Earlier in the year we talked about destiny and how destiny is portrayed throughout history. In your opinion…

  1. Is fate and destiny the same thing? Explain using details.
  2. What is the fate of the following characters from literature (these come from all 4 years of English so think back and think hard—amazing how it is all interconnected!)

Character / Fate
Beowulf
Huck Finn
King Arthur
Elie Wiesel
Gatsby
Sir Gawain
Romeo and Juliet
  1. Choose one of the characters and discuss your opinion of his/her fate. Be sure to include whether or not you believe they could have avoided their fate and why.

Macbeth & Drama Background

Read page 292-304 in your textbook and answer the following questions. Be prepared for a discussion!!!

292-293

1. Define the following terms in your own words:

SoliloquyTragic hero

MonologueTragic flaw

AsideComic relief

Chorus

294-299

2. What is The Globe? Give 2-3 facts about it.

3. Describe an experience you have had attending a live performance of some kind.

4. What are the three ways Lady Macbeth has been portrayed over the years?

5. Given the basic plot of Macbeth (Lady Macbeth conspires with her husband to murder their king and take over the kingdom), how could you modernize the plot to make it culturally relevant?

6. Macbeth’s character can be described as: soldier, husband, swordsman, murderer, a man with a conscience who doubts himself despite his conniving ways. What actor would you cast in his role? Explain your response.

300-301

7. Identify two liberties that Shakespeare takes with history in Macbeth.

8. According to Kermode, why did Shakespeare portray Banquo in a favorable light?

9. In the passage shown from Act I and discussed by Frank Kermode, what conflict does Macbeth experience?

10. Why is Macbeth’s soliloquy so famous, according to Kermode? Do you agree or disagree with Kermode here? Briefly explain your answer.

11. How does Macbeth comply with native ethical traditions, according to Kermode?

302-304

12. What was one of Shakespeare’s sources for Macbeth? How is it different?

13. Why does Macbeth have a dangerous plot?

14. Why did Shakespeare choose Scotland for his setting?

Exploration of Blank Verse

Almost all of Macbeth is written in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter, a form of poetry that comes close to imitating the natural rhythms of English speech. The form is flexible and versatile and can produce the effect of smooth, natural speech in a way that other metrical patterns cannot. (You can find out more about blank verse on p. 326 of your textbook.)

Refresh your memory…

An iamb is a metrical foot that has one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. (Each of the following is an iamb: Macbeth, success, to win.)

Pentameter means that each line of verse has five feet.

Shakespeare relied primarily on blank verse throughout his plays. However, some lines in Macbeth are irregular, with fewer feet or with feet that are not iambs. Additionally, Shakespeare relies on prose at times to indicate text versus speech or to set apart the speech of characters from lower stations in life. He also employs occasional rhymes, either to contribute to characterization or to signal that a scene has ended.

  1. Identify each of the following passages as “prose,” “rhyme,” or “blank verse.”
  1. Second Witch. When the hurlyburly’s done,______

When the battle’s lost and won.

  1. Ross. I’ll see it done. ______

King. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.

  1. Ross. The King hath happily received, Macbeth,______

The news of thy success. And when he reads

Thy personal venture in the rebel’s fight,

His wonders and his praises do contend

Which should be thine or his.

  1. Lady Macbeth (Reads). They met me in the day of success; and I have learned by the perfect’st report they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished.

______

  1. Scan one major speech by Macbeth and one by Lady Macbeth from anywhere in Act I. What variations in rhythm do you find? Why do you think these variations exist? (In other words, how do sound and sense relate to each other?)
  1. Do the witches speak in blank verse? Why do you think Shakespeare wrote their lines as he did?

Reading Guide: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

“He’s got that ambition, baby; look in his eyes.”

