First Folio

by William Shakespearedirected by Michael KahnAugust 31 — October 24, 2004

Macbeth

Teacher Curriculum Guide

Table of Contents Page Number

A Brief History of the Audience…………………….1

About the PlaywrightOnWilliam Shakespeare…………………………………3Elizabethan England……………………………………….4Shakespeare’s Works……………………………………….5Shakespeare’s Verse and Prose……………………..7From Stage to Page and Back Again…………….9A Timeline of Western World Events…….……11About the PlaySynopsis of Macbeth……………………………………..12Changing of the Guard………………………………..14Don’t Know Much About History……………….16Macbeth and Masques………………………………...19Something Wicked This Way Comes…………..21Macbeth Adapted…………………………………………23Classroom Connections• Before the Performance……………………………26Dramatizing Violence on Stage(Re)Making HistoryEye of Newt?Language in MacbethLuck Be a Lady

• After the Performance………………………………27Good HumorsSouth of the BorderCome What, Come MayMore Language in MacbethCause and EffectDouble, Double, Buffy’s in Trouble

Suggested ReadingMacbeth Resource List………………………………….28Cover: John Boydell, The Gallery of Illustrations for Shakespeare’sWorks (1874).

Welcome to The Shakespeare Theatre’sproduction of Macbeth by WilliamShakespeare!Each season, The Shakespeare Theatre presentsfive plays by William Shakespeare and otherclassic playwrights. The Education Departmentcontinues to work to deepen understanding,appreciation and connection to these plays andclassic theatre in learners of all ages. Oneapproach is the publication of First Folio: TeacherCurriculum Guides.

In the 2004-05 season, the EducationDepartment will publish First Folio: TeacherCurriculum Guides for our productions ofMacbeth, Pericles and The Tempest. The Guidesprovide information and activities to helpstudents form a personal connection to the playbefore attending the production at TheShakespeare Theatre. First Folio is full of materialabout the playwrights, their world and the playsthey penned. Also included are differentapproaches to explore the plays andproductions in the classroom before and afterthe performance. First Folio is designed as aresource both for teachers and students.The Shakespeare Theatre’s EducationDepartment provides an array of School,Community, Training and Audience Enrichmentprograms. A full listing of our programs isava i lab le on our webs i te (www.shakespearetheatre.org/edu.html) or in ourEducation Programs Brochure. If you would likemore information on how you can participate inother Shakespeare Theatre programs, please callthe Education Hotline at 202.547.5688.Enjoy the show!Note: Throughout the articles in the Folio key words orphrases will be underlined to highlight important ideasand concepts. Definitions can be found in the margins.Please review these key words with your students.

First Folio Teacher Curriculum Guide

A Brief History of the AudienceI can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across thisempty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that isneeded for an act of theatre to be engaged.—Peter Brook, The Empty Space

ended with what the Christians called “morallyinappropriate” dancing mimes, violent spectator sportssuch as gladiator fights, and the public executions forwhich the Romans were famous. The Romans lovedviolence, and the audience was a lively crowd.Because theatre was free, it was enjoyed by people ofevery social class. They were vocal, enjoyed hissingbad actors off the stage, and loved to watch criminalsmeet large ferocious animals, and soon after, enjoyedwatching those same criminals meet their death.The Far EastIn Asia, theatre developed in much the same way ithas elsewhere, through agricultural festivals andreligious worship. The Chinese and Japaneseaudiences have always been tireless, mainly becausetheir theatre forms, such as the Japanese “Kabuki” and“Noh” plays and Chinese operas, could last anywherebetween a full day, if not three days, beginningbetween six to nine in the morning! In China, theaudience was separated; the higher classes sat closerto the action of the play, and the lower classes,generally a louder, more talkative bunch, would beplaced in stalls at the back. The audience expected asuperior performance, and if it lacked in any way, theaudience could stop the production and insist on adifferent presentation. In Japan, theatre began withall-day rice festivals and temple plays sponsored bypriests. These evolved into “street performances”where the performers led the audience on a tripthrough the village. In theatre houses, the upperclasses sat in constructed boxes, and women indisguise (it was not considered proper for arespectable woman to be seen at the theatre) andlower classes would stand below with the “inspector”standing on a high platform in the middle, keeping astrict eye on everyone.A Couple of Hundred Years Without ArtTolerance took a holiday during the period ofEuropean history known as the Dark Ages. During thistime period culture of all kind went on hiatus—mostespecially that frivolous, godless display of lewd andlicentious behavior known as theatre. Fortunately it

The nature of the audience has changed throughout history, evolving from a participatory crowd to agroup of people sitting behind an imaginary line, silently observing the performers. The audience iscontinually growing and changing. There has always been a need for human beings to communicatetheir wants, needs, perceptions and disagreements to others. This need to communicate is thefoundation of art and the foundation of theatre’s relationship to its audience.

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In the BeginningTheatre began as ritual, with tribal dances andfestivals celebrating the harvest, marriages, gods, warand basically any other event that warranted a party.People all over the world congregated in villages. Itwas a participatory kind of theatre, the performerswould be joined by the villagers who believed thattheir lives depended on a successful celebration—theharvest had to be plentiful or the battle victorious, orsimply to be in good graces with their god or gods.Sometimes these festivals would last for days and thevillage proved tireless in their ability to celebrate.Many of these types of festivals survive today in thefolk history of areas such as Scandinavia, Asia, Greeceand other countries throughout Europe.It’s Greek to MeThe first recorded plays come from the Greeks (fourthand fifth centuries BCE). Their form of theatre beganin much the same way as previous forms did. Itstemmed from the celebration of the wine harvestand the gods who brought citizens a fruitful harvest—specifically Dionysus, the god of wine. Spectators hada great deal of respect for their gods, and thousandswould flock to the theatre to experience a full day ofcelebration. The day of drama and song made for alively crowd. Staff-bearers patrolled the aisles to keepthe rowdies under control. While theatre was free,your seat was determined by your station in life. Therich had cushioned seats at the front, while thepeasants, artisans and women were forced to takeseats at the back. In the later years, after a full day ofdrink, Greek audiences were not above showingdisapproval at a less-than-spectacular performance.Stones were thrown, as well as other sloppy objects,hissing was popular and loud groanings ofdiscontent could usher any actor into earlyretirement.The Romans, or the inspiration for GladiatorThe Romans took the idea of “spectator” an inch or sofurther. Their theatre (first through third centuriesBCE) developed in much the same way as the Greeks;with comedy, tragedy and festivals, but unfortunately

reemerged, with some severe restrictions, during theMiddle Ages.Pageant WagonsWestern theatre further developed from the Greekand Roman traditions through the Middle Ages with“Mystery Plays” sponsored by the church. Organizedtheatre was frowned upon, as it was a place forcongregation of the lower classes, encouragingdisease and immoral behavior. Church leaders wouldallow performances of bible scenes, however, for thepeople who could not read. These productionsmoved to different locations much like traveling the“stations of the cross.” To spread the good word tothe broadest section of the population, these playsleft the confines of the church building and began totravel on what were known as “pageant wagons.”These wagons held one entire location, and a seriesof wagons hooked together permitted a company totell an entire story just about anywhere. Troupes ofactors would roam the countryside setting up make-shift theatres in inns, pubs, public squares—prettymuch anywhere they could park.Within This Wooden ODuring Shakespeare’s era—the Elizabethan period—theatre companies were awarded status andprivilege based on patronage from wealthylandholders or the royal family. With patronage camemoney so the companies began building theatres.The theatre of Shakespeare’s day was attended by all,was inexpensive, and was known to be an incrediblygood time. Surrounding the stage was the lower “pit”where the “groundlings” (or lower classes)congregated and above, octagonally surroundingthe pit, were the stalls reserved for the upper classes.If you were stationed in the pit, it was not uncommonto have a goblet of wine dumped on your head—orto be drooled or spat upon by the “more civilized”people above you. Elizabethan audiences did notknow what it meant to be quiet for a performanceand would talk back to the actors. Thought to beinvolved in spreading the “black plague,” the goodtime abruptly ended with the closing of the theatresin 1592.Look at me, look at me...During the Restoration, theatre became a luxury. Forthe almost entirely upper class audience, the purposeof going to the theatre was “to see, and to be seen.”The stage was a rectangular area between a longhallway of boxes. The best seats in the house wereoften right on stage! The house lights were up full sothe audience could see each other better, not theaction on stage. The theatre of the Restorationconsisted mainly of light, fluffy comedies performedin an oratory style—actors posing, wearing BIGcostumes and practically screaming over the din of

