Vanished into thin air
Have you ever heard
the saying…HoodwinkedPlaying fast and looseHaven’t slept a wink
Cold comfort
Have you ever heard
the saying…Point your fingerSend me packingLaughing-stock
The devil incarnate
Have you ever heard
the saying…A sorry sightBloody-minded
Heart of goldFlesh and blood
Have you ever heard
the saying…Full circleBudge an inch
Fair playBrevity is the soul of wit
Those sayings all come from Shakespeare
Why is Shakespeare’s
English different from
ours?Languages are alive.• New words appear (e.g. website)• Old words disappear (e.g. trousers)• Existing words change meaning (e.g.
several, retarded, twitter, epic, sick)
• The English language contains about 300,000 words.• Shakespeare’s vocabulary was about
15,000 words. • The average person’s vocabulary is
about 3,000 words.• You can get by day-to-day with about
150.
Wisny Bronger
Wisny Bronger
By Donald Laing• Let’s read this story together, and see
if, as a group, we can figure out the story…
Vocabularyrumpter
zorkwisny loola
woodlegorgaklubelstorb(ed)
Wisny Bronger woodled a klubel. Mang the wisny wangs he snad had klubels, and Bronger clarred that he should nord wahm chu.
He franged to his loola, but she rutued, “Ro, and zork your gorga.”
He zorked his gorga, but he sulu wunkled his zono and rutued, “Fla. You’re chu simli.”
Roo wisny Bronger! He rumtered to his labo, slarred on his tid, and storbed and storbed and storbed until pledly he fang owaw.
Little Bobby wanted a puppy. Many of the little boys he knew had puppies, and Bobby thought that he should have one too.
He asked his mother, but she replied, “Go and ask your father.”
He asked his father, but he simply shook his head and said, “No. You’re too young.”
Poor little Bobby! He returned to his room, lumped on his bed, and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until finally he fell asleep.
How were we able to read that story?
If you can decipher complete nonsense,
then something written in English
should be no problem.
Let’s take
notes!
How to read difficult texts• Use the words you do know• Picture the action• Make guesses and predictions• Use what you know about language• Use what you know about people and the world• Use context• Think of similar words or words in other
languages as clues• Keep your mind open to possibilities
Common Shakespearean
TermsAnon – Right now “I come anon.”Art – are, or skill “Thou art dead; no physician’s art can save thee.”Dost or doth – does or do “Dost thou know the time?”Ere – Before “We must leave ere daybreak”Fain – Gladly “I would fain bake cookies for Mr. Loncke.”
O proud left foot, that ventures quick withinThen soon upon a backward journey lithe.Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubtVerily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
Macbeth
What do you know about Macbeth?
Macbeth• Tragedy
• Five acts• Setting: 11th century Scotland
MacbethSubjects:
murder, ambition, madness, corruption, power, guilt, loyalty
MacbethProbably written: 1606
First folio: 1623
Macbeth• Written for King
James of England• Descendent of
Banquo• King James hated the
play had it banned.
The curse of the Scottish playIs there an evil spell on this ill-starred play?
By DINA TRITSCH, Showbill, April 1984In 1604 Will Shakespeare in his zeal to please King
James I, an authority on demonology, cast caution and imagination aside and for the opening scene of Macbeth's Act IV he reproduced a 17th century black-magic ritual, a sort of how-to to budding witches. Without changing an ingredient, Old Will provided his audience with step-by-step instructions in the furtive art of spell casting:
The curse of the Scottish play"Round around the cauldron go;In the poison'd entrails throw.Toad, that under cold stoneDays and nights has thirty-oneSwelter'd venum sleeping got.Boil thou first i' the charmed pot"...And so on.
The curse of the Scottish playThe ritual's practitioners were not amused by this
detailed public exposure of their witchcraft, and it is said that as punishment they cast an everlasting spell on the play, turning it into the most ill-starred of all theatrical productions. It is so unlucky that by comparison to Macbeth's nearly 400-year history of unmitigated disaster, Murphy's Law appears exceedingly optimistic.
