Macbeth -An Introduction-

Macbeth: An Introduction Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. The play tells of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends. Believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606.

The Real Macbeth king of Scotland (1040–57). He succeeded his father as governor of the province of Moray c.1031 was a military commander for Duncan I. (Right: portrait of Macbeth)

The Real Macbeth In 1040, Macbeth killed Duncan in battle and seized the throne. Possibly of royal descent himself, he acquired a direct claim to the throne through his wife, Gruoch; she was a granddaughter of Kenneth III, who had been overthrown by Duncan's ancestor Malcolm II. (Right: portrait of Duncan I)

“The Scottish Play” There are many superstitions centered on the belief that the play is somehow “cursed”.

“The Scottish Play” Cursing audience Theater’s last play Play brought back during times of bad luck Many injuries and onstage misfortunes

“The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes Here are some of the gory particulars: Beginning with its first performance, in 1606, Dear Will himself was forced to play Lady Macbeth when Hal Berridge, the boy designated to play the lady with a peculiar notion of hospitality, became inexplicably feverish and died. Moreover, the bloody play so displeased King James I that he banned it for five years.

“The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes 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.

“The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes 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 Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes During its 1849 performance at New York's Astor Place, a riot broke out in which 31 people were trampled to death.

“The Scottish Play”: A Chronology of Misfortunes 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.

“The Scottish Play” Several methods exist to dispel the curse, depending on the actor. One is to immediately leave the building the stage is in with the person who uttered the name, walk around it three times, spit over their left shoulders, say an obscenity then wait to be invited back into the building. Another popular "ritual" is to leave the room, knock three times, be invited in, and then quote a line from Hamlet. Yet another is to recite one of Shylock's monologues from The Merchant of Venice.

The Witches AKA the Weird Sisters Painting by William Rimmer depicting the witches’ conjuration of an apparition (Act IV, scene i) Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches (Act I, scene iii) by Johann Heinrich Fussli Portrayal in the 2006 film version of Macbeth

The Witches They tell Macbeth that he is destined to be king, and urge him to do bloody things.

The Witches Their character is modeled after Norse mythology- the Norns (three Fates) the name Urðr (Wyrd, Weird) means "fate" or simply "future", The norns- by Arthur Rackham

The Witches Represent darkness, chaos and confusion. “Fair is foul and foul is fair”- a contradiction. Evil is good, while good is evil.

The Witches “Double, double toil and trouble” – they cause more grief for the mortals around them. The witches never actually tell Macbeth to kill Duncan, but merely tempt him with the idea of becoming king.