the audience. Theatre companies still existed on thepatronage of the very wealthy and often performedplays exclusively in the salons of the rich, famous andpowerful. A few hundred years later, opera composerRichard Wagner figured out that to focus theaudience’s attention away from themselves and ontothe stage, the lights needed to be off—forcing theaudience to watch the performance. Since that timethe audience has taken its cue that the performance isabout to begin from the lights overhead beginning todim. This small adjustment in lighting effectivelyerected a permanent barrier between the actiononstage and the audience.Freud...Tell Me About Your MotherWhile dimming the house lights has drasticallychanged the overall aesthetic of theatre, anothermodern movement has had even greater impact ontheatre in the 20th century. Psycho-analysis—Id, ego,super-ego and subconscious desires—made theatremore introspective in its search for truth. As theatrebecame more psychological, more a representation ofreal life, the audience felt as if they wereeavesdropping. Twentieth century theatregoers spenda great deal of time and thought pondering thepsychological motivations of characters. There is nowan imaginary wall, called the “fourth wall,” separatingthe performers and the audience. It affects how weview the performance and how actors portraycharacters—we can observe the people onstage asthey relate their problems, fears and desires withoutthem noticing us at all.Now the Options are EndlessToday, for the audience, just about anything goes.History has shared with us many types of theatre andwe, the spectators, bring our own experiences andhistories to the event, causing us to react differently todifferent productions. Unlike movies or television, theactor-audience relationship is a “live” relationship:each is in the other’s presence, in the same place atthe same time. It is the exchange between the twothat gives theatre its unique quality. As audiencemembers we have an obligation to be attentive,allowing the performers to fulfill their obligation—toentertain and enlighten us. There is always a dialoguebetween audience and performer, whether visual orvocal. All individuals participating in the theatricalevent, whether as audience or performer, bring to it apersonal background and experience that becomesvital to their response to the interaction. In the sameway, participants leave the performance enrichedboth by their own individual experience and that ofthe larger community to which they belong for a briefmoment within the confines of the theatre walls. Wemust listen to capture and understand what theperformers are trying to communicate, and at thesame time, they must listen to us.

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No man’s life has been the subject of more speculationthan William Shakespeare’s. For all his fame andcelebration, Shakespeare’s personal history remains amystery. There are two primary sources forinformation on the Bard—his works, and various legaland church documents that have survived fromElizabethan times. Unfortunately, there are many gapsin this information and much room for conjecture.We know a man named William Shakespeare wasbaptized at Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564,and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford onApril 25, 1616. Tradition holds that he was born threedays earlier, and that he died on his birthday—April23—but this is perhaps more romantic myth than fact.Young William was born of John Shakespeare, aglover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, alanded heiress. William, according to the churchregister, was the third of eight children in theShakespeare household, three of whom died inchildhood. We assume that Shakespeare went togrammar school, since his father was first a member ofthe Stratford Council and later high bailiff (theequivalent of town mayor). A grammar schooleducation would have meant that Shakespeare wasexposed to the rudiments of Latin rhetoric, logic andliterature.In 1575, John Shakespeare suddenly disappears fromStratford’s political records. Some believe that hisremoval from office necessitated his son’s quittingschool and taking a position as a butcher’s apprentice.Church records tell us that banns (announcements)were published for the marriage of a WilliamShakespeare to an Ann Whatley in 1582 (there are norecords indicating that this arrangement wassolemnized, however). On November 27 of the sameyear a marriage license was granted to 18-year-oldWilliam and 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. A daughter,Susanna, was born to the couple six months later. We

know that twins,Hamnet and Judith,were born soon afterand that the twinswere baptized. We alsoknow that Hamnetdied in childhood atthe age of 11, onAugust 11, 1596. Wedon’t know how theyoung Shakespearecame to travel toLondon or how he firstcame to the stage. Onetheory holds thatyoung Wil l wasarrested as a poacher(one who huntsillegally on someone

On William Shakespeareelse’s property) andescaped to London toavoid prosecution inStratford. Another holdsthat he left home towork in the city as aschool teacher. Neitheris corroborated bycontemporary testimonyor public record.Whatever the truth maybe, it is clear that in theyears between 1582and 1592, WilliamS h a k e s p e a r e d i dbecome involved in theLondon theatre scene asa principal actor andplaywright with one of several repertory companies.By 1594, Shakespeare was listed as a shareholder inthe Lord Chamberlain’s Men, one of the most popularacting companies in London. He was a member of thiscompany for the rest of his career, which lasted untilapproximately 1611. When James I came to thethrone in 1603, he issued a royal license toShakespeare and his fellow players, inviting them tocall themselves the King’s Men. In 1608, the King’sMen leased the Blackfriar’s Theatre in London. Thistheatre, which had artificial lighting and was probablyheated, served as their winter playhouse. The famousGlobe Theatre was their summer performance space.In 1616 Shakespeare’s daughter Judith marriedThomas Quiney, the son of a neighbor in Stratford.Her father revised his will six weeks later; within amonth he had died. The revised version of WilliamShakespeare’s will bequeathed his house and all thegoods therein to his daughter and her new husband;his wife, who survived him, received the couple’ssecond best bed.In the years since Shakespeare’s death, he has risen tothe position of patron saint of English literature anddrama. In the 1800s especially, his plays were sopopular that many refused to believe that an actorfrom Stratford had written them. To this day somebelieve that Sir Francis Bacon was the real author ofthe plays; others choose to believe Edward DeVere,the Earl of Oxford, was the author. Still others wouldprefer to believe Walter Raleigh or ChristopherMarlowe penned the lines attributed to Shakespeare.While most people are content to believe that geniuscan spring up in any social class or rural setting, thegap between the known facts and the myths thatsurround Shakespeare’s life leaves ample room forspeculation.

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Portrait of Shakespeare engraved byMartin Droeshout, found on the titlepage of the First Folio edition ofShakespeare’s works (1623).

The Chandos portrait of Shakespeare,which is the only one known to beproduced during his lifetime.

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stood on the verge of collapse. Many businesses,including theatres, closed, in part to keep people fromspreading the disease and in part because of the laborshortage that resulted from such widespread illness anddeath. Once the epidemic subsided, the theatres re-opened and quickly regained their former popularity.This explosion of commerce and culture lastedthroughout Elizabeth’s reign and into that of hersuccessor, James I. James’ rule brought many changes toEnglish life; the two most pivotal were a bankrupteconomy and an intense dissatisfaction from a minorityreligious group—the Puritans. In September 1642, thePuritan Parliament issued an edict that forbade all stageplays and closed the theatres; an act that effectivelybrought to a close the Elizabethan Renaissance.Theatres rapidly fell into disrepair and neglect until theRestoration in 1660.In writing his plays and sonnets, William Shakespearedrew ideas from many different sources. His keen eye fordetail and his sharp understanding of human natureenabled him to create some of the most enduring worksof drama and poetry ever produced. But his work alsoprovides an insightful commentary on 16th-centuryEnglish values, life, history and thought.

Elizabethan England

The age of Shakespeare was a great time in Englishhistory. During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558—1603),England emerged as the leading naval and commercialpower of the Western world, consolidating this positionwith the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.Elizabeth I firmly established the Church of England(begun by her father Henry VIII after a dispute with thePope) during this time. London in the 16th centuryunderwent a dramatic transformation; the populationgrew 400% between 1500 and 1600, swelling to nearly200,000 people in the city proper and outlying regionby the time an emerging artist from Stratford came totown. A rising merchant middle class was carving out aproductive livelihood, and the economy was booming.During Shakespeare's lifetime, England also experienceda tremendous cultural revival. This so-called EnglishRenaissance found expression in architecture, music,literature and drama. Shakespeare both drew inspirationfrom and enhanced high and popular culture of theEnglish Renaissance. Popular entertainment during the16th century tended to be boisterous and often violent.Many men, women and children attended publicexecutions of criminals that took place on a regularbasis, and persons of all social classes and gendersattended theatre performances. The trade of book-making flourished during the period as public educationfueled the appetite for great works in print.During the years 1590-1593, England suffered from anoutbreak of terrible proportions; the bubonic plague or“Black Death” claimed so many lives that English society

Illustration of London,Wenceslaus Hollar (1647).

The “Dewitt” sketch of the Swan Theatre is thought to be the onlycontemporary visual account of an Elizabethan playhouse.

Plays are also categorized in the First Folio as Histories,done so because these works chronicled the lives ofEnglish Kings. These plays tended toward tragedy(Richard II or Richard III, for instance) or comedy (theFalstaff subplots of both parts of Henry IV and thePistol-Fluellen encounters of Henry V.) Through theeffort to categorize Shakespeare’s plays in publication,we can see that his writing style mingled theantagonistic visions of comedy and tragedy in waysthat still seem novel and startling. The recognition ofthis has led scholars since the publication of the FirstFolio to add additional genres—problem plays,romances, tragicomedies—to help classify the works ofShakespeare. Still other scholars have augmentedthese genres by grouping the plays chronologically,separating by time periods.The first period, pre-1594 including Richard III and TheComedy of Errors, has its roots in Roman and medievaldrama—the construction of the plays, while good, isobvious and shows the author's hand more so thanhis later works. The second period, 1594-1600including Henry V and A Midsummer Night’s Dream,shows more growth in style and a less-laboredconstruction. The histories of this period areconsidered Shakespeare's best, portraying the lives ofroyalty in human terms. He also begins theinterweaving of genres that would become one of hisstylistic signatures. His comedies mature in this period,developing deeper characterization and subjects thanpreviously.

