1. Jon Finch and Francesca Annis in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ by Roman Polanski, 1971
Performer - Culture & Literature
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2012

2. 1. Main characteristics The shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
Complex psychological analysis of what takes place in the mind of the criminal.
James Heath, I have done the deed, Kansas City, Carbonell-Weinglass Collection
Performer Culture & Literature

3. 1. Main characteristics No villain pitted against the hero.
Macbeth begins as a brave warrior but, led by ambition, he chooses evil and becomes a murderous tyrant.
Parable of the tragic hero.
Performer Culture & Literature

4. Symmetrical development
2. Dramatic structure
Symmetrical development
Climax
Rising action
Falling action
Introduction
Conclusion
Performer Culture & Literature

5. 2. Dramatic structure Symmetrical development Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Symmetrical development
Introduction
The first two scenes: the appearance of the three witches and the news of Macbeth’s bravery in battle.
The three Witches in ‘Macbeth’ by John Barnes, 1964
Performer Culture & Literature

6. 2. Dramatic structure Symmetrical development Rising action
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Symmetrical development
Rising action
Macbeth meets the three witches: their prophecy begins to work on his ambition. He kills Duncan.
Performer Culture & Literature

7. 2. Dramatic structure Symmetrical development Climax Banquo’s murder
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Symmetrical development
Climax
Banquo’s murder
(Act III, Scene 3)
Performer Culture & Literature

8. Macbeth retreats to Dunsinane Castle
2. Dramatic structure
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Symmetrical development
Falling action
Fleance’s escape
the banquet scene
arousing of Macduff
Macbeth retreats to Dunsinane Castle
Thèodore Chassèriau ( ), Macbeth seeing the ghost of Banquo, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
Performer Culture & Literature

9. Final fall and death of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth
2. Dramatic structure
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Symmetrical development
Conclusion
Final fall and death of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth
Henry Fuseli, Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, 1798, Musée du Louvre
Performer Culture & Literature

10. 3. Themes Regicide, as an act against Nature, brings chaos.
Reversal of values: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
(the Three Witches)
Henry Fuseli, Macbeth, Banquo and the Three Witches, Petworth House, National Trust.
Performer Culture & Literature

11. 3. Themes Equivocation and false appearance d. Future time
Gabriele Lavia in Macbeth, 2009
Equivocation and false appearance
d. Future time
chain of metaphors connected with clothing.
cluster of imagery concerned with growth: babies, seeds, plants, trees.
Performer Culture & Literature

12. 4. Features of a tragic hero
Nobility of birth or wisdom.
A flaw, either a mistake in the character’s actions or in his personality that leads to a downfall.
A reversal of fortune caused by his flaw.
The realisation that the reversal was brought about by the hero’s own actions.
The audience has to feel pity and fear (catharsis) for the character.
Performer Culture & Literature

13. 5. Style Use of blank verse.
Blank verse is basically unrhymed iambic pentameter:
‘Macbeth does murther Sleep, - the innocent Sleep;
Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care’
(Act II, Scene 2)
Performer Culture & Literature

14. 5. Style
If one character ends his speech without finishing his line verse, the following speaker completes that line.
Inclusion, within the verbal structure of verse, of metrical space for other, non-verbal signs.
Performer Culture & Literature

15. 5. Style A striking use of imagery: - similes - metaphors - symbols
‘The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures’
(Act II, Scene 2)
- metaphors
‘Life’s but a walking shadow’
(Act V, Scene 5)
- symbols
‘the innocent Sleep’
‘A little water clears us of this deed’
Performer Culture & Literature

16. 5. Style Use of dramatic irony:
Duncan’s appreciation of the beauty of Macbeth’s castle
‘This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses’
(Act I, Scene 6)
Performer Culture & Literature

17. 6. The characters Macbeth a brave general, leader of Duncan’s army
together with Banquo;
urged into action by his wife;
lacks moral courage;
ambitious and superstitious;
becomes cruel and unscrupulous.
Jon Finch in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ by Roman Polanski, 1971
Performer Culture & Literature

18. 6. The characters Lady Macbeth
suppresses her natural instinct to plan the murder;
strong-willed, supports Macbeth in his weakness;
devoted to her husband, she ends up in madness.
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889 , Tate Gallery, London.
Performer Culture & Literature

19. 6. The characters King Duncan peaceful and refined;
shows poor judgement of human nature.
Banquo
a contrast to Macbeth in his modesty;
does not follow temptation like Macbeth.
Performer Culture & Literature

20. 6. The characters Macduff becomes important after Banquo’s murder.
noble, loyal, patriotic
kills Macbeth at the end.
Malcom
Duncan’s son.
Becomes king of Scotland after Macbeth’s death.
Performer Culture & Literature

21. 7. The supernatural
The Three Witches and their prophecies lead Macbeth to success.
The chaos of nature on the night of Duncan’s murder.
Banquo’s ghost.
Henry Fuseli, The Three Witches, 1788, Zurich, Kunsthaus
Performer Culture & Literature