THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
William Shakespeare
The English Renaissance
Anglo-Saxon Period: 449-1066
Medieval Period: 1066 (Battle of Hastings)- 1485 (War of the Roses)
Renaissance: 1485- 1625 (King James I dies)
Advancements
Associated with pan-European Renaissance that started in Italy in the 14th-century
Invention of the printing press popularized literature written in Modern English (the language of the common people)
Plays were the outstanding legacy of the period (what Italy produced in visual art, England produced in the written word and music) William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, John Donne, Ben
Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Edmund Spenser, Thomas Wyatt, among others
The Notorious Tudor Dynasty 1485 (War of the Roses) to 1603 (death of Queen Elizabeth I)
The Tudor Rose: A combination of the white (York) and the red (Lancaster)
Henry VII
Seized control of the Monarchy at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and later married Elizabeth of York to form the Tudor line
Asserted control over Ireland in 1542, uniting the two countries under one crown
Father to Henry VIII
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death
Known for his 6 marriages and for separation from the Catholic Church
Notorious for executing those who stood in his way: reports range from 57,000-72,000
Marriage #1: Catherine of Aragon Catherine, a devout Catholic and daughter of King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella was first married to Henry’s younger brother Arthur, but after 20 weeks of marriage, Arthur died at the age of 15.
To keep the alliance between England and Spain secure, Henry’s father and Queen Isabella struck a deal for Henry to marry the now widowed Catherine, and they married in 1509 when Henry had become king at the age of 14.
After three miscarriages and the death of a son, Catherine gave birth to Mary, who would later become the notorious “Bloody Mary” for burning 280 Protestant dissenters at the stake.
Henry had many mistresses during this time and became particularly infatuated with one- Anne Boleyn– and as he was growing impatient with Catherine’s inability to produce a male heir, he decided to annul his marriage to Catherine. The Catholic Church was THE CHURCH of Europe and disallowed divorce. He appealed to the pope, claiming that his marriage to Catherine had not been a “true marriage” because she had consummated her marriage to her brother and was therefore not a virgin up on their marriage. The pope disagreed with this summation, so Henry created his own Protestant church: The Church of England.
Marriage #2: Anne Boleyn
Henry had already fathered two illegitimate children with Anne’s sister Mary, but Anne played a little harder to get. She was the “lady in waiting” to Catherine (a.k.a. assistant or servant), so the king had access to her. He banished Catherine from court and married Anne (a Protestant supporter) in 1533. His daughter Mary was declared illegitimate. (motivation for “Bloody Mary”?)
Anne gave birth to a daughter who would become Queen Elizabeth I: the royal patron of Shakespeare.
A few miscarriages later (including one of a son), and Henry grew impatient for a male heir once again.
Meanwhile, Henry had grown infatuated with another woman: Jane Seymour.
Anne knew her position was at risk, and she was accused of conspiracy, adultery, incest, and possible witchcraft. She was executed at Tower Green on 17 May 1536.
Marriage #3: Jane Seymour
Henry married Jane Seymour 10 days after the execution of Anne Boleyn.
The next year, Jane gave birth to a son (who would later become King Edward VI at the age of 9 but would only live until the age of 16), but Jane died during childbirth, leaving Henry as a widower. He declared his daughter with Anne (Elizabeth) illegitimate and announced his son Edward as the heir to the throne.
Marriage #4: Anne of Cleves
This marriage was a arranged based upon a portrait only that Henry would later claim to be overly-flattering of Anne, but Henry was not attracted to Anne once they married. The marriage was never consummated, so he had it annulled.
Marriage #5: Catherine Howard Henry married Catherine on the same
day that he had Oliver Cromwell executed. She was a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.
She had an affair with another man and got caught! Henry had her executed on 13 February 1542.
Marriage #6: Catherine Parr
Henry’s final wife. She helped to reconcile him with his two daughters: Mary and Elizabeth. Later on, the girls were re-legitimized as heirs to the throne.
The Rhyme
Divorced, beheaded and diedDivorced, beheaded, survived
I'm Henry VIII, I had 6 sorry wivesSome might say I ruined their lives...
Final Years
Henry became obese with a waist that measured 54 inches. He had to be moved around using mechanical inventions, and he was covered with painful boils.
His obesity stemmed from a jousting accident in 1536 that left him with an ulcerated leg wound that doctors found difficult to treat, so he was not able to maintain his physical activities.
He was buried next to Jane Seymour– the one wife that gave him the male heir.
From Henry to Elizabeth to James I After Henry died, his son Edward took the throne but died at the age
of 16. This brought up the issue of succession. Edward didn’t want Mary to
inherit the throne for fear that shed re-Catholicize England, but he couldn’t disown Mary without disowning Elizabeth, too. So, he named Lady Jane Grey, his first cousin, as the heir. She is called The Nine Day’s Queen because after Edward died, she was executed for treason, and the crown went to its rightful heir: Mary.
Mary was notorious for trying to reinforce the Catholic beliefs that her father had destroyed in England and so burned religious dissenters at the stake. Her half-sister Elizabeth was a supporter of the Church of England like her mother Anne Boleyn and was even imprisoned by Mary for a time at the notorious Tower of London. Mary did not produce an heir, so upon her death, Elizabeth became the Queen of England, and a time of true Renaissance with peace, culture, and the arts was born.
Elizabeth didn’t produce an heir either, so upon her death, the throne fell to her cousin James of Scotland, who became the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, uniting all three kingdoms under one crown.