Shakespeare’s WorksWilliam Shakespeare, in terms of both his life and bodyof work, is the most written-about author in thehistory of Western civilization. His canon includes 38plays, 154 sonnets and two epic narrative poems.During his lifetime, many of his plays were publishedin what are known as Quarto editions, frequentlywithout receiving the playwright’s permission. TheQuartos are mostly flawed versions containing addedmaterial or missing entire passages from the originalworks. The first collected edition of Shakespeare’sworks is called the First Folio and was published afterthe playwright’s death in 1623 by two members of hisacting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell.Since then the works of Shakespeare have beenstudied, analyzed, translated and enjoyed the worldover as some of the finest masterpieces of the Englishlanguage.Establishing the chronology of Shakespeare's plays is afrustrating and difficult task. It is impossible to know inwhat order the plays were written because there is norecord of the first production date of any of his works.However, scholars have decided upon a specific playchronology based on the following sources ofinformation: 1) several historical events and allusionsto those events in the plays; 2) the records ofperformances of the plays, taken from such places asthe diaries of other Shakespeare contemporaries; 3)the publication dates of sources; and 4) the dates thatthe plays appear in print (remembering that a playwas produced immediately after it was written in theElizabethan age, but may not have been published foryears following the first production). Despite the factthat we have an accepted play chronology, we mustkeep in mind that the dating is conjectural, and thereare many who disagree with the order of plays listedon the next page.Drawing distinctions between Shakespeare’s plays andcategorizing his works has been a focus of scholars forhundreds of years, and the criteria used todifferentiate the plays into types or genres haschanged over time.The distinction between tragedy and comedy becameparticularly important during Shakespeare's life.During that time writers of tragedy conformed toAristotle’s definition, relating the tale of a great man orwoman brought down through hubris or fate.Comedy in this time, much like in our own, descendedfrom the Roman "New Comedy" of Plautus andTerence, which kept away from politics and focusedon love, domestic troubles and family affairs.In the First Folio, some of Shakespeare’s plays aredivided by their theatrical genre—either Tragedies orComedies—however, some of the tragedies’protagonists or heroes, like Romeo, Timon or Macbeth,do not easily accommodate Aristotle's definition.

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The third period, 1600-1608 including Macbeth andKing Lear, includes the great tragedies—the principalworks that would earn Shakespeare his fame in latercenturies. The comedies of this period showShakespeare at a literary crossroads—they are oftendarker and without the clear comic resolution ofprevious comedies—hence the term "problem plays" todescribe them. The fourth period, post-1608 includingThe Winter’s Tale and The Tempest, encompasseswhat have been referred to as the romances ortragicomedies. Shakespeare at the end of his careerseemed preoccupied with themes of redemption. Thewriting is more serious yet more lyrical, and the playsshow Shakespeare at his most symbolic. Scholarsargue whether this period owes more toShakespeare's maturity as a playwright or merelysignifies a changing trend in Elizabethan theatre.It is important for scholars, teachers and students tokeep in mind that these “genre” classifications werenot determined by Shakespeare during the writing ofeach play but imposed after his death to help readersbetter understand his work.

Shakespeare’s PlaysFirstPerformed Title1590-91 Henry VI, Part II1590-91 Henry VI, Part III1591-92 Henry VI, Part I1592-93 Richard III1592-93 The Comedy of Errors1593-94 Titus Andronicus1593-94 The Taming of the Shrew1594-95 The Two Gentlemen of Verona1594-95 Love's Labour's Lost1594-95 Romeo and Juliet1595-96 Richard II1595-96 A Midsummer Night's Dream1596-97 King John1596-97 The Merchant of Venice1597-98 Henry IV, Part I1597-98 Henry IV, Part II1598-99 Much Ado About Nothing1598-99 Henry V1599-1600 Julius Caesar1599-1600 As You Like It1599-1600 Twelfth Night1600-01 Hamlet1600-01 The Merry Wives of Windsor1601-02 Troilus and Cressida1602-03 All's Well That Ends Well1604-05 Measure for Measure1604-05 Othello1605-06 King Lear1605-06 Macbeth1606-07 Antony and Cleopatra1607-08 Coriolanus1607-08 Timon of Athens1608-09 Pericles1609-10 Cymbeline1610-11 The Winter's Tale1611-12 The Tempest1612-13 Henry VIII1612-13 The Two Noble Kinsmen**The Two Noble Kinsmen is listed although afew scholars do not believe it is an originalShakespeare work. The majority of the playwas probably written by John Fletcher,Shakespeare's close friend who succeeded himas foremost dramatist for the King's Men.

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First Folio title page of Hamlet.

Shakespeare’s

When we scan a piece of text (marking it with afor the unstressed and / for stressed), we simplytap out the rhythm of the line, based on dee DUM deeDUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM, to see if the line isstructured in iambic pentameter:

Embracing the rules of this new verse, Shakespeare’searly writing operated almost entirely within strictiambic pentameter.Prose in Shakespeare’s work is not in iambicpentameter and relies more heavily on other literarydevices for its speed and rhythm. These devicesinclude: antithesis (setting opposite words againsteach other), lists (series of actions or descriptive wordsthat build to a climax) and puns (the use or misuse of aword to mean another word). Shakespeare used proseto express conversation between the lower classes,like the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,or familiar or intimate scenes, as with Henry andKatherine at the end of Henry V. He also utilizedprose to express madness or vulgarity, as in thenunnery scene of Hamlet. The exact meaning of a shiftfrom verse to prose is not constant, but it alwayssignals a change in the situation, characters or tone ofa scene. Only Much Ado About Nothing and TheMerry Wives of Windsor rely almost entirely on prose.In the following passage from The Merry Wives ofWindsor, note antithesis in Ford’s comparison ofhimself with Page and of other men’s possessions withMistress Ford, see the list of things Ford would rathertrust others with than his “wife with herself” andobserve the pun on “effect”:FordPage is an ass, a secure ass; he will trust his wife, he will notbe jealous. I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter,Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishmanwith my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my amblinggelding, than my wife with herself. Then she plots, then sheruminates, then she devises; and what they think in theirhearts they may effect, they will break their hearts but theywill effect. God be praised for my jealousy!

(II.ii.300-314)

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Verse & ProseDuring the Elizabethan period, “English” was arelatively young language (only about 160 years old)combining Latin, French and Anglo-Saxon. There wasno dictionary or standardized literacy education.People in Shakespeare’s London spoke much morethan they read, causing the rules of grammar andspelling to be quite fluid. Writers created new wordsdaily and poets expressed themselves in a new formof writing known as blank verse, first appearing in1557 in Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenis by the Earl ofSurrey:

They whistled all, with fixed face attentWhen Prince Aeneas from the royal seatThus gan to speak, O Queene, it is thy will,I should renew a woe can not be told:

(Book II, 1-4)

That the verse was “blank” simply meant that thepoetry did not rhyme, allowing rhyme-less poets suchas Virgil and Ovid to be translated and Elizabethanplaywrights to emulate the natural rhythms ofEnglish speech within iambic pentameter.A typical line of verse from this time contains fiveunits of meter or feet. Each foot contains twosyllables. When the first syllable is unstressed and thesecond syllable is stressed (dee DUM), it is an iamb(iambic meaning push, persistency or determination).The prefix penta means five, as in the five-sidedshape—a pentagon. Iambic pentameter is thereforeone line of poetry consisting of five forward-movingfeet.It was this new tradition of blank verse in iambicpentameter that Shakespeare inherited as heembarked on his career as playwright and poet.Similar to the human heartbeat, a horse gallop or thebeat of a piece of music, iambic pentameter drivesand supports Shakespeare’s verse, moving thelanguage along in a forward flow that emulates thenatural speech and rhythms of life. Here is a standardline of verse in iambic pentameter from Romeo andJuliet.

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?(II.ii.2)

If we were to say the rhythm and not the words, itwould sound like this:

dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?(II.ii.2)

Eventually, in Othello, King Lear and Macbeth,Shakespeare became a master of building, breakingand reinventing rhythms and language to create anentire tone or world for a play. Continuouslyexperimenting and exploring the combination of form,meaning and language, he used short and sharedlines between characters more and more, as inMacbeth, allowing the speed and rhythm ofcharacters’ thoughts to meet and collide.Lady Macbeth I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.

Did not you speak?Macbeth When?Lady Macbeth Now.Macbeth As I descended?

(II.ii.15-19)

By the time Shakespeare gives his final farewell in TheTempest, believed by many to be his last play, his verseis so varied and specific to character and situation thatit is extremely difficult to scan. Shakespeare broke,rebuilt and reinvented the verse form so many timesthat he plays the equivalent of jazz in the rhythms ofCymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. At theend of The Tempest, in Prospero’s powerfully simpleepilogue, Shakespeare brings his work full circle byreturning to the simplicity of regular verse. Havingcreated almost 1,700 words, timeless characters andthe greatest poetry in the history of the Englishlanguage, Shakespeare “buries his art” and returns tothe form with which he began.

As his writing skill level increased, Shakespearegradually employed alliteration (the repetition of avowel or consonant in two or more words in aphrase), assonance (resembling vowel sounds in aline) and onomatopoeia (words with soundsimitating their meaning) to create deeply poetic,vibrant images on stage for the characters and hisaudience. Examples of these three literary devices arefound in the following four lines:

ChorusFrom camp to camp through the foul womb of nightThe hum of either army stilly sounds,That the fixed sentinels almost receiveThe secret whispers of each other's watch.

