Introduction and summary of Macbeth. On a lonely heath in Scotland, three weird witches sing their riddling runes and say that soon they will meet Macbeth. Macbeth, the noble thane of Glamis, had recently been victorious in a great battle against Vikings and Scottish rebels. For his brave deeds, King Duncan decides to confer upon him the lands of the rebellious thane of Cawdor. On his way to see the king, Macbeth and his friend, Banquo, meet the three witches on the dark moor. The wild and frightful women greet Macbeth by first calling him thane of Glamis, then thane of Cawdor, and finally, king of Scotland.
Finally, they prophesy that Banquo’s heirs will reign in Scotland in years to come. Macbeth thinks very little about the strange prophecy until he meets one of Duncan’s messengers, who tells him that he is now thane of Cawdor. Duncan is a kind, majestic, gentle, and strong ruler; Macbeth is fond of him. That night there is much feasting in the castle. Before long, Lady Macbeth’s strong will breaks as well. Macbeth. Stop us if you've heard this one before: a man hears an exciting prophecy about his future and decides to take fate into his own hand by killing his king. Things go rapidly downhill. Sure, it's possible that you were just tra-la-la-ing through the Internet and randomly stumbled over this guide, but we're guessing that you already know Macbeth's basic plot.
After all, it is one of the most famous works of English literature, and it's even loosely based on some real-life 11th century events found in Holinshed's Chronicles. So let's tell you something you might not know: when it was first performed by Shakespeare's company around 1606, Macbeth was the latest in ripped-from-the-headlines, up-to-the-minute political events. It's basically The Dark Knight trilogy of the (very) early 17th century. Check it out: (1) It was written in 1605 or 1606, right after James I, the first Stuart king, took up the crown of England in 1603. Probably not. Macbeth: Important Quotations Explained. The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty.
Make thick my blood, Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ‘Hold, hold!’ Lady Macbeth speaks these words in Act 1, scene 5, lines 36–52, as she awaits the arrival of King Duncan at her castle. If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly.
Whence is that knocking? Macbeth says this in Act 2, scene 2, lines 55–61. Macbeth, King James and the Witches. James I and Witchcraft. James I considered himself to be an intellect. In particular James saw himself as an expert on witchcraft, which was still an issue in Stuart England in so far as many did not share the same views as James. The idea of black and witch witches can be traced back to Roman times. However in the sixteenth century a new Christian theory developed based on Christian theology, canon law and philosophical ideas. This theory was that a witch had made a deliberate pact with the devil – almost a form of a personal arrangement – but that a witch did not act alone. There are no accurate figures for the arrest and punishment of witches in the early seventeenth century – which could indicate poor record keeping or simply that so many were arrested that records were never updated.
The wholesale persecution of witches started in Scotland in 1590 when James VI was king – the future James I of England. The issue may well have been James himself. Why is 1590 a key year? Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches. Elizabethan Superstitions Who were the people accused of being Elizabethan Witches? Women were those most often accused of being witches. There were 270 Elizabethan witch trials of 247 were women and only 23 were men. Those accused of witchcraft were generally: OldPoorUnprotectedSingle women or widows (many kept pets for company - their 'familiars') During the Elizabethan era men were all-powerful. Women had few rights and were expected to obey men. Queen Elizabeth and the Punishment of Elizabethan WitchesThe hysteria and paranoia regarding witches which was experienced in Europe did not fully extend to England during the Elizabethan era. Elizabethan Witches - Black Witches and White Witches ('Cunning Folk' or Healers)Up to the Renaissance period the wisdom of the 'Wise women' or 'Cunning Folk' - the White Witches - were seen as helpful, if not invaluable, members of the community.
Elizabethan Superstitions Who were the people accused of being Elizabethan Witches? Macbeth: Character List. Summary of Macbeth. Tragedy. Tragedy of witches. Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches' conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer The Three Witches or Weird Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (c. 1603–1607). Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland. Other possible sources influencing their creation aside from Shakespeare's own imagination include British folklore, contemporary treatises on witchcraft including King James I and VI's Daemonologie, Scandinavian legends of the Norns, and ancient classical myths concerning the Fates, the Greek myths of the Moirai and the Roman myths of the Parcae.
Portions of Thomas Middleton's play The Witch were incorporated into Macbeth around 1618. In the eighteenth century the witches were portrayed in a variety of ways by artists such as Henry Fuseli. Origins[edit] The name "weird sisters" is found in most modern editions of Macbeth. The weyward Sisters, hand in hand, Dramatic role[edit]
Tragedy of Macbeth. Lord Macbeth is the title character and protagonist of William Shakespeare's Macbeth (c. 1603–1607). The character is based on the historical king Macbeth of Scotland, and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of Britain. Shakespeare's version of Macbeth is based upon Macbeth of Scotland, as found in the narratives of the Kings Duff and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587).[1] Lord Macbeth is Thane of Glamis, later Thane of Cawdor, and then King of Scotland. The tragedy begins amid a bloody civil war when Macbeth is first introduced by a wounded soldier, who gives a colourful and extensive exaltation of Macbeth’s prowess and valour in battle. When the battle is won, largely due to Macbeth and his lieutenant, Banquo, King Duncan honours his generals with high praise and rewards Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor.
At home with his wife, Macbeth displays another dimension to his character. Macbeth: Full-text online. Tragedy of Lady Macbeth. According to some genealogists, Lady Macbeth and King Duncan's wife were sisters or cousins, where Duncan's wife had a stronger claim to the throne than Lady Macbeth. It was this that incited her jealousy and hatred of Duncan. The character's origins lie of the accounts of Kings Duff and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare. Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth appears to be a composite of two separate and distinct personages in Holinshed's work: Donwald's nagging, murderous wife in the account of King Duff, and Macbeth's ambitious wife Gruoch of Scotland in the account of King Duncan. Analysts see in the character of Lady Macbeth the conflict between femininity and masculinity, as they are impressed in cultural norms.