Macbeth Visual Notes Assignment

As you are reading, you are to keep a visual journal of each scene of the play. This will culminate in a final project that will be heavily weighted. Each visual must have the following:

1. Characters in the scene

2. At least one important event (in bigger scenes, it is advisable to have more than one box)

3. Dialogue with direct quotes from the scene

4. A summary of the major events in the scene

The visual notes do NOT have to be colored, but the final project will include more creativity. Notes can be stick figure sketches, but keep in mind that the more detail you provide along the way, the better off you’ll be come test time and project time!

You should have a total of 28 squares— (56 points; 2 points each) plus accuracy and detail for a total of 70 points. See sample for how to complete visual notes.

Reading Guide

ACT 1

Act I Scene I (p. 307) 302 purple book
  1. Who gets the first word of the play?
  2. What mood does the first scene establish? Comment on how the setting contributes.

Act I, Scene ii (pp. 307-310)
  1. How is Macbeth first described?
  2. The captain compares Macbeth and Banquo to which two animals respectively?
  3. To which Biblical location does the captain allude?
  4. How does the king connect the captain’s words and wounds?
  5. How does Macbeth become Thane of Cawdor?

Act I, Scene iii (pp. 310-315)
  1. How does the first witch intend to punish the sailor’s wife?
  2. What signals Macbeth’s entrance?
  3. Why does line 38 seem particularly significant?
  4. Describe Banquo’s reaction to the witches.
  5. How does each witch hail Macbeth?
  6. What are the witches’ predictions for Banquo?
  7. What happens when Macbeth asks for more details?
  8. How does Banquo try to account for the strange prophecy?
  9. Why do Ross and Angus arrive on the scene?
  10. Why isn’t Banquo completely overjoyed at the fulfillment of the first prophecy?
  11. Paraphrase Macbeth’s aside in lines 127-142.

Act I, Scene iv (pp. 315-317)
  1. How does Malcolm express the irony of the Thane of Cawdor’s death?
  2. What imagery does the king use in lines 28-29?
  3. What are Macbeth’s “deep desires” (line 51)?

Act I, Scene v (pp. 317-320)
  1. What is Lady Macbeth doing in her first appearance on stage?
  2. What are her concerns about her husband?
  3. Paraphrase her “prayer” in lines 38-54.
  4. What is Lady Macbeth’s advice to Macbeth?

Act I, Scene vi (pp. 320-321)
  1. Describe the encounter between Duncan and Lady Macbeth.

Act I, Scene vii (pp. 321-323)
  1. What is Macbeth’s dilemma in lines 1-28?
  2. Which two emotions does he personify?
  3. What does he proclaim to Lady Macbeth?
  4. How does she respond?
  5. How does she illustrate the intensity with which she supports the plan?
  6. What is her strategy to avoid failure?

ACT 2

Act II, Scene I (pp. 327-329)
  1. What is wrong with Banquo?
  2. With what does Banquo present Macbeth?
  3. Whom does Macbeth address in line 34 and following?
  4. What is the signal between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth?

Act II, Scene ii (pp. 329-332)
  1. How does Lady Macbeth contrast herself with Duncan’s servants?
  2. Why doesn’t she kill Duncan herself?
  3. What is Macbeth’s worry?
  4. Why does Lady Macbeth call her husband “infirm”?

Act II, Scene iii (pp. 332-337)
  1. Explain the porter’s speech in ll. 1-21.
  2. Who is at the door?
  3. “What three things does drink especially provoke?” (ll. 27-28)
  4. What makes Lennox’s lines ironic?
  5. Who discovers Duncan’s body?
  6. Explain the significance of Malcolm’s words in ll. 120-121.
  7. What is Malcolm’s and Donaldbain’s plan?

Act II, Scene iv (pp. 338-339)
  1. How does the conversation between Ross and the old man emphasize the connection between mankind and the natural world at work in this play?
  2. What news does Macduff share in this scene?

ACT 3

Act III, Scene I (pp. 343-347)
  1. Explain Banquo’s speech.
  2. How does Macbeth feel about Banquo at this point?
  3. What are the options Macbeth considers in ll. 118-126?