(Henry V, IV.4-7)

The hard “C” is repeated in the first line (alliteration),the “O” is heard in “through”, “foul” and“womb” (assonance) and the word “whispers” in thelast line imitates the sound whispers produce(onomatopoeia).By the time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he sometimesallowed a character’s thoughts to overflow theirusual pentameter lines with an extra beat, oftenending with a soft or feminine ending. He alsoutilized more and more enjambed or run-on lines,allowing thoughts to continue from line to line,rather than finishing a thought per line. He grew toexpress the inner life of his characters and the size oftheir thoughts within the structure and the scansionof the text. In this famous passage from Hamlet,notice the overflow in the first line of Hamlet’s hugethought beyond the regular pentameter, forming afeminine ending:

With this overflow, Shakespeare expresses theenormity of Hamlet’s thought, his situation and theuneasy exploration of this argument. (It is importantto remember, however, scanning is subjective andmust be decided by the individual actor or reader.)This line might also be scanned:

This creates a trochee, or an iamb of reversed stress—DEE dum.

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An artist’s rendition of the inside of an Elizabethantheatre.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:(III.i.55)

To be, or not to be: that is the question:(III.i.55)

From Stage to Page . . .

First page of the First Folio.

. . . and Back Again

Publishing in Shakespeare’s TimeThere was a constant demand for new plays duringShakespeare’s time. Elizabethan playwrights werecommissioned by individual theatre companies tocompose a play to be produced and acted by themembers of that company. The play was not in thetype of book format we’re familiar with today.Rather, it was a performance script that was meantto be read and performed by an actor. Shakespearewould write a play like Macbeth, which would thenbe copied by hand for the actors–each actorreceiving only his lines along with the preceding“cue” line. Some scholars believe that the actors hadas little as 20 hours to rehearse before theyperformed the play, others surmise that the actorsgenerally got their lines as the play was in progress!Often there was a person backstage who wouldwhisper the lines to the actors while they were onstage.Modern copyright laws weren’t enacted until 1709,once the play was turned over to the theatrecompany, playwrights relinquished ownership orartistic control over the content. (This may notnecessarily have been the case with Shakespeare ashe was also an actor and shareholder in hiscompany.) During Shakespeare’s lifetime 18 of hisplays were in print, but there is very little indicationthat he was involved in the publication process forany of them. The plays were published in quartoformat, a volume of unbound sheets folded twice tomake four leaves or eight pages. Different publishersbrought forth different editions of individual plays,

few took any care to ensure that the text was reliableor the printing accurate.The original manuscript was likely the only copy of theplay in its entirety, and early publishers, not havingaccess to it, had little investment in confirming contentwith the playwright. The original material for thequartos is unknown—some scholars speculate that atheatregoer (perhaps the publisher himself) took notesfrom the play’s dialogue during performances. Thegaps in their notes may have been filled in by hackpoets, and the resulting document may have beensold to a publisher and presented in print asShakespeare’s play. Other scholars presume that thetext is a recreation from memory by one or two of theactors from the company.In 1623, seven years after his death, a collection of 36of Shakespeare’s plays (18 appearing for the first timein print) was published in what is known as the FirstFolio. The plays were divided into comedies, histories,and tragedies, and the collection claimed to be theauthoritative version of Shakespeare’s plays,professing to be text “as it was played.” A folio is avolume consisting of sheets that have been foldedonce, resulting in two leaves or four pages, and wasusually reserved for the publication of scholarly ortheological texts. Ben Jonson, the first playwright tosee his plays published in folio format, had an activehand in the publication of his own collection sevenyears before. The appearance of Shakespeare’s playsin folio format firmly placed Shakespeare in the canonof English literature.

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The Rise of the EditorDuring the Puritan Revolution of 1642, theatricalentertainment, seen as lascivious and immoral, wasprohibited: this resulted in the closing of the theatresin England for 18 years. With the Restoration ofCharles II in 1660, the theatres were re-opened andoffered new spectacles: women on stage andmovable scenery. Shakespeare’s plays enjoyed arevival with new edited versions of his playsbeginning to appear in print. Early 18th-centuryscholars and artists felt the plays needed to be“fixed,” and therefore editors divided the plays intoacts and scenes, included passages that hadpreviously appeared only in the quartos, and addedpunctuation for clarity and ease in understanding.Partly to appease the audience’s need for comedyand happy endings and partly to allow time for thechanging of scenery and trimming of candles, actorsand managers would adapt Shakespeare’s plays fortheir own stage by cutting text and “improve” thelanguage by correcting Shakespeare’s grammar andclarifying his difficult metaphors.Since then, editors have continued to amendShakespeare’s works in an effort to approximateShakespeare’s intentions and to make the text moreaccessible to modern audiences. Editors have thetask of choosing from the versions of availablequartos or the First Folio in order to assemble theirown editions of a play. Editor Sylvan Barnet claimsthat this is “no problem if the play exists only in theFolio, but a considerable problem if the relationshipbetween a quarto and the Folio–or an early quartoand a later quarto–is unclear.” Editors then tackle thedeciphering of Elizabethan spelling and punctuation.Many editors choose to modernize the spelling ofwords so that readers will see “lantern” as opposedto the more obscure Elizabethan “lanthorn.”

Punctuation, line numbers, act and scene divisionsand indications of locale at the beginning of scenesare common additions/changes in an effort to clarifythe text. However, most editors try to maintain thescript as Shakespeare would have intended for hisElizabethan actors. Instead of indicating stagedirection in parentheses, it is often suggested withinthe dialogue, requiring careful reading andunderstanding of Shakespeare’s language so that theimplied stage direction is clear.Macbeth was never printed in Shakespeare’s lifetime–it was first printed in the First Folio and some scholarsspeculate that because it is extremely short (roughly2500 lines–the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies) itmay have been cut. The division of acts and scenes aregenerally that of the First Folio except in some casesAct V Scene viii, which is a division added by theGlobe editors. Macbeth all but disappeared from thestage until 1663 when William Davenant, the poetand playwright who insisted he was Shakespeare’sillegitimate son, revived Macbeth. His production wasan adaptation of the play with striking changes to theoriginal text.Shakespeare has influenced many adaptations andhybrids, inspiring other genres such as opera, novel,film and musical. Though some Shakespeare puristscringe at the thought, scholar R.A Foakes defends theediting and adapting of Shakespeare. He states,

We can only understand Shakespeare inrelation to our own time; his works areconstantly being re-interpreted in relationto the concerns of our society, so that newinsights demand new editions with criticalintroduction (1997).

Rebuilt in the 20th century, the Globe Theatre as it standstoday. The original site of Shakespeare’s Globe lies about 200yards from this reconstruction.

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1564 William Shakespeare born to John andMary Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

1570 John Shakespeare first applies for afamily coat of arms. His application isdenied.

1582 William Shakespeare marries AnneHathaway.

1583 Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna born.1585 Shakespeare’s twins Judith and Hamnet

born.1587 Shakespeare goes to London to pursue

life in the theatre.1593 Shakespeare writes Venus and Adonis.

Also begins writing the Sonnets.1594 Shakespeare becomes a founding

member of the Lord Chamberlain’sMen.

1596 Hamnet Shakespeare dies at age 11.1597 Shakespeare purchases New Place in

Stratford.1599 Shakespeare’s family is granted a coat

of arms.1601 Shakespeare’s father dies.1603 The Lord Chamberlain’s Men are

renamed the King’s Men. They performat the Court of King James I more thanany other company.

1605 Shakespeare purchases more land inStratford.

1608 The King’s Men begin playing at theBlackfriars Theatre, a prominent indoortheatre.

1609 Shakespeare’s Sonnets published.1616 In March, Shakespeare, apparently ill,

revises his will. On April 23rd he diesand is buried at Holy Trinity Church,Stratford.

1623 Shakespeare’s First Folio published.

1558 Queen Elizabeth I takes the throne.1562 A series of civil wars between Catholics

and Protestants, known as the Wars ofReligion, begin in France.

1564 John Calvin, an influential Protestantleader during the Reformation, dies.An outbreak of the plague devastatesLondon.

1568 A revolt of the Spanish-ruledNetherlands against Philip II, King ofSpain, begins the Eighty Years War.

1580 Sir Frances Drake circumnavigates theEarth.

1586 Mary Queen of Scots is tried for treasonand executed by beheading.

1588 The British Navy defeats the SpanishArmada, avoiding a long war betweenEngland and Spain.

1589 The Wars of Religion end when Henryof Navarre ascends to the throne tobecome King Henry IV of France.

1598 Philip II of Spain dies.The French Protestants are permittedto freely practice their religion by theEdict of Nantes.

1601 The Earl of Essex attempts to rebelagainst Queen Elizabeth, fails and isexecuted.

1603 Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested, tried andimprisoned for disobeying the Queenby secretly marrying one of her maids ofhonor.Queen Elizabeth dies. King James VI ofScotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots,becomes King James I of England. Theplague once again ravages London.

