1. William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth
“It will have blood they say. Blood will have blood…”

2. Pair Activity
In acts one through three, locate three examples of antitheses, similes and metaphors; then explicate each of your three examples.

3. Cultural References
William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, John Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down and Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes each allude to lines in Macbeth.
“The Weird Sisters” is a popular wizarding band in the Harry Potter series.
The Sundance film Scotland, PA retells Macbeth as a dark comedy with “Duncan’s” as a burger joint and Macbeth as a short order cook with evil designs.
Japanese film legend Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood retells Macbeth as a samurai story set in feudal Japan.

4. The Tragedy of Macbeth Otherwise known as “The Scottish Play”
Written and performed as a tribute to Elizabeth I’s successor, James I
Macbeth played on the political and personal insecuritites of King James, including regicide

5. Story Behind the Writing of the Play
1603: King James I officially declares Shakespeare’s acting company The King’s Men; Macbeth was composed as a tribute to the king
Play is set in Scotland
Character of Banquo, who was from the same family as James, is portrayed favorably

6. Elizabethan View of the Universe The Great Chain of Being
"Almighty God created and appointed all things in a most excellent and perfect order."
God
Archangels
Angels
King
Noblemen
Merchants
Peasants
Animals
Plants
Minerals
Elements
Chaos
The Great Chain of Being
[cosmology]

7. HEAVEN HELL (All things good and light) Balcony
(All things evil and “of the ground”)
Trap door
Whenever EVIL strikes the KING, the natural order of the world becomes UNBALANCED.

8. Tragedy
A serious drama that tells of a series of events in the life of a significant person, such events leading to an unhappy catastrophe OR
A drama of the fall of a person from high esteem to low esteem

9. Background to act one
represent EVIL
The REAL Macbeth ruled Scotland from 1040 to 1057.
BLOOD is mentioned in the play more than 100 times. As an IMAGE, it has different meanings during specific times of the play.

10. Setting: Scotland (at the beginning of the play, Scotland is at war with Norway)
Duncan: Present King of Scotland
His two sons:
Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland
and the younger Donalbain
King Duncan’s cousins are Scottish THANES, or noblemen. Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis, Scotland, but due to his bravery early in the play, he is appointed to be the Thane of Cawdor—a major promotion