Queen Elizabeth: 1533-1603 Queen from 1558 until her death in 1603 Also called “The Virgin Queen” because she never
married and never had any children- she was married to her country.
Moderate in governmental rule and tolerant of religious differences- a time of peace between Catholics and Protestants
Imprisoned and executed Mary Queen of Scots (her cousin James’s mother) out of fear that the queen (who was allied with the French) would invade England and usurp her power.
The English theatre prevailed under her reign with playwrights such as William Shakespeare.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Shakespearean Tragedy
Aristotle’s Poetics
“Tragedy is an imitation of a serious and complete action of some magnitude…Plot is the imitation of action…Tragedy is an imitation, not of human beings but of action, life, happiness, and unhappiness.” Mimesis- imitation of action
“…the principal means whereby tragedy makes its effects are the parts of the plot: reversals of fortune and recognition scenes.” Anagnorisis- recognition Peripeteia- a reversal
Poetics Continued
“Every tragedy, then, must have six parts on which its quality depends: plot, character, speech, mind, spectacle, and melody…Plot, then, is the starting point, the soul as it were, of tragedy; and character comes next.”
Poetics Continued
“The plot, too, should be one, just as in other arts of imitation there is a unified imitation of one thing. Since it is an imitation of action, it should be about one whole action; the parts should be combined in such a way as to make a difference to and disturb the whole if one part is moved from its position or taken away altogether. Anything the presence or absence of which goes unnoticed is no real part of the whole.”
In Layman’s Terms…
Hero has ONE SINGLE problem. Hero tries to solve the problem, but the
hero makes the problem worse. Hero has to deal with the worsened
problem. Hero either solves the problem
(COMEDY) OR hero is solved by the problem (TRAGEDY: ANAGNORISIS).
No “Deus ex Machina”
“Plainly, the unraveling of the plot should spring from the plot itself, and not from the deus ex machina, as in the Medea, or in the way in which the events concerning the sailing away in the Iliad do. The deus ex machina should be used to deal with events that lie outside the drama- either things that have happened beforehand, but of which humans cannot know; or things that are to happen and need to be announced…” Deus ex machina= machine of the gods/
supernatural intervention
Catharsis
“By means of pity and fear, it contrives to purify the emotions of pity and fear.” Catharsis- purging of pity and fear
“Fear and pity can be aroused by purely visual effects, or they can be aroused by the actual structure of the plot; the reaction is more fundamental in the second case, and he will be the better poet who brings it about. For quite independently of what one may see, the plot should be so composed that anyone who hears the vents related shudders and feels pity at what is happening; this certainly happens to anyone who hears the story of Oedipus.”
TRAGEDY •A fictional work depicting the fall of a person of high degree•Essential difference between tragedy and comedy: their depiction of human nature• Comedy: dwells on human weakness• Tragedy: emphasizes human greatnessComedy vs. Tragedy
The Tragic Hero
The tragic hero is a person of noble stature, meaning that s/he is not a normal individual but one who is great in two respects:
Social importance (usually a prince or king)
The possession of an extraordinary quality (passion, aspiration, nobility of mind, etc.)
•The hero’s misfortune is not wholly deserved. What most impresses us about the tragic hero is his/her greatness, not his/her weakness.
•The hero’s fall results in some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge. There are two sides to this gain in knowledge:
• His/her responsibility for the fall
• A significant insight, not just an increase in knowledge but in wisdom.
The tragic hero is imperfect, his/her fall resulting from that imperfection, i.e., the tragic hero is responsible for his/her own fall.
•Aristotle: “an act of injustice” committed either 1) out of ignorance or 2) with the belief that some greater good will be served. His term for it: hamartia.•Later critics: a defect of character, or “tragic flaw” or overweening pride (hubris) •Other critics: not a lack but an excess of virtue, a nobility of character that unfits him/her for life among mortals.
The Fall
Tragic hero makes a mistake and compromises meaningful status in society
Suffering
As a result of a tragic mistake, loses his/her place in society
Reconciliation
Experiences insightTakes responsibility for his/her fall, which s/he realizes is his/her fault
Essential Action
Terms
Aside- words spoken by a character intended to be heard by the audience while other characters are onstage; a character’s inner thoughts
Soliloquy- words spoken by a character alone onstage to the audience; reveals innermost thoughts
Blank Verse- unrhymed iambic pentameter Comic Relief- a humorous episode in a tragedy intended to
break the tension or heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast; also foreshadows trouble
Foil- two characters in the same situation/ status in society that contrast in order to highlight facets of the main character’s personality
Dramatic Irony- When the audience knows something that a character does not know. This builds suspense.
Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Source= Holinshed’s Chronicles
Shortest play- probably written in 1606
Written as a tribute to James I Witches- demonology Banquo- ancestors Divine right of kings
Blank verse with prose (mad scene,drunken porter scene)
Setting: Anglo-Saxon period Scotland
Motifs
Blood/water
Supernatural
Light/dark
Appearance/ reality
Animals
Essential Themes
Trusting appearances can lead to downfall.
Unchecked ambition leads to corruption.
Main Characters
Macbeth- noble soldier who learns that he is to be king from the witches/ acts on the witches’ prophecies
Banquo- Mac’s friend/ foil character/ does not act on the witches’ prophecies
Lady Macbeth- Mac.’s wife/ strong, resolute/ wants her hubby to be king more than he does
Duncan- King of Scotland, good king, poor judge of character
Macduff- noble soldier Malcolm & Donalbain- Duncan’s two sons The Witches– tell Macbeth and Banquo their futures Hecate– the “head witch” who rules the three witches