1604 England establishes a peace treaty withSpain.

1607 Jamestown, one of the first Englishcolonies in the Americas, is founded.

1610 King Henry IV of France is murdered.He is succeeded by his son, Louis XIII.

1618 The Protestant German princes and theirforeign supporters begin their struggleagainst the Holy Roman Empire. Thismarks the start of the Thirty Years War.

1540 Michelangelo finishes painting The LastJudgment.

1543 Coperniucus’ heliocentric theory,claiming the sun is the center of theuniverse, is first published.

1564 Christopher “Kit” Marlowe born.1565 Arthur Golding translates Ovid’s

Metamorphoses. The text later influencedShakespeare’s work.

1567 Richard Burbage, a tragedian whoportrayed many of Shakespeare’scharacters, born.

1572 Poet John Donne born.Playwright Ben Jonson born.

1576 The first permanent theatre in England,The Theatre, is built.

1577 Raphael Holinshed publishes TheChronicles of England, Scotland andIreland, which becomes Shakespeare’sprimary source for the history plays.

1580 Thomas Middleton, a playwright whocollaboratively wrote many plays, born.

1588 Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus first produced.1590 Marlowe’s play The Jew of Malta first

produced; it influenced Shakespeare’sThe Merchant of Venice.

1592 Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy firstproduced. It influencedShakespeare’s Hamlet.

1597 The Theatre permanently closes due tothe expiration of its lease.

1599 The Globe Theatre is built on Banksidefrom the timbers of The Theatre.

1603 The “Scientific Revolution” begins withJohann Kepler’s recordings of planetarymovements and Galileo Galilei’sperfection of the telescope.

1606 Ben Jonson’s play Volpone is written.1607 Burbage leases the Blackfriars Theatre

for indoor performances.

1611 The King James Bible first published.1616 Ben Jonson’s Workes published in folio.

A of Western World Events

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TimelineShakespeare’s Life and Works Events in Western History Events in Western Art, Science& Culture

Synopsis ofMacbethOn the outskirts of a battlefield, three witches meetand plot to encounter Macbeth “after the deed isdone,” then disappear. Duncan, King of Scotland,along with his sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, hearsreports of Macbeth’s valor in battle and news that therebel, Macdonwald, is slain and Norway driven back.In return for his bravery, Duncan sends a messengerto grant Macbeth the title Thane of Cawdor.Macbeth and his friend and fellow soldier Banquomake their way home after the victory and encounterthe three witches. Taken aback by their unearthlyappearance, Macbeth and Banquo listen amazed asthe witches call Macbeth Thane of Glamis, thenThane of Cawdor and future King of Scotland. Thewitches go on to prophesy that Banquo, thoughnever a king himself, will beget kings. Macbethdemands to know where the witches came by thisinformation, but the witches disappear. Macbeth andBanquo agree never to speak about the witches’words.Reeling from this seemingly supernatural occurrence,Macbeth and Banquo are further amazed whenmessengers from King Duncan, lords Ross andAngus, deliver the news that Macbeth has beengranted the title Thane of Cawdor. Macbethcontemplates the witches’ predictions and wonders ifhe should assist fate by doing away with KingDuncan himself. Suppressing these murderousthoughts, Macbeth accompanies Ross, Angus andBanquo to see the king. Duncan honors Macbethand Banquo for their deeds in battle and thendeclares his son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland, theofficial heir to the throne. The entire party departs toInverness, Macbeth’s home: Macbeth hurries aheadto prepare for their coming.Having sent word home to his wife about thepredictions of the three witches, Macbeth arrives tofind her already plotting the king’s murder. Macbeth,at first horrified by his wife’s plans, agrees to kill theking. That night, Lady Macbeth drugs the wine of theking’s guards, which lulls them to sleep. On the wayto murder Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating inthe air before him, leading him to the king’s chamber.Macbeth kills Duncan with the guards’ daggers;consumed by guilt, he flees with the daggers anddescribes the murders to Lady Macbeth. Confrontedby the reality of his actions, Macbeth is afraid toreturn to the king’s chamber with the guards’daggers; Lady Macbeth replaces them herself, settingthe scene for the guards to be blamed for the king’smurder.

John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Dame EllenTerry as Lady Macbeth (1889).

Early in the morning, Macduff and Lennox arrive tomeet the king and discover his bloody body. Macbethrushes into the chamber and kills the two sleepingguards with their daggers. In the ensuing confusion,Malcolm and Donalbain, the king’s sons, flee toEngland and Ireland, respectively. The princes’ flightarouses suspicion of their guilt, and Macbeth iscrowned King of Scotland.Having achieved the throne, Macbeth begins to fearBanquo, who witnessed the witches’ prophesy andwho—according to them—will beget a long line ofkings. Macbeth plans a great feast to which he invitesBanquo, then arranges to have him and his son,Fleance, murdered. Banquo is killed, but Fleanceescapes. At the feast Macbeth sees the ghost of

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Banquo sitting at the table. The vision intensifiesMacbeth’s already erratic behavior and Lady Macbethsends the lords away. Tormented by guilt and fearingfor his future as king, Macbeth decides to visit thewitches again.Some of the Scottish lords have begun to suspectMacbeth’s involvement in the murders. Macdufftravels to England to meet with Malcolm, who hasbeen taken in by King Edward (Edward theConfessor, 1042-66), in hopes that Edward willsupport Malcolm by sending an army headed bySiward, Earl of Northumberland. Upon learning of hisflight, Macbeth sends murderers to surprise Macduff’scastle in his absence and kill his wife and children.Ross delivers this devastating news to Macduff inEngland. Macduff vows to avenge his family in battlewith Macbeth and return the throne to Malcolm, therightful heir.Macbeth returns to the witches who summon a seriesof apparitions with three warnings: first to bewareMacduff, second that “none of woman born shallharm Macbeth” and third that Macbeth will never bedefeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane

(the location of Macbeth’s castle.) Feeling confidentthat the woods will never uproot and movethemselves to his home, Macbeth returns to preparefor Malcolm’s attack. Back at the castle, Lady Macbethis walking and talking in her sleep. Her nursesummons a doctor and together they watch as LadyMacbeth, sleepwalking, relives the night of Duncan’smurder. As Macbeth prepares for war, Lady Macbethends her life.Malcolm rallies the English forces and travels toBirnam Wood, where they are met by Scottish lordswho have abandoned “the tyrant” Macbeth. To hidetheir number as they approach the castle, Malcolminstructs the army to cut branches from the forest andride with them in front. Macbeth is horrified when amessenger tells him that Birnam Wood appears to bemarching towards them. He dons his armor andprepares to fight, still convinced that none of womanborn can hurt him. Macbeth meets Macduff on thebattlefield and confesses this seeming infallibility, butMacduff tells him he was “from his mother’s wombuntimely ripped.” Macduff defeats Macbeth, andMalcolm is restored to the throne.

Four Lady Macbeths: (clockwise from top left): Maggie Smithin the Stratford Festival production (1978), Judi Dench in theRoyal Shakespeare Company’s film (1978), Francesca Annisin Roman Polanski’s film (1971), and Janet Suzman from aBBC production (1975).

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Changing of the Guard:

Imperialism:The practice ofextending thepower andwealth of anation throughterritorialconquests.Spanish Armada:Fleet of shipslaunched byPhilip II of Spain in1588 intended toconquer England.Elizabeth’s navy,led by Sir FrancisDrake, defeatedthem soundly.

Parliament:England’slegislative branchof government,similar toCongress in theUnited States.

Queen Elizabeth I’s rule is often characterized as a time of glory, a time when England’simperialism ruled the world and prosperity and success reigned. Under Elizabeth I, Englanddefeated the Spanish Armada, sent settlers to America and maintained religious tolerance andpeace. However, the end of Elizabeth I’s reign was plagued by an increasingly unstable economyand conflict with Ireland. These problems became more apparent after King James I of Scotlandinherited the throne, causing the people of England to look back to Elizabeth’s rule as the “goldenyears” in England’s history, marking James’ rule as one of darkness and corruption.Queen Elizabeth held off choosing her successor until the very end of her life. Never havingmarried and therefore having no heir, Elizabeth was the last legitimate descendant of King HenryVIII. When in 1603 it became apparent that the Queen was not going to recover from hersickness and an heir must be named, James VI, King of Scotland, was suggested, and Elizabeth issaid to have made a gesture that showed her approval. Ironically, James was the son of Mary,Queen of Scots, who had been a constant threat to Elizabeth’s rule. Because of her ancestry (Marywas the granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister and King James IV of Scotland), she felt she had abetter claim to England’s throne than Elizabeth since King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn,Elizabeth’s mother, after he divorced his first wife. Mary was a devout Catholic and did not believein divorce; therefore, she viewed Elizabeth as an illegitimate child. Even though she posed athreat, Elizabeth held off executing Mary until 1587, when it was discovered that she wasassociated with a plot to kill Elizabeth.When James I succeeded Elizabeth, he united the countries of Scotland and England in a peacefulmanner. Elizabeth’s chief ministers had been planning for this event and smoothed the way forthe new king’s arrival. His succession was uncontested even though there were objections thatcould have been raised—one being that King Henry VIII’s will could be interpreted as excludingthe Scottish royalty from inheriting the English throne. The people of England were optimisticabout their new king, but incidents such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, where Catholicdissenters contrived to blow up part of Parliament, cemented a climate of shock and suspicionaround his rule. Elizabeth’s courtiers had flattered and admired her, but such actions only madeJames suspicious of possible hidden motives.The public’s view of their monarch greatly differed between Elizabeth and James. QueenElizabeth’s public facade was carefully manipulated into one of power. Elizabeth reserved theright to destroy any portraits she deemed unacceptable, resulting in a carefully crafted image of abeautiful and powerful queen. In order to emphasize her importance, her portraits often showedher with symbolic images of her power. In one famous painting by George Gower, the Queenrests her hand on the globe and in the background there is a portrait of the Spanish Armada,alluding to England’s defeat of the Armada and its place in the world as an imperial power.

