Tues. April 23 rd Warm Up: 449 th Anniversary - Happy Birthday Shakespeare! Agenda/Objective: -Take notes on background information -Begin reading Macbeth.

Tues. April 23rd

Warm Up: 449th Anniversary - Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

Agenda/Objective: - Take notes on background information- Begin reading Macbeth - Watch Class of 2014 video http://youtu.be/hUvNuvaArHc

Homework:• Finish reading Act 1. Scenes 1- 2

Shakespeare &Macbeth

“The Scottish Play”

Background Information & Introduction

Shakespeare

• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564• One of 8 children

Shakespeare in His Time• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon

in 1564• Today is his 449th Birthday• Three types of plays: – Tragedies– Comedies– Histories

• 37-plus plays, sonnets• Did Shakespeare write all of

his plays?

Shakespeare Today

• Why are we still reading Shakespeare today?

• Invented and/or introduced THOUSANDS of words and phrases to the English language

• Still Culturally relevant– Plots– Allusions– Idioms

Heard Any of These Phrases?• "It’s Greek to me" (Julius Caesar()• "Fair play" (The Tempest) • "All that glitters isn’t gold" (Merchant of Venice)• "Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve" (Othello)• "Break the ice" (The Taming of the Shrew) • "The lady doth protest too much" (Hamlet) • "Clothes make the man" (Hamlet) • "A laughing stock" (The Merry Wives of Windsor)• "Too much of a good thing" (As You Like It) • "In a pickle" (The Tempest)

Elizabethan Era

• Queen Elizabeth I• Bubonic Plague• Fires• Entertainment

The Theater: Then & Now

Elizabethan Theater

• Globe Theatre, London• Theater set-up was

different• All-male actors• A day at the theater

The Globe Theatre, UK

Blackfriars Playhouse – Staunton, VA

Shakespearian Structure in Five Acts:

1. A disorder or complication leads to two sides2. Development of rivalry and disorder3. Climax – Point of no return, leading to final

tragedy4. Reflective Act - beginnings of self-realization,

setting up the finale5. Final Climax – understanding, restoration of

order, resolution.

Conventions of Tragedy

• Death of innocents• Death of the tragic hero• Death of those deserving death

• Predictive elements:– Soliloquies, asides, dramatic irony,

symbolism, foreshadowing, imagery

“To be, or not to be? That is the

question!”

Macbeth Superstitions• There are many superstitions

surrounding performances of Macbeth…• Euphemism: “The Scottish Play”• Avoid reciting the incantations of

the witches before a performance!• Ritual: leave the theatre building, spin

around three times, spit, curse, and then knock to be allowed back in

• Or: quote from Hamlet, (Act 1, Sc. 4): “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!”

Origins of Superstition:• More sword-fighting than other

plays = more chances for injury• Globe Theatre burned down

during a performance of Macbeth (wrong – Henry VIII)

• Legend has it that the first actor to play Macbeth died shortly after the first performance

• The play is cursed because Shakespeare used actual witch spells

Characters

Macbeth

Double, double toil and trouble;Fire burn, and caldron bubble!

(Act 4. Sc.1)

Macbeth & Banquo

The Three Witches

Lady Macbeth

Why is Macbeth so Good?

• Ambition & Power• Masculinity• Murder• Murder• Murder

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8bUdevCXeA&list=PLF03FFCFE3C861A5B

Macbeth in 90 seconds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nlx2XzP-4

Rupert Goold PBS adaptation of Macbeth (WWII theme) - 2½ Hours long http://video.pbs.org/video/1604122998/

Lecture/history of theatre - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYfM0RFZ5cs