William Shakespeare A bloody tale of the ambition and evil that imprisons men’s hearts. “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”

Elements of Drama Characterization: actions, looks, words Language: blank verse, prose, rhyming Soliloquy: speaking thoughts as if alone Aside: speaking to audience or to oneself Comic Relief: offered to alleviate tension in drama Motif: recurring image or concept Dramatic Irony: audience knows/characters don’t

Tragedy Arose in ancient Greece One of high birth with a tragic flaw Dual conflict: external and internal Often hubris is hero’s fatal character flaw Good triumphs and order is restored – a cathartic experience for the audience Supernatural events and coincidence or luck Theme topics: fate, death, loss defeat, loyalty, impulse, ambition, desire

Greek tragedies vs. Shakepearean tragedies Greek Very serious Chorus always Only 3 actors + chorus Often performed in honor of Greek god Dionysus We will study Medea Shakespeare Comic relief Chorus sometimes Many actors Often performed in public theatres We will study Macbeth

Macbeth Entertainment at its best: Supernatural Killing Psychopaths Sex

Macbeth May be the most theatrical of Shakespeare’s plays He wrote it to please King James Actions of the characters open pathways into the human psyche before this was normal Based loosely on history in Holinshed’s Chronicles