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession, recorded in a series of drawings, took place on April 28th, 1603.

England fromElizabeth to James

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Parliament:England’slegislative branchof government,similar toCongress in theUnited States.

Holinshed:In 1577, hepublished TheChronicles ofEngland, Scotlandand Ireland, ahistory of theregion uponwhichShakespearebased many of hishistorical plays.

Whereas Elizabeth’s portraits positively influencedpublic opinion of the queen throughout her rule,James’ efforts to broaden his authority through thepublication of his writings had neither the same controlnor effect. Contrasted with Elizabeth’s limited and well-planned forays into the public eye, James’ writingsallowed the public extended knowledge of their ruler ina way that Elizabeth never permitted. Furthermore, byassuming a role as an author, James’ position as kingwas weakened. Shakespearean scholar Dennis Kaywrites, “Where Elizabeth had been celebrated byEdmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene … James dilutedhis royal magic by participating in the printculture” (124). Before gaining the crown in England,James had already published poetry and a treatise onkingship dedicated to his son. This Basilikon Doron(“King’s Gift”) focused on James’ belief in divine right—that Kings are appointed by God and therefore do notanswer to anyone but Him. This belief led to manyencounters with Parliament, who was concerned byJames’ lack of consideration for its affairs and hisextravagant disbursing of money and gifts.

In response to James’ excessive spending and its dissatisfaction with his rule, Parliamentlimited the King’s funds. A key reason for its dissatisfaction was James’ frequent practice ofawarding peerages or “landed titles.” While Elizabeth had always been wary of dispensingtitles and money, James awarded more than 200 peerages during his reign as a way togain loyalty and as rewards for those who gained his favor. This resulted in the decreasingimportance of titles as common citizens could gain a title if they had the money to purchaseone. King James also allocated money to support the arts. Patronage was necessary toacting companies of this time for them to be considered reputable. Under James’patronage, Shakespeare’s company became known as the King’s Men and thanked theirking by performing a play, The Tragedy of Gowrie, based on an episode from his life.Some critics believe Shakespeare’s great tragedy Macbeth was written by royal command.Even if Shakespeare did not receive a specific order, the play definitely aimed to please KingJames, evidenced by the Scottish setting as well as the focus on witchcraft, a subject Jamesexplored in his own writing, Daemonologie. In Holinshed’s history Banquo is depicted asan accomplice to Duncan’s murder, but, as Jamesclaimed descent from Banquo, Shakespeare changedthe character to one opposed to the killing.Shakespeare’s witches show an apparition of eightkings, all ancestors of Banquo and including KingJames I, supporting his right to the throne.1600-1608 is generally marked as the period duringwhich Shakespeare wrote his great tragedies,including not only Macbeth, but also Hamlet, Othelloand King Lear. It is significant that this period occursduring the crossover from the “Golden Rule” ofQueen Elizabeth to the troubled times of King James.It can be derived that the widespread dissatisfactionand problems during James’ rule revealed themselvesin the rise of tragedies written by not onlyShakespeare but also by Andrew Webster, ThomasMiddleton and many other great writers of the early17th century.

Portrait of James I (c.1610)

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth by George Gower (c.1588-89)

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Scotland is a land of geographic variety, from the marshy lowlands of southern Scotland tothe craggy highlands of the north. Despite Scotland’s lack of agricultural viability, battleshave been waged over this territory since the first century AD. At that time, the clan-ruledPicts, descended from Scandinavian tribes to the northeast, inhabited the highlands. Thename Pict is derived from the Latin piclus, meaning “painted people,” because the Pictspainted their bodies and faces. Their Celtic neighbors to the south, the Scots, were mostlydescended from Irish settlers. The Romans invaded and conquered the area now known asEngland in the first century. As they made their way north, the Romans were met with moreand more resistance, particularly from the “barbaric” Picts. They were eventually forced toabandon their advance northward. To keep the warlike tribes from invading Britannia (asthe Romans named their newly conquered land), the emperor Hadrian had a massive wallerected from the east coast to the west, close to the border of present-day Scotland. Theruins of Hadrian’s Wall are a modern-day tourist attraction.Over the next few centuries a growing rift developed between the Picts and the Scots. Theirproximity to England enabled the Scots to begin to adopt English culture and language.Feudalism was developed and trade increased. In the ninth century, Scottish king KennethMacAlpine united the Picts and Scots under his reign, and he and his descendants began tobattle England for land near their shared border. By the time Duncan ascended the Scottishthrone, eight generations later, Scottish territory had grown tremendously and includedmajor portions of northern England. Duncan is the reigning king at the start ofShakespeare’s Macbeth, though Shakespeare’s dramatization strays from documentedScottish history in a number of ways.

Don’t Know Much About

Clan:A large familygroup claimingdescent from acommonancestor.Celtic:Descended froma group of earlyIndo-Europeansettlers inScotland, Ireland,Wales and Britain.Feudalism:Medieval systemin which peoplewere divided intostrict social classesand land wasdivided into largemanors, ownedby a few lords.

Divine Right ofKings:The law that theking of Englandwas chosen byGod.

Ascendancy to the Scottish throne in the 11th century was less formal than the strictlyregulated rules of succession of its neighbor England, where the idea of Divine Right ofKings stated that the current ruler was appointed by God, and anyone who removed theking from power was defying God’s will. In Scotland, which had a history of family-basedclan rule, succession was loosely based on bloodlines; any man descended from a

History...

Remnant of Hadrian’s wall as it stands today.

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former king through his father or mother could conceivably claim the throne. In one ofShakespeare’s sources for Macbeth, Raphael Holinshed’s The Historie of Scotland, KingDuncan is described as “soft and gentle of nature.” Most historians agree that this wasHolinshed’s diplomatic way of describing a weak king, and in Medieval Scotland a weak kingwas not tolerated for very long. Macbeth had a decent claim to the Scottish throne: hismother was the daughter of King Kenneth II, and his wife, Gruoch (Lady Macbeth), wasdescended from Kenneth III. It was only natural that a great warrior with a royal heritage likeMacbeth should usurp the throne from the weak Duncan.In Macbeth, as in most of his plays derived from historical sources, Shakespeare takes creativeliberties with historical truth to “dramatize” the story. In many ways, Shakespeare does adisservice to the real Macbeth, who was a distinguished warrior and a competent ruler.Unlike their dramatic counterparts, Macbeth and King Duncan were pretty close in age, andMacbeth ruled for 17 fairly peaceful years, until Duncan’s son Malcolm returned from exile inEngland and defeated Macbeth. Malcolm was aided by his maternal grandfather, Siward Earlof Northumberland. The new King brought with him English practices and policies learnedduring his 17-year exile. In 1070, Malcolm married the English Princess Margaret, furtherstrengthening ties with England. Margaret was very influential on her husband’s reign,helping him to develop an English-style parliament in Scotland, as well as forging strong tiesbetween the Scottish church and the Roman Catholic Church. Margaret’s good deeds wererecognized when she was canonized in 1250.Conflict with England began to build up during Malcolm’s reign; his marriage to Margaretgave him a fragile claim to the English throne, and he invaded Northern England with thehope of one day conquering the entire country. For 23 years Malcolm vacillated betweeninvading England and making peace agreements with their king, William the Conqueror.Malcolm was finally killed in battle in 1093, but the wars between Scottish and English forcesdid not end. Malcolm’s ninth of 10 children, David I, continued his father’s crusades intoEngland, claiming practically all of Northern England for Scotland by 1139. This land wassoon lost by David’s young grandson Malcolm IV.Control of Scotland and Northern England fluctuated for over a century, until Scottish KingAlexander III died and left as his heir the infant Margaret. Taking advantage of this obviously

Canonization:To declaresomeone anofficiallyrecognized saintof the church.

Engraving of the crowning of Macbeth from Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Ireland and Scotland(1578).

