Board Work

1.  Setting: Inverness

2.  Language of truth: compare between Banquo’s and Macbeth’s words- how would you describe each?(sharp contrast: Banquo-honest and  kind words, wishes to stay free of guilt therefore he refuses to be deceived by the witches’ words- fights against evil intentions. Macbeth on the other hand lies, uses phrases such as “ a friend”,”I think not of them”- highly deceptive.

3.  Supernatural happenings prior to Duncan’s death. (nature is angry- murdering of a king is an unnatural happening and therefore nature is aggressively responding)

4.“Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.” (Important quote)

5. The porter and comic relief- an escape from the intensity of the murder scene.

6. The significance of the knocking- the gate of hell is waiting to open.(reference to Hecate- the goddess of crossroads.

7. Supernatural happenings prior to Duncan’s death. (Nature is angry- murdering of a king is an unnatural happening and therefore nature is aggressively responding)

8. The flight of Malcolm and Donaldbain

9. Macbeth elected king

10.       The porter: imagines he is the porter of hell and admits three types of people: a farmer who commits suicide bec of his bad crops, an equivocator who tells half-truths and a tailor who steals cloth to make garments for himself. All three examples allude to Macbeth. Like the farmer who harvests bad crops, Macbeth schemes evil and therefore brings on his own demise(an act of suicide)Like the equivocator he tells half-truths (his love and loyalty to Duncan and his denial of thinking of the witches’ prophecies, and like the tailor he steals the throne to fulfill personal ambition. All expressed in a comic way.

11.       Examples of pathetic fallacy: “the earth was feverous and did shake”

12.       Example of oxymoron: “joyful trouble”

13.       Dramatic irony: Macduff calling Lady Macbeth”gentle lady”

14.       Breach of nature: Duncan’s murder is described in terms of a breach of nature- implying a breach in social and political order of Scotland- chaos prevails.

Literary terms:

Oxymoron: conjoining contradictory terms

Pathetic fallacy: The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature; for example, angry clouds; a cruel wind.

Homework Week 6

Read until the end of act I

Journal 1 (Due: Tuesday March 20th)

Macbeth is fascinated with the witches’ prophecies, particularly with the one about him becoming king. Create your own soliloquy as Macbeth and describe your feelings about the prophecies and what they entail.

Board Work

Themes:

-           ambition

-           power

-           Gender

-           violence

-           blood

-           The supernatural

-           Time

-           Hubris

-           appearance Vs reality

-           light and darkness’ good Vs evil

-           crime and consequence

-           Betrayal
          In class discussion:

1.         Macbeth’s fixation on the witches’ prophecies, thus changing our initial perspective of Macbeth as hero.

2.         Notice the setting when the witches appear- thunder and lightning which is sinister.

3.         Also notice the witches’ language of contradiction. “fair is foul and foul is fair”, “lesser than Macbeth and greater” all contradictions point to the moral dilemma of the play- similar to Hamlet’s “To be or not to be”

4.         Lady Macbeth introduced through her soliloquies.

5.         “Unsex me here” uttered by L. Macbeth reveals he masculine nature. (gender conflict) Though a woman, L. Macbeth understands the superiority of men and wishes to abandon her feminine nature to gain strength to pursue her objective. 

5.         Males vs. females, who is more evil in this play? Females (the witches and their evil nature and lady Macbeth with her evil intentions) Then males are much kinder in this play.At least Macbeth is not so intent on killing Duncan as his wife. He is therefore accused of not being “man” enough.

William Shakespeare Presentation