Macbeth
-An Introduction-
Macbeth: An Introduction
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Macbeth is among the best-known of
William Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy (play with an
unhappy ending for the main character).
The play tells of the dangers of the lust for
power and the betrayal of friends.
Believed to have been written between 1603
and 1606.
The Real Macbeth
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king of Scotland
(1040–57).
He succeeded his
father as governor of
the province of Moray
c.1031
was a military
commander for
Duncan I.
(Right: portrait of Macbeth)
The Real Macbeth
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In 1040, Macbeth killed Duncan in
battle and seized the throne.
Possibly of royal descent himself,
he acquired a direct claim to the
throne through his wife, Gruoch;
she was a granddaughter of
Kenneth III, who had been
overthrown by Duncan's ancestor
Malcolm II.
(Right: portrait of Duncan I)
“The Scottish Play”
There are many superstitions centered on
the belief that the play is somehow “cursed”.
“The Scottish Play”
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Cursing audience
Theatre’s last play
Play brought back during times of bad luck
Many injuries and onstage misfortunes
“The Scottish Play”:
A Chronology of Misfortunes
Here are some of the gory particulars:
Beginning with its first performance, in 1606, Dear
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.
“The Scottish Play”:
A Chronology of Misfortunes
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.
“The Scottish Play”:
A Chronology of Misfortunes
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As Lady Macbeth, Sarah Siddons was
nearly attacked 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 Scottish Play”:
A Chronology of Misfortunes
During its 1849 performance at New York's
Astor Place, a riot broke out in which 31
people were trampled to death.
“The Scottish Play”:
A Chronology of Misfortunes
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.
“The Scottish Play”
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Several methods exist to dispel the curse, depending
on the actor.
One is to immediately leave the building the stage is
in with the person who uttered the name, walk
around it three times, spit over their left shoulders,
say an obscenity then wait to be invited back into the
building.
Another popular "ritual" is to leave the room, knock
three times, be invited in, and then quote a line from
Hamlet.
Yet another is to recite one of Shylock's monologues
from The Merchant of Venice.
The Witches
AKA the Weird
Sisters
Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches
(Act I, scene iii) by Johann Heinrich
Fussli
Portrayal in the 2006 film version
of Macbeth
Painting by William
Rimmer depicting the
witches’ conjuration of
an apparition
(Act IV, scene i)
The Witches
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They tell Macbeth that he is destined to be
king, and urge him to do bloody things.
The Witches
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Represent darkness, chaos and confusion.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”- a contradiction.
Evil is good, while good is evil.
The Witches
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“Double, double toil and trouble” – they cause
more grief for the mortals around them.
The witches never actually tell Macbeth to
kill Duncan, but merely tempt him with the
idea of becoming king.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Be careful
what you wish for.
The Tragedy of Macbeth: Introduction
What would you do if you encountered three strange women
who predicted your future?
And then those predictions
started coming true!!
The Tragedy of Macbeth: Introduction
Suppose the women predicted that you would
become a powerful ruler someday.
Would you want to wait to see
if this came true?
Or would you want to make it
come true?
As The Tragedy of Macbeth opens, the Scottish army is
battling invading forces
Norwegian
forces
Scotland
and King Duncan wants a victory.
Macbeth fights ferociously
killing the traitor
Macdonwald and planting
Macdonwald’s head on the
castle battlements.
King Duncan is impressed.
While crossing the stormy countryside after the battle,
Macbeth and Banquo encounter a trio of witches.
Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble
The weird sisters make these
predictions:
•Macbeth will earn noble titles.
•Banquo will produce a line of kings.
•Macbeth will be King of Scotland.
Then, the witches vanish, and a
messenger appears to tell Macbeth that
King Duncan has just given him a
noble title.
All Macbeth can think about is the sisters’ final prophecy …
And the thought that he might become king.
His wife, the ambitious Lady Macbeth longs for
high position
wealth
power
prestige
She’ll do anything to make her husband king.
She just may get her chance. King Duncan decides to visit
Macbeth’s castle.
Will the king live to rule another day?
In the tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the damaging
nature of overwhelming ambition and greed.
It is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, and includes this
simple message: “Thou shalt not kill.”