Macbeth: An Exploration of Themes and Concepts in Shakespeare's Play
Dive into the major themes, key concepts, and terms surrounding Shakespeare's Macbeth. Learn about fate, superstition, and the corruption of power through engaging discussions and activities.
Macbeth: An Exploration of Themes and Concepts in Shakespeare's Play
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Presentation Transcript
Purpose: Introduction Major themes Key Concepts Terms Some interesting information behind the play itself… This PowerPoint is not a lecture, but a discussion. Please participate, but also, please make notes.
Curses!!! • Did you know that there is a horrible curse on the play? • There are many strange accidents and incidents that have occurred during productions. • Follow along on page 266 in your literature book.
1272-1305 : Every man dies, not every man lives. William Wallace Rob Roy
William Wallace • Kilts and tartans
Rhymed couplet The Weird Sisters • Fair is foul, foul is fair, • Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Fate and Other Things Strange: “Something wicked this way comes.” • Can you define Fate? Is witchcraft still thriving today? • Have you ever had your fortune told? • Have you ever seen a ghost?
Common Themes • Corruption of power • Blind ambition • Appearance vs. reality • Superstition and its effect on human behavior • What are the characteristics of an evil person? • Are temptation, desire, ambition evil traits? • Effects of concealed guilt
Common Repeated Images • Sleep • Blood • Disease • Clothing • Light and Darkness
Some familiar terms • Tragic hero • Aristotle’s concept of tragedy • Hubris • Hamartia • Allusion • Simile • Metaphor • Personification • Alliteration
Terms again • Foreshadowing • Dramatic irony • Aside • Soliloquy • Blank verse • Iambic pentameter • Rhymed couplet • Tanistry
More stuff • The Great Chain of Being
What’s on for Today? • Denotation • Connotation • Stress • Inflection
So foul and fair a day I have not seen. • List synonyms for the words “foul” and “fair.” • This statement is called a paradox. • What others have you noticed?
Stress • He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust. • Stress a different word each time you read the line. • How does the meaning change?
Inflection • Is execution done on Cawdor? • Rise and fall of your voice… • How does the meaning change?
Nonverbal communication • What meaning is implied without words?
How does Banquo feel about the witches’ predictions? • How does Macbeth feel? • Who is the topic of conversation at the start of scene 4? • How might Duncan’s words to Macbeth, as Macbeth enters, seem ironic? • How does Macbeth feel now that Malcolm has been named Price of Cumberland? • Do we have any clues about how he will behave in the future?
Sonnet- Elizabethan or Shakespearean • 14 line poem • Contains 3 quatrains and a rhymed couplet • 10 syllable line of unstressed / stressed syllables. • Divided into five feet • Rhyme pattern: abab cdcd efef gg
Example • If you can look into the seeds of time, • And say which grain will grown and which will not, • Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear • Your favors nor your hate
Quote analysis • Speaker • To whom the character is speaking • Situation: its significance to the plot • Interpretation: literary devices, symbols
Analysis • 1. Banquo • 2. To the witches • 3. The witches have given Macbeth the news that he will be king • 4. Banquo expresses curiosity to hear his future (seeds of time) but shows no great desire to receive special help from the women.
Quiz –Globe Theater • Discussion Globe Theater • Make notes on the drawing and add the parts of the theater.
These are the things I will talk about today. • Listen and make notes • Dates: 1613, 1642, 1599 • Seating areas: galleries, Lord’s rooms • Standing area: Pit • People: groundlings • Price of admission • People in attendance
Quiz- Act 1:1,2,3 • New terms • Rhymed couplet • Cue • Anachronism • Paradox
Discussion • Who is Macdonwald? • Who is the Thane of Cawdor? • Scene iii • What is a tragic hero? • What is the meaning of fate?
How can Banquo be lesser , but greater? • How does Macbeth react to the prophecies? • How does Macbeth reveal his deceptiveness in scene iii? • What is an aside? • Hw. Act 1, scenes 4,5 • Activity in class
In class • Illustrate a line showing Shakespeare’s visual word imagery • Example: “make my seated heart knock at my ribs” • Use microshop paint
- • Quiz 4,5 • Discuss 4,5 • Do you feel you can judge a person’s character by his face? • For discussion today • Tannistry
What decision has Macbeth reached in scene iv? • Inverness • How does Lady Mac feel about her husband • What conclusions can you draw about their relationship?
Quiz- 6,7 • Act I study questions due • Hw. Act II, Scenes 1,2 • For discussion • What are several reasons Mac does not want to kill Duncan? • What is a soliloquy?
According to Lady M. , what makes a man? • What arguments does Lady M use to convince Mac to carry out the murder? • Debate today.
ACT II • Inverness, Court of Macbeth • Who is Fleance? • Blank verse? • Some new words: • Augment, palpable, stealthy, equivocate • Thoughts become deeds.
ACT II • Scene 3,4 discussion • Porter-What is a porter? • Comic relief? • What is the difference in the porter’s speech and other characters? • Equivocator • Who are Macduff and Lennox?
Act III • Hw-Act III, Scenes 1,2 • Literary terms • external conflict, internal conflict,climax • Vocabulary • Indissoluble • Dauntless • Jocund • Infirmity
Malevolence • Parricide • “To be thus is nothing…”
Nature of Evil • Write: Does evil come from within people or from outside? Have you done something you knew was wrong and knew you would regret it? Why did you do it? • Name events in history that you consider as evil. • Draw a conclusion.
Terms and vocabulary • Imagery • Pernicious • Judicious • Sundry • Intemperance • Avarice • Credulous
Points of discussion • Number 3 • Describe the concoction the witches are brewing.- sound, smell, consistency, color • Bird imagery • Shakespearean plot diagram
Questions for you • Why does Shakespeare show the witches at work at this point in the play? • How does each apparition relate to specific elements that have occurred so far? • Apparition= • Why do you think Macduff fled Scotland without telling his wife? • Why is the child’s murder on stage?