1
Q
shakespeare wrote for the acting group called:
A
lord chamberlain’s men (later known as the king’s men in 1603 when james ascended the throne)
2
Q
what period did shakespeare write in?
A
- the renaissance (14th-17th century)
- an expansion of artistic expression
3
Q
macbeth was written in:
A
1606
4
Q
macbeth genre:
A
dramatic tragedy
5
Q
hamartia
A
- fatal flaw
- the thing that leads to a character’s downfall
- for macbeth it is his ambition and lust for power
6
Q
catharsis
A
- purging/cleansing emotions
- results in renewal and restoration
- audience feels pity and fear
7
Q
where does the original story of macbeth come from?
A
- holinshed’s chronicles (1577)
- historical doccument
- more legend than truth
and
- holinshed’s historie of scotlande
8
Q
original, change and motive: 1
A
- macbeth commits sins but it still a good king for 10 years
- macbeth is cruel and tyrannical, he uses violence and terror to consolidate his power
- dramatic purposes, violence made a more interesting plotline, explores the consequences of a divinely crowned king
9
Q
original, change and motive: 2
A
- weird sisters were called the goddesses of destine
- changed to three elizabethan witches, limiting their power, giving macbeth choice and agency, making him responsible for his actions
- jocobean era was insanely religious, king james wrote a book called daemonologie, appealed to the audience as he delegitimises their power
10
Q
original, change and motive: 3
A
- banquo is partner to macbeth to kill king duncan
- banquo is not an acomplice, he is an honourable man
- changed for the sake of james (his distant relative) so banquo had to be good
11
Q
jacobean era
A
- shakespeare’s work was greatly influenced by the king
- lots of uncertainty and tension due to the way james came to power
- shakespeare’s work tended to reflect this mood
12
Q
king james i
A
- his life can also be refered to as a scottish tragedy
- his mother was mary queen of scots, she was executed by queen elizabeth
- james took her position or king of scotland he made an alliance with elizabeth i, securing his place as her successor
13
Q
witchcraft
A
- james had a great interest in the supernatural
- in his book daemonologie he said witchcraft was an act of satan and he justified the death penalty
- inspired people to carry out witch hunts
- in 1604 he made ‘an act against conjuration, witchcraft and dealing with evil and wicked spirits’
14
Q
divine rights of kings
A
- james believed he was chosen by god to be the king of england
- king is the closest being to god on earth
- role of the king to enact the will of god which was to rid the earth of witchcraft
- his wife was unable to complete a journey to see him so he went to find her himself, but was attacked by deadly weather, this made him launch a large scale witchhunt with 70 suspects who were tortured and brutally murdered
15
Q
james’ views on women
A
- deeply misogynistic
- only women could be witches because they were the weaker sex so could be easily entraped by the snares of the devil
- believed eve was the one that was tricked by the serpent, shows women are easily influenced and persuaded to the side of evil
16
Q
witchcraft in macbeth
A
- serve as a warning against witchcraft, evil and bloodshed
- parallels between the witches and the three fates who were incharge of the lives of humans
- hecate is the goddess of witchcraft
- scottish tragedy starts with words of the witches and ends with blood and carnage
- some argue that lady macbeth is the fourth witch due to her paassion for power and ambition
17
Q
the great chain of being
A
- hierarchy that starts with god, then the king
- at the bottom were the rocks
- when lord and lady macbeth killed duncan, not only did they commit a carnal sin but also a sin against the order or the universe
- kings should rule commoners who should accept their place
- macbeths actions distort the order so trigger chaos and bloodshed
18
Q
divine rights/ gunpowder plot
A
- failed conspiracy by some catholics to assassinate the king and parliment
- an attempt to kill the one god had chosen was a sin against god
- punishment can be eternal damnation
- macbeth is a warning against regicide and a representation of what could happen if the audience attempts it
- the viewer can see the terrible consequences of what happens when power is given to these forces of darkness
19
Q
religion
A
- jacobean england was protestant
- catholics set up the gunpowder plot
- catholics were killed and treated badly
- catholics thought james would be nicer because his mum was catholic but he was not
- shakespeare considers religious debates: predestination vs free will and forgiveness vs suffering
20
Q
religious allusions
A
- adam and eve = lord and lady macbeth?
- lady macbeth persuades her husband to sin just as eve persuaded adam
- LM wants ambitiona and power, like eve’s which leads to their ultimate demise
21
Q
predestination vs free will
A
- nothing in life that you can say or do to change where god has decided you will end up
- free will is the belief that we have choices and they decide where you go
- macbeth is a victim of predestination through the prophecies
- macbeth is only a victim unto himself
22
Q
forgiveness vs suffering
A
- is suffering necessary for forgiveness to take place
- macbeth’s sins are beyond forgivemess
23
Q
setting
A
- pathetic fallacy
- scotland is a dark and moody place
- fog represents uncertainty and mystery
- air is filthy points to moral degradation
- witches say fair is foul and foul is fair, this is to say things have been reversed (foreshadowing the unsettling of the great chain of being through regicide)
24
Q
the curse
A
- common belief that the play is cursed
- coven of witches cursed the play because shakespeare used real spells and incantations
- long line of accidents that followed the first production
- to break the curse you must not say the plays name and when you leave you must spin three times then curse and knock on the theatre door to go back in again
English Lit
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