Macbeth

Learning goals: 1.Try strategies for reading Shakespearean language 2.Get familiar with the characters and themes in Macbeth

Macbeth Homework: Read the intro material

Have you ever heard the saying… Without rhyme or reason In a pickle Salad days Vanished into thin air

Have you ever heard the saying… Hoodwinked Playing fast and loose Haven’t slept a wink Cold comfort

Have you ever heard the saying… Point your finger Send me packing Laughing-stock The devil incarnate

Have you ever heard the saying… A sorry sight Bloody-minded Heart of gold Flesh and blood

Have you ever heard the saying… Full circle Budge an inch Fair play Brevity 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

By Donald Laing Let’s read this story together, and see if, as a group, we can figure out the story…

Vocabulary rumpter zork wisny loola woodle gorga klubel storb(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 Terms Anon – 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 within Then 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 doubt Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.

Macbeth What do you know about Macbeth?

Macbeth Tragedy Five acts Setting: 11 th century Scotland

Macbeth Subjects: murder, ambition, madness, corruption, power, guilt, loyalty

Macbeth Probably 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 play Is there an evil spell on this ill-starred play? By DINA TRITSCH, Showbill, April 1984 In 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 stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venum sleeping got. Boil thou first i' the charmed pot"...And so on.

The curse of the Scottish play The 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 play Of 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 play If 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 theatre 2.Turn around three times 3.Spit 4.Say the worst swear word you can think of 5.Ask for permission to re-enter

Dramatis Personae Latin"persons or characters of the drama Latin: "persons or characters of the drama"

Macbeth Thane of Glamis, General

Lady Macbeth Wife of Macbeth

Duncan King of Scotland

Malcolm Prince of Scotland

Donalbain

Banquo Friend of Macbeth, General of the King’s army

Macduff Thane of Fife

Lady Macduff Wife of Macduff Wife of Macduff

RossThane

LennoxThane

Siward General of the English Army

Young Siward Son of Siward

Doctor

Gentlewoman Attending Lady Macbeth

Porter Door man

Seyton Servant to Macbeth

Hecate Pagan goddess of farming, but also of witchcraft, ghosts and tombs

Three Witches

Macdonwald Traitor to Scotland

Bloody Soldier

Macbeth Macbeth thought-starters Write 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. Read these questions before reading each scene. Answer them as you read. Answer them as you read. These are not meant as extra work for you to do. The questions will help you. 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. 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. 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.