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precarious situation, King Edward I of England suggestedMargaret marry his son. The infant died before the marriagewas made official, and the Scottish throne was left without anheir. Thirteen different men claimed the crown, which went toJohn de Balliol, who was supported by King Edward. Later,when Edward asked for de Balliol’s assistance and was refused,the English King invaded Scotland. He stole the Stone of Scone,a sacred 340-pound rock on which all Scottish kings werecrowned. England now had control of Scotland, thoughEdward met much resistance, particularly from two famousScottish nationalists: William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.Wallace led the first strike against English forces, but wascaptured and executed in 1297 (these events are dramatized inthe film Braveheart). Robert the Bruce was more successful,gaining independence for Scotland in 1328.Small skirmishes with England continued to plague Scotland’sborder until 1603, when Scottish King James VI inherited theEnglish throne from Elizabeth I, who died childless (a morecomplete description of James’ ascension to the throne can befound in the article “Changing of the Guard,” on page 14).England and Scotland were now indefinitely tied to the samemonarch, and in 1707 the Act of Union joined them officially asGreat Britain. In 1801, Ireland became part of what was nowcalled the United Kingdom.Though Scotland is now a part of the larger nation GreatBritain, it retains a sense of separate cultural identity, and aScottish Parliament was created in 1999 for a limited amount ofself-rule. Centuries of border conflict have not left Scotlandunscathed, however: the gradual adoption of many English

customs and traditions has practically obliterated remnants of Pictish culture and history,and there remains a band of Scottish nationalists vying for an independent kingdom.

Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995).

Engraving of the three witches from Macbeth from Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Ireland andScotland (1578). 18

Macbeth

During the reign of James I, theatrical styles andtastes changed rapidly as the king’s personal taste forelaborate, decorative and highly stylizedpresentations inspired the creation of a newtheatrical medium—the masque. Developed from theearly 16th-century "disguising," or "mummery," inwhich disguised guests bearing presents broke into afestival and joined with their hosts in a ceremonialdance, masques eventually evolved to include theuse of the mask and the mingling of actors andaudience. The Jacobean masque introduced a partyor festival atmosphere to the performance andincluded elaborate sets and costumes for bothperformers and audience. Masque reached its heightof popularity during the reign of James I in the early17th century, evolving into huge events ofspectacular and colorful spectacles presented inpublic theatres and, with even more splendor, at theroyal court. The actors often played pastoral ormythological characters, with a great significanceplaced on music and dancing.Masques also became presentations in whichimportant political or social issues of the time werediscussed, including race, religion and colonization.The most prolific writer of masques was Ben Johnson,Shakespeare's contemporary, who wrote plays suchas The Masque of Blackness, which discussed issuesof race and England's colonization of native peoplesin exotic places. This masque focused on the journeyof the people of Niger to find a more suitable "sun"and was supposedly written by Jonson in response toa desire by Queen Anne, James I's wife, to play ablack woman on stage. The "sun" that the peoplepursue in the masque is believed to be both ananalogy for Christianity, as the native people pursuethis new "son" of God, and the son or chosen of God ,as represented by King James himself. This masquecomplimented the King but also celebrated thebeauty and power of the wondrous and, to theEnglish, strange people of Niger. It also served as anargument for colonization, suggesting England wascorrect to spread its Christianity and culture aroundthe globe. Ben Jonson's collaborator Inigo Jonescreated elaborate costumes, settings and sceniceffects for all of his masques, including this one, andtherefore was the one most responsible for makingthe masque so spectacular and popular duringJames' reign. This masque was no exception and,although it included throngs of actors, musicians,costumes, sets and amazing effects, and therefore

required somewhere between £1,000 and £3,000 toproduce, it was performed only once. Spectacle andextravagance became the fashion of the day.As a tribute to King James I's Scottish background,Macbeth was perhaps first presented for the King in1606 on the occasion of a visit from his brother-in-law,Christian IV of Denmark. By this time Shakespeare'scompany had royal patronage and was known as theKing's Men; they therefore created a play payingtribute to Scottish history that honored the ancestry ofthe King. The role of Macbeth was originally played byShakespeare's lead actor Richard Burbage and LadyMacbeth by the boy-actress named Edmans. Aware ofJames' penchant for spectacular shows, music anddances, Shakespeare’s company included elements ofthe masque within Macbeth but may have hiredsomeone else to actually write them. In fact, evidencesuggests the lyrical passages in Macbeth dealing withthe witches were in fact written by Thomas Middleton(1580-1627), a younger contemporary ofShakespeare's. Middleton specialized in writing songsand dances and eventually would write a play called

and Masques

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. HenryFuseli (1741).

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The Witch in 1610, in which Hecate (the leader of thewitches in Macbeth) appears and performs two songsoriginally found in Macbeth. Some scholars suggestthat Middleton was attempting to create a musicalversion of Macbeth and that the Hecate scenes are aremnant of that. Some argue that the difficulty ofplaying Macbeth and the fact that it is Shakespeare'sshortest tragedy prove that there are more songs anddances that have since been lost. The play firstappeared in publication in the First Folio of 1623,where it showed some symptoms of having alreadybeen cut and edited. James' fear of witches and thehistorical suggestion that the real Macbeth had insome way consulted with the supernatural during hisreign gave Shakespeare a great excuse to includesome spectacular songs and dances to please hisKing.With the knowledge that this play was inspired bythe masque and probably originally intended to beperformed in that style before the King, it would beimprudent to play Macbeth without a nod to thespectacle and extravagance of the Jacobeanmasques. A play that includes witches, ghosts andsupernatural spirits demands the fantasy and magicin which Shakespeare wishes us to believe.

Costume sketch of a knight by Inigo Jones.

Jacobean Style of Theatre1603-1625

Elaborate settings including live animals,waterfalls and amazing special effects.Throngs of extra actors perform and danceamongst audience members with noseparation between them.Production costs are so high and spectacularshows so expensive that most masques areperformed only once.Shakespeare writes King Lear, Macbeth andThe Winter’s Tale.Amazing spectacle and extravagantproductions are the focus of seeing theatre.

Elizabethan Style of Theatre1558-1603

No elaborate sets; open, bare stage; minimalspecial effects.Actors perform in open-air theatre on astage separated from most audiencemembers.Production costs are kept to a minimum toincrease profits; plays are performed multipletimes if popular to sell more tickets.Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet, AMidsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet.Heightened language and fantasticstorytelling are the focus of seeing theatre.

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Something This Way Comes...

Midwife:A woman whoassisted withchildbirth, gainingher skills fromexperience andlore passed downthroughgenerations.

Familiars:A spirit embodiedin an animal.Bubonic Plague:Disease, alsocalled the BlackDeath, thatwiped out 3/4 ofEurope inShakespeare’stime.

Before the advent of modern medicine to explain thediseases of the body, witchcraft, omens and spellscontrolled the daily lives of many of the inhabitants ofShakespeare's London. As populations increased, newoutbreaks of disease proliferated, and the Church ofEngland continued to wrestle with Catholicism forreligious supremacy in England, new superstitions andmass hallucinations appeared almost daily. The diseasesof insanity and hypochondria were believed to beafflictions of the devil; stories abounded of men whosometimes believed they were wolves and fled into themountains, nuns who imagined they were cats, maidenswho vomited pins and men who believed they hadsnakes in their intestines. The fanatical and fantasticalremedies for such illnesses included rubbing "magicointment" on the skin to produce dreams or drinkingwater out of a murdered man's skull. In the midst of allthis confusion and superstition, Elizabethans struggledto find something substantial to blame for thesemysteries. Witchcraft quickly became the primary targetas a practice believed to be capable of ruling the fates of men. The witches in Macbeth are referredto as the "weird" sisters, from the Anglo-Saxon word wyrd meaning "fate." Having been familiarwith witches and their powers all their lives, Shakespeare's audience would have understood andperhaps believed that these three women could shape and decide Macbeth's fate.

In Shakespeare's London witches werereal and seen on the streets every day.Often men and women who lived onthe fringes of their society, "witches"became easy scapegoats for anyaccidents, illnesses or deaths in theirtowns or villages. Midwives were oftenconsidered witches because of theirnatural remedies and understandings ofthe female body. In fact, as early as1487, the practices and beliefs ofwitchcraft were associated almostentirely with women and recorded inMalleus Malificarum (1486), a documentaccepted by the church claiming that"all witchcraft comes from carnal lust,which in women is insatiable." In 1508,Maximilian Johannes produced

Antiphonus Maleficiorum, which established withcraft as fact and taught Christians how to defendthemselves against it. The "black magic" activities of witches ranged from the silly to the horrific.They were believed to sometimes keep beer from fermenting or butter from hardening; sometimesthey forced men and women to commit adultery; they had the power to prevent women fromgetting pregnant as well as cause miscarriages or stillbirths.Witches were believed to have sold their souls to the devil and, in return, to have received animalcompanions or "familiars," (named for the Latin word "famulus" meaning servant) who would dotheir bidding and carry out some of their nastier tricks. Often these "familiars" were believed to beblack cats or toads. In Macbeth, the "Graymalkin" and "Paddock" referred to by the witches in thefirst scene are believed to be a cat and toad. Ironically, the continual persecution and destructionof witches and their cats during Shakespeare's time helped to speed the spread of diseases like theBubonic Plague. Jacobeans did not realize rats carried the majority of these diseases andundervalued the presence of cats to destroy these rats.