Act III, Scene ii (pp. 347-349)
  1. What is Lady Macbeth’s advice?

Act III, Scene iii (pp. 349-350)
  1. How successful are the murderers? Explain.

Act III, Scene iv (pp. 350-355)
  1. Why does Macbeth’s “fit” return?
  2. With what metaphors does he describe Banquo and Fleance?
  3. What is the cause of Macbeth’s outburst at the table?
  4. How does Lady Macbeth explain her husband to the other guests?
  5. How does Lady Macbeth attempt to get Macbeth to “snap out of it”?
  6. What is Macbeth’s plan for morning?

Act III, Scene v (pp. 355-356)
  1. Why is Hecate angry?
  2. According to Hecate, what is the chief enemy of man?

Act III, Scene vi (pp. 356-357)
  1. What does the conversation between Lennox and the lord reveal?

ACT 4

Act IV, Scene I (pp. 361-366)
  1. What is the choral chant of the witches in this scene?
  2. What is significant about the second witch’s premonition in l. 45?
  3. What instructions does the first witch provide for communing with her master?
  4. Describe the first apparition. What news does this spirit bring?
  5. Describe the second apparition. What is this spirit’s prediction?
  6. Describe the third apparition. What does this spirit explain?
  7. What is Macbeth’s reaction to all of this?
  8. What does he resolve in ll. 146-148?

Act IV, Scene ii (pp. 366-369)
  1. Why does Lady Macduff accuse her husband of madness?
  2. Describe her conversation with her son.
  3. What is the messenger’s advice?
  4. How does Lady Macduff characterize “this earthly world” (l. 73)?
  5. How does this scene end?

Act IV, Scene iii (pp. 370-377)
  1. Why are Malcolm and Macduff in disagreement with each other?
  2. Explain Malcolm’s words in line 50 and following.
  3. What is Macduff’s reaction?
  4. According to Malcolm, what power does the King of England possess?
  5. What makes Macduff’s conversation with Ross ironic?
  6. What is Malcolm’s advice for Macduff upon hearing the news?

ACT 5

Act V, Scene I (pp. 381-384)
  1. What is wrong with Lady Macbeth?
  2. What is the doctor’s advice?

Act V, Scene ii (pp. 384-385)
  1. How does Angus criticize Macbeth’s rule?

Act V, Scene iii (pp. 385-387)
  1. What is Macbeth’s current state of mind?
  2. Why don’t Macbeth and the doctor see eye-to-eye?

Act V, Scene iv (pp. 387-388)
  1. What is Malcolm’s strategy?

Act V, Scene v (pp. 388-390)
  1. In what way does Macbeth reflect on the change in his demeanor?
  2. What news does Seyton bring?
  3. How does Macbeth react?
  4. Why is the messenger so shaken?

Act V Scene vi (p. 390)
  1. Who will lead the attack on the castle?

Act V, Scene vii (pp. 391-392)
  1. What happens to Young Siward?

Act V, Scene viii (pp. 392-394)
  1. Describe the confrontation between Macbeth and Macduff in ll. 4-8
  2. What news does Macduff bring to light in lines 15 and 16?
  3. How does Macbeth respond?
  4. What prompts Siward to refer to his son as “God’s soldier” (l. 47)?
  5. How does Macduff announce the outcome of his battle?
  6. How does Malcolm express his thanks?

Conflicts in Macbeth

In literature, as in life, conflict is a struggle between two opposing forces. It is an essential dramatic element; it builds tension and holds the reader’s interest. Without conflict there can be no drama. There are many conflicts within Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. Some of them are external conflicts that take place between characters with opposing goals. Others are internal conflicts that take place within the consciousness of certain characters. Often conflict begins in one scene and escalates throughout a number of scenes that follow. For example, the fact that Banquo is with Macbeth when the witches make their prophesies in Act I leads to conflict between the two men in later scenes.

