Macbeth Quickwrite
Title: The Acquisition of Power
Describe what makes an individual powerful.
Is it physical traits? Is it psychological strength?
Does personality play a role? If so, how? What
about passion, opportunity, manipulation?
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Guidelines and tips
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
macbeth intro for beginerine .
Typology: Schemes and Mind Maps
2019/2020
1 / 22
This page cannot be seen from the preview
Don't miss anything!
Related documents
Partial preview of the text
Download macbeth intro for beginers and more Schemes and Mind Maps Law in PDF only on Docsity!
Macbeth Quickwrite
Title: The Acquisition of Power
Describe what makes an individual powerful.
Is it physical traits? Is it psychological strength?
Does personality play a role? If so, how? What
about passion, opportunity, manipulation?
The Tragedy
of Macbeth
Historical Context of
Shakespeare’s World
A period of: succession (Queen Elizabeth to James I) political allegiance, threat of rebellion, conflict between different sects of Christianity, questions of faith and morality and the perils of a rapidly shifting social landscape were all part of public discourse and were concerns that impacted and influenced the literature of the period. from Columbia University and The Norton Anthology
Politics
Witchcraft Act: Queen Elizabeth The act stipulated death to anyone found guilty of using witchcraft to harm another person. Some historians have argued that at a moment when a woman independently ruled, anxieties about female power and influence became more pronounced, leading to sterner penalties for suspected witches. Similar acts were created under Henry VIII before her, and James I after her.
Ascension of King James I (previously of Scotland) James lived in fear of assassination and there were numerous attempts on his life. The most significant of these was the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and the failure of this plot to blow up Parliament and the royal family is still celebrated in England as Guy Fawkes’ Day. The trial and execution of those involved in the plot occupied the public imagination.
Shakespeare’s
Globe While some plays were published, printed and circulated, their primary function was to be performed. Some of Shakespeare’s plays were published during his lifetime in quarto form. But his collected works were published only after his death in the First Folio (1623), which contained 36 plays divided into tragedies, comedies and histories.
The Tragedy
of Macbeth
Shakespearean tragedies intertwine the individual and the social, the psychological and the political and are an arena for the exploration of primal human desires and values—revenge, love, ambition, hatred and power. Macbeth , the shortest of his tragedies, is no exception.
Setting of
Macbeth
Shakespeare sets his drama at a moment in Scottish history soon after the end of English rule, which had dominated Scotland from the beginning of the tenth century.
Macbeth is often called “The Scottish Play,” as a theatrical superstition, which says speaking the name “Macbeth” inside a theatre, other than as called for in the script, will cause disaster.
The Tragedy
of Macbeth
Characters (Act 1.1 - Act 2.1):
Three Witches (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
King Duncan
Malcolm
Captain
Lennox
Ross
Macbeth Banquo Angus Lady Macbeth Servant
Discussion
Discuss with a partner and be prepared to share.
- Is evil inherent in human nature?
- Are women “naturally” more evil than men, or vice versa?
- What happens when you put good people in an evil place?
- Does humanity win over evil or does evil triumph?
- Is redemption truly possible? That is, is it possible to commit an act of genuine evil and truly recover from it?
Discussion
Discuss with another partner and be prepared to share.
- Is it possible to admire or respect a person whom you know has committed acts of genuine evil?
- Do “the ends justify the means”? That is, if one uses morally evil methods to acquire a goal, is that goal forever tainted or polluted by the actions one has taken to achieve it?
We Need a Hero! -One of the reasons we study heroes
We need ordinary people doing EXTRAordinary things.
*The very same situations that can create perpetrators of evil can also inspire the Heroic Imagination in some or render most people passive bystanders and guilty of the Evil of Inaction.
*Heroes are ordinary people who ACT when others are passive and who give up EGO-centrism for SOCIO-centrism (i.e. one no longer thinks only of the “I,” but rather of the “We.”)