Here are some of the gory particulars:
The curse of the Scottish play• Beginning with its first performance, in 1606, Will himself was
forced to play Lady Macbeth when Hal Berridge, the boy designated to play the lady, became inexplicably feverish and died.
• Moreover, the bloody play so displeased King James I that he banned it for five years.
• When performed in Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted a real dagger for the blunted stage one and with it killed Duncan in full view of the entranced audience.
• As Lady Macbeth, Sarah Siddons was nearly ravaged by a disapproving audience in 1775; Sybil Thorndike was almost strangled by a burly actor in 1926; Diana Wynyard sleepwalked off the rostrum in 1948, falling down 15 feet.
The curse of the Scottish play• During its 1849 performance at New York's Astor Place, a riot broke
out in which 31 people were trampled to death. • In 1937, when Laurence Olivier took on the role of Macbeth, a 25
pound stage weight crashed within an inch of him, and his sword which broke onstage flew into the audience and hit a man who later suffered a heart attack.
• In 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned mute onstage, and his replacement, Alister Sim, like Hal Berridge before him, developed a high fever and had to be hospitalized.
• In the 1942 Macbeth production headed by John Gielgud, three actors -- Duncan and two witches -- died, and the costume and set designer committed suicide amidst his devilish Macbeth creations.
The curse of the Scottish play• Charlton Heston, in an outdoor production in
Bermuda in 1953, suffered severe burns in his groin and leg area from tights that were accidentally soaked in kerosene.
• An actor's strike felled Rip Torn's 1970 production in New York City; two fires and seven robberies plagued the 1971 version starring David Leary; in the 1981 production at Lincoln Center, J. Kenneth Campbell, who played Macduff, was mugged soon after the play's opening.
The curse of the Scottish playOf course, no explanations have been given for
the seemingly inevitable toil and trouble that is part and parcel of this unlucky play. You don't, in fact, ever refer to Macbeth or quote from it unless rehearsing or performing it. You also don't, as explained to me by countless brave and talented actors from Glenda Jackson to Ian McKellen, refer to this haunted play by name, but instead you call it “The Scottish Play” or simply “That Play”; everyone, it seems, will get the message, in a flash.
The curse of the Scottish playIf you happen to say the name of the play in a
theatre by accident, there is a way to redeem yourself and dispel the bad ju-ju.1. Leave the theatre2. Turn around three times3. Spit4. Say the worst swear word you can think of5. Ask for permission to re-enter
Dramatis Personae
Latin: "persons or characters of the drama"
MacbethThane of Glamis, General
Lady Macbet
hWife of Macbeth
DuncanKing of Scotland
Malcolm Prince of
Scotland
DonalbainPrince of Scotland
BanquoFriend of
Macbeth, General of the
King’s army
MacduffThane of Fife
Lady Macdu
ff Wife of Macduff
RossThane
LennoxThane
SiwardGeneral of the
English Army
Young SiwardSon of Siward
Doctor
GentlewomanAttending Lady Macbeth
PorterDoor man
SeytonServant to Macbeth
HecatePagan goddess
of farming, but also of
witchcraft, ghosts and
tombs
Three Witche
s
Macdonwal
dTraitor to Scotland
Bloody Soldier
Macbeth thought-startersWrite answers to the following questions:
1. What is a traitor? When is it justifiable to turn against the leaders of your country?
2. If you had a chance to steal $100 million, and were 99% sure you’d get away with it, would you try?
3. How can you tell when someone is being dishonest with you? How can a person lie effectively?
Tell your elbow
partner a story
using the following words:
Macbeth Reading
Questions•Read these questions before reading each scene.•Answer them as you read.• These are not meant as extra
work for you to do. The questions will help you.
Macbeth Reading
Questions• They tell you what happens in the scene, and give you an idea about what might be important. •Questions will be collected at the
end of the unit and marked for completion.
Macbeth Reading
Questions•Your answers must be written out by hand.• To prevent cheating, I will not
accept typed answers.