Give an example for each of the types of conflicts listed below…

  • Person vs. Person
  • Person vs. Nature
  • Person vs. Supernatural force
  • Person vs. Technology
  • Person vs. Society

Internal conflict=Person vs. ______

Directions: Using the quotes provided, explain the following conflicts found in Macbeth referring to specific occurrences within the text.

1. In Scene i, what is the conflict between the murderers and Banquo?

Quotation: MACBETH. Both of you / Know Banquo was your enemy.

______

2. Why is Banquo in conflict with Macbeth?

Quotation: BANQUO. Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, / As the weird women promised, and I fear/ Thou play’dst most foully for ’t.

______

3. Why does Macbeth experience an internal conflict at the state dinner?

Quotation: MACBETH. Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!

______

4. Why is Lady Macbeth in conflict with Macbeth during the state dinner?

Quotation: LADY MACBETH. What, quite unmanned in folly?

______

Imagery can create responses from any of the reader’s senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. Written images can illuminate for the reader the meaning of both individual moments and patterns of meaning that run throughout the text. Look at this imagery-laden quotation from the First Witch in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV.

“Pour in sow’s blood, that hath eaten/ Her nine farrow, grease that’s sweaten/ From the murderer’s gibbet throw into the flame.”

This passage contains visual imagery: “sow’s blood”; a mother pig eating her nine young. It also contains imagery of touch: “grease” from the noose that hangs a murderer; grease added to a “flame.” Paying attention to imagery can guide you to a deeper understanding of the text. As you read, be on the lookout for repeated imagery; for example, think about the image of blood that runs throughout the entire text of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Blood as an image can mean many different things: loyalty, guilt, revenge, death, brotherhood, parent-child relationship, royalty, and so on. Think about the significance of each of these ideas within the plot of the play.

DIRECTIONS: Read the following passages from The Tragedy of Macbeth and identify the imagery in each. Then write the connection, or what the image makes you think of.

1. “When shall we three meet again? / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”

Imagery:______

Connection:______

2. “Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires . . .”

Imagery:______

Connection:______

3. “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which

o’er-leaps itself / And falls on th’ other . . .”

Imagery:______

Connection:______

4. “But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears . . .”

Imagery:______

Connection:______

What did I get out of Macbeth? ______

What do I want to say about Macbeth? ______

What details from Macbeth could I use to support my idea? ______

Macbeth Essay Topic:______

Sample: Culture and the idea of “manliness”

Macbeth Essential Question:______

Sample: How does culture affect society’s impression of true “manhood”

Macbeth Essay of Choice

In a well developed essay, respond to the themes, style, characters and/or images seen in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Make sure to use at least 2 direct quotes, properly formatted (not floating and accurately cited, sample below) and examples from outside Macbeth to prove the applicability and universality of the play.

Sample quotation citation for plays:

“Double, Double, Toil and Trouble / Fire burn and caldron bubble,” is arguably the most well known line from Macbeth (IV.i.10-11; 20-21; 35-36). This quote is close followed in fame by the second witches premonition, “By the pricking of my thumbs, / something wicked this way comes” (IV.i.44-45).

You will be graded according to the following rubric. Your essay is due at the end of class. You may attach your plan and yopic selection sheet. YOU MUST attach this rubric.

Focus: / How clear is your thesis? / 12345
Organization: / Logical? (intro/body/conclusion) / 12345
Transitions/clarity? / 12345
Support/Elaboration: / 1st direct quote format and citation / 12345
2nd direct quote format and citation / 12345
Effective use of quotes/examples from text / 12345
Effective use of quotes/examples outside text / 12345
Style: / How well do you use your own ideas and experience to craft a personal response? / 12345
How well do you relate your observations to the text at large? / 12345
Conventions: / Accuracy of references and citations to literary works and usage/grammar / 12345
Total points ______/50 possible points///Letter Grade: ABCDF

Carmichael English IV: The English Renaissance: MacbethPage 1 of 9