Lady Macbeth suppresses her instincts toward compassion, motherhood, and fragility — associated with femininity — in favour of ambition, ruthlessness, and the singleminded pursuit of power. Origins[edit] Role in the play[edit] A.C. MacBeth and Feminist Theory. In MacBeth, we see a dramatization of man versus woman. It is, in fact, easy to view MacBeth as the victim of women; Lady MacBeth’s towering ambition, as well as the victim of the witches’ bad intentions.
In support of this, Sigmund Freud suggested, as cited in Dr. Caroline Cakebread’s essay, “MacBeth and Feminism,” that Lady MacBeth’s singular raison d’etre is to overcome “the scruples of her ambitious yet tender-minded husband… She is ready to sacrifice even her womanliness to her murderous intention…” However, the feminist point of view seems to dismiss the notion of Macbeth as the victim of these multiple feminist plots, reminding us that it was he, MacBeth who killed Duncan, and Lady MacBeth who was left to sort out the mess. A feminist theory approach might have one interpret “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” as a clarion to the sexual ambiguity in the text. In the end, women are removed from any position of power in the tale. Works Cited Adelman, Janet. Chomsky, Noam. Tragedy of Banqou. Source[edit] Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches in a woodcut from Holinshed's Chronicles Shakespeare often used Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland—commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles—as a source for his plays, and in Macbeth he borrows from several of the tales in that work.[1] Holinshed portrays Banquo as an historical figure: he is an accomplice in Mac Bethad mac Findlaích's (Macbeth's) murder of Donnchad mac Crínáin (King Duncan) and plays an important part in ensuring that Macbeth, not Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Malcolm), takes the throne in the coup that follows.[2] Holinshed in turn used an earlier work, the Scotorum Historiae (1526–7) by Hector Boece, as his source.
Boece's work is the first known record of Banquo and his son Fleance; and scholars such as David Bevington generally consider them fictional characters invented by Boece. Role in the play[edit] Banquo is in a third of the play's scenes, as both a human and a ghost. Analysis[edit] Tragedy of Fleance. Shakespeare's play is adapted from Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of the British Isles written during the late sixteenth century. In Holinshed, Fleance escapes Macbeth and flees to Wales, where he fathers a son who later becomes steward to the King of Scotland. His later descendants gain the throne and begin the Stuart line of kings in England.
James I, who was king during the writing of Macbeth, was, as legend had it, a descendant of the Stuart line of Scottish kings. History[edit] Fleance and his father Banquo are both fictional characters presented as historical fact by Hector Boece, whose Scotorum Historiae (1526–27) was a source for Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles,[1] a history of the British Isles popular in Shakespeare's time. The Stuarts used their connection with Fleance and his marriage to the Welsh princess to claim a genealogical link with the legendary King Arthur.
In Macbeth[edit] Fleance appears in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Analysis[edit] Theatre and screen versions[edit] Tragedy of King Duncan. Analysis[edit] King Duncan is a father-figure who is generous but firm ("No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death / And with his former title greet Macbeth. "[1]), insightful ("There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face. "[2]), and sensitive ("This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses Film and television performances[edit] Film[edit] In Orson Welles' 1948 film adaptation of Macbeth, the role of King Duncan is reduced. 1.2 is cut entirely as well as generous portions of 1.4. Television[edit] References[edit] Bibliography[edit] Bevington, David, ed., and William Shakespeare. Tragedy of Malcom. Malcolm's Kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained in Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic control, and the areas under the control of the Kings of Scots did not advance much beyond the limits set by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) until the 12th century.
Malcolm III fought a succession of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. These wars did not result in any significant advances southwards. Malcolm's main achievement is to have continued a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[6] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[7] Malcolm's second wife, Margaret of Wessex, was later beatified and is Scotland's only royal saint.
Background[edit] Malcolm and Ingibiorg[edit] Malcolm and Margaret[edit] Tragedy of Donaldbain. He is based upon a personage in an account of King Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare.[1] He is ultimately based on the historical King Donald III of Scotland. In the original text of the First Folio his name is spelled Donalbaine, it is sometimes spelled Donaldbain. Shakespeare's Donalbain is based upon 'Donald Bane' in the account of King Duncan from Holinshed's Chronicles (1587). There, he makes his only appearance in the narrative after King Duncan is murdered. He then decides to seek refuge in Ireland where, the reader is informed, he was "cherished by the king of that land.
" After his departure, Macbeth uses "great liberality" toward the Scottish nobles in order to gain their favour, and rules capably for seventeen years before being defeated by Malcolm and his English forces.[1] Holinshed's historical personage is Donald III of Scotland. Donalbain appears in a few early scenes in the play as a silent member of his father's entourage.
Tragedy of Macduff. The character is first known from Chronica Gentis Scotorum (late 14th century) and Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland (early 15th century). Shakespeare drew mostly from Holinshed's Chronicles (1587). Although characterized sporadically throughout the play, Macduff serves as a foil to Macbeth, a figure of morality, and an instrument to the play’s desired excision of femininity.
The overall plot that would serve as the basis for Macbeth is first seen in the writings of two chroniclers of Scottish history, John of Fordun, whose prose Chronica Gentis Scotorum was begun about 1363 and Andrew of Wyntoun's Scots verse Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, written no earlier than 1420. These served as the basis for the account given in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), on whose narratives of King Duff and King Duncan Shakespeare in part based Macbeth.
Macduff first appears in Holinshed's narrative of King Duncan after Macbeth has killed the monarch and reigned as King of Scotland for 10 years. Tragedy of Lady Macduff.