The Tragic Hero . . . Shakespeares MacBeth

. . . Shakespeares MacBeth

The Tragic Hero Mouse over the dagger in this presentation to move on

1Curses

Ask a theatre person about this play and they will likely not refer to it not by its title, but as The Scottish Play. Why? . . . The curse of course.

Click the witch to continue..2Macbeth, Thane of GlamisSeyton, Ms attendant Lady MacbethWitchesDuncan, King of Scotland & sonsMalcolm, eldestDonalbain, youngerScottish noblemen:LennoxRoss AngusMacDuffMenteithCaithnessBanquo, Scottish general.Fleance, son of Banquo.Three Murderers.Lady MacduffSiward, English general.Young Siward , Son of SCast of characters

3There 's daggers in men's smiles

Prediction: Given what you know about the heros quest, what do you predict will be different about a tragic hero? The same?

Show your thinking by explaining your reasons.

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Fair is foul, and foul is fair

Play opens on eerie, macabre note in "an open place," where we see the three witches, the "weird sisters." In a dozen lines, they announce their evil nature by saying "Fair is foul,and foul is fair/Hover through the fog and the filthy air," and their intention to meet with Macbeth once the "hurly-burly" of a battle between the forces loyal to the King Duncan (led by Macbeth) and a rebels army (led by the current Thane of Cawdor) comes to an end.

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At the camp of the Scottish King Duncan, a wounded officer tells the king and his son, Malcolm, about the heroism of Macbeth and his friend Banquo in the fight against the rebels. News shortly arrives that the battle has now been won. Duncan orders the execution of the captured Thane of Cawdor and then transfers this title and estate to Macbeth, the new Thane of Cawdor.6

What are these So witherd and so wild in their attire, That look not like the inhabitants o the earth, And yet are on t?At the camp of the Scottish King Duncan, a wounded officer tells the king and his son, Malcolm, about the heroism of Macbeth and his friend Banquo in the fight against the rebels. News shortly arrives that the battle has now been won. Duncan orders the execution of the captured Thane of Cawdor and then transfers this title and estate to Macbeth, the new Thane of Cawdor.7

If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.Set on a heath, the three witches coven together again. They brag about their unnatural deeds and their powers over the supernatural world. Macbeth and Banquo appear on what Macbeth describes as an unusually, "foul and fair" day. The three witches predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and ultimately king of Scotland, and that his cohort Banquo will never rule. Macbeth pleads with them for more information about his future, but they vanish. Two of the king's men (Rosse and Angus) tell Macbeth about his elevation to the position of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo are taken aback by the accuracy of the witches' prediction. For his part, Macbeth is by now inclined to believe that it is his fortune to become king.8Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?

At Macbeth's Inverness castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband, in which he conveys good news of his being named Thane, and of the witches prophecy that Macbeth will one day be regent of all Scotland. Lady Macbeth thinks aloud that her husband's nature is "too full of the milk of human kindness" to realize this ambition. When a messenger enters with news that Duncan is on his way, Lady Macbeth rejoices in the opportunity that this presents to murder the king and take the Scottish throne at once. Macbeth then appears and engages in a loving exchange with his wife. After this, Lady Macbeth lays out a cunning plot to kill Duncan. Macbeth is indecisive but Lady Macbeth tells him his part and admonishes him to "Leave all the rest to me."9This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses.

Still at Macbeth's castle, King Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain, and Banquo are welcomed by Lady Macbeth. She plays the gracious hostess, speaks of "double" doing anything for her guests and then escorts the king to Macbeth.

In one of his castle's rooms, Macbeth contemplates the killing of Duncan, in a speech that begins "If it were done, when 'tis done; then 'twere well/It were done quickly." He is deeply disturbed at the prospective sin of killing a king and a blood relative. Lady Macbeth enters and mocks her husband's fears. When he asks about what would happen if the plan fails, his wife derides this possibility with the rhetorical question, "We fail?" Her bloody ambition overwhelms Macbeth who tells her that she should only bring forth male children, having no "feminine" side to her nature. Macbeth is now committed to stabbing Duncan to death in his sleep and making it appear that he has been murdered by the king's own guards.

10Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.Harpier cries:'tis time! 'tis time!Round about the caldron go; In the poison'd entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone, Days and nights has thirty-one; Swelter'd venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. ALL.Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 3 WITCH.Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf; Witches' mummy; maw and gulf Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark; Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark; Liver of blaspheming Jew; Gall of goat, and slips of yew Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse; Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips; Finger of birth-strangled babe Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, For the ingrediants of our caldron. ALL.Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 2 WITCH.Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzrgXFeX_o

11Out, damned spot! out, I say!

12Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand

13"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

http://www.thelandofmacbeth.com/s_act1.htm14