The Three Witches. Henry Fuseli (1783).

A Cemetery, from Hans Holbein’s seriesDance of Death (1538).

Wicked

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Although some witches did practice the "black arts"and believed they could curse and disease others,many accused witches were simply helplessinnocents. Often a solitary woman such as a widowor homeless woman would become offended byanother member of her society and be heard tomutter curses at that person under her breath.Then, when the "cursed" person experienced anyhardship or disease (which was extraordinarilycommon in this age before personal hygiene), theywould blame the "witch" and have her either jailedor hung. Some witches created disgusting mixturesof ingredients meant to either cure or curse theirpatient or victim. Hair, saliva, blood and animalentrails often went into their potions, while somemixtures, similar to the ones in Macbeth, actuallycontained many herbs and other plant life thatwere used as early medicines. Most witches werewise women and men who knew a great dealabout holistic medicine and were often called uponinstead of doctors to cure physical ailments withpotions and "tricks." As long as their patients werecured, they were considered "white" witches orwizards. If a patient died, however, they werepersecuted as "black" witches and therefore evil.Obviously, in an age before modern medicines, theguarantee that witches could cure someone of adisease was shaky at best. The fate of beingassociated at least once with someone who diedwas guaranteed. Ironically, some of their successesat curing patients with herbs and natural remedieshelped to lead to their demise, as the male-dominated English society sought to purge thisfemale-dominated practice. In 1541 Henry VIIIpassed the first act against sorcery and magic; in1562 the law was revived, and by Shakespeare'stime the active persecution of witches was a part ofdaily life. When Queen Elizabeth I died and James Ibecame king, witches faced a new and powerfullyparanoid opponent.During the rein of James I, witch hunts becamemore and more popular. A self-proclaimed experton witchcraft, James was notoriously fearful ofwomen and therefore especially afraid of witches.Women in London during James' reign beganbehaving and dressing more "male," wearing theirhair shorter, their doublets pointed and their hatswith broader brims. These changes were in part areaction to the more feminine dress of the men,inspired by James himself, and to the strong andstill echoing image of their late Queen Elizabeth,who often appeared in portraits dressed in armoror other traditionally "male" clothes. James orderedthe clergy of London to include sermons chastizingwomen to wear more feminine fashions. Jamesfeared that witches were plotting to kill him and,indeed, several assassination attempts during hisreign involved witchcraft or "magical potions."

In 1597, James published Daemonologie, his book onwitchcraft in which he described his belief in witchesand their practices; advocating for the swiftdestruction of any discovered witches. Women andmen accused of witchcraft were therefore putthrough ridiculous trials to test if they were trulywitches, resulting in the deaths of thousands ofinnocent people. One common practice was to tie astone to the witch and throw her in the river. If shefloated to the top she was a witch; if she sank to thebottom she was innocent. The only true way to kill awitch was burning, leading to many public burningsof innocent women and men under James' rule. AfterJames' death, the persecution of witches slowly diedout in England. The belief in witches, however,would ultimately travel to the New World, leading tothe Salem Witch Hunts in Massachusetts andresulting in many more deaths in America before thisfanatical fear of witchcraft finally came to an end inthe 18th century. In Macbeth, Shakespeare reminds usof times both in medieval Scotland and JacobeanEngland when witches inspired terror in a powerfulking and helped to guide the decisions of an entirenation.

The Old Woman, from Hans Holbein’s series Dance ofDeath (1538).

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Adapted

James I:King of England,1603-1625.James sponsoredShakespeare’sacting company,the King’s Men.

As Shakespeare set pen to paper in the early 17th century to scrawl the first lines of Macbeth, heprobably didn’t think that audiences 400 years later would still be enjoying his work. Even thoughMacbeth is rooted in the history of Scotland, film and theatre-makers have created whole newworlds for the play, sometimes using Shakespeare’s text, and sometimes writing a new script basedon the story. Adaptations can make Shakespeare’s classic texts fresh and exciting by connectingmodern audiences and different cultures to the themes of the play.On the StageWhen Charles II, James I's grandson, took the throne of Britain in 1660, he assigned the role ofMacbeth to William Davenant and the Duke's Company. Davenant altered the work considerablyto indulge his two favorite hobbies: operatic scenic splendor and structural balance. He elaboratedthe witches' scenes, introducing all kinds of dancing, singing and gibberish, some of it taken fromMiddleton's The Witch. He also expanded the role of Lady Macduff, creating numerous scenesbetween her and her lord symmetrically opposed to the bits between Macbeth and his ambitiouswife. Macduff's virtuous lady persuades him away from ambition. Lady Macbeth is given a newscene in which she is haunted by the ghost of Duncan, which convinces her to persuade Macbethto give up ambition and the crown. Davenant's "adaptation," with Thomas Betterton in the titlerole, was preferred by audiences and drove Shakespeare's original from the stage until 1744.The famous actor David Garrick, during his management of the Drury Lane Theatre (1742-1776),revived Macbeth as written by Shakespeare, playing the title role. Although Garrick retainedDavenant’s operatic witch scenes, he cut the extra scenes with Lady MacDuff as well as heroriginal murder scene (IV, 2) and the Porter scene (II, 3). He wrote a new climactic speech forMacbeth, in which the hero-villain mentions, with his dying breath, his guilt, delusion, the witchesand horrid visions of future punishment, ushering in the contemporary habit of trying to justifyMacbeth's killing. Garrick and his leading lady, Hannah Pritchard, introduced a natural style ofacting and became famous as the tortured hero and heroine. Supposedly, Garrick's performancewas so convincing that one night when he told the First Murderer, "There's blood upon thy face,"the actor involuntarily replied, "Is there, by God?"Throughout the next 200 years many acting couples became famous playing the Macbeths, eachcouple contributing its own interpretation of Shakespeare's work, including different reactions toBanquo's ghost and several variations on Lady Macbeth's mad scenes. It was not until the 19thcentury that Shakespeare's play returned to the stage in its original form. Samuel Phelps (1804-1878) is credited with stripping Macbeth of the accumulated adaptations and amendations duringhis management of Sadler's Wells in London between 1844 and 1862. Unlike his contemporaries,who rearranged the play to avoid scene shifts and made drastic cuts to allow scope for spectacle,Phelps made only minor cuts to the play.

The 20th century saw several great revivals,including Orson Welles' Macbeth at the LafayetteTheatre in Harlem (1936), which began his directingcareer. The production was set in 19th-century Haitiwith an entirely African-American cast(revolutionary at the time.) This federally fundedproject transported the Scottish play to a vibrantHaitian jungle in which the witches played voodoodrums and the court swayed to waltzes in theircolorful costumes. Welles’ use of voodoo as themagic of the play made the Elizabethan belief inwitches as servants of the devil more immediate tocontemporary audiences. Ten thousand peoplejammed the streets of Harlem for 10 blocks past thetheatre on opening night, trying to catch a glimpseof this wild production.

Crowding the streets of Harlem for Orson Welles’ 1936 production ofMacbeth.

Macbeth:

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In 2004, the Perseverance Theatre of Alaska explored the world of Macbeth set in an entirelydifferent culture. Director Anita Maynard-Losh set the play within the culture of the Tlingit people,the indigenous people of Southern Alaska. Through the text of Shakespeare, she explored thesimilarities between the cultures of the clans of Scotland and the clans of the Tlingit throughdrumming, dance, masks and images of the Tlingit tradition. The audience viewed an adaptationof Macbeth that communicated its themes through the shared cultural history of the region.Stage adaptations of Macbeth also have been politically motivated, not always strictly adhering toShakespeare's text. Barbara Garson was inspired to write MacBird! during a 1965 anti-war rallyprotesting the war in Vietnam. In the middle of this protest, the first line of her play just came toher: “When shall we three meet again / in riot, strike, or stopping train?” The play takes place atthe 1960 Democratic Presidential convention. The lead character is an ambitious man namedMacBird, a thinly veiled Lyndon B. Johnson, who is forced to take the Vice Presidential nominationeven though he wanted to be President. Lady MacBird, his wife, is a reference to Lady BirdJohnson. The character who gets the presidential nomination is named John Ken O’Duncdrawing an analogy between Duncan, the assassinated king in the play, and John F. Kennedy, theassassinated American president. As the play progresses, John Ken O’Dunc is murdered and theMacBirds gain power, only to have to deal with a losing war in Vietland, a clear reference to thewar in Vietnam.Another clever, modern stage version of Macbeth is Rick Miller’s MacHomer. Miller’s one-manshow was inspired by his own antics at a party, when he started performing Macbeth as differentcharacters from the television show The Simpsons. Miller took his show to a Fringe Festival in 2000and it became a pop-culture phenomenon. The show is 85% Shakespeare’s text, interlaced withreferences to The Simpsons. With Homer and Marge as Macbeth and his Lady, Rick Miller finds alight-hearted and amusing way to connect modern audiences to the Bard through pop-culture.On FilmWhen adapting a play like Macbeth, a filmmaker, as well as a stage director, must create his ownworld in which to set the play. After Orson Welles made a big splash with his 1936 stageproduction, he moved on to Hollywood and made a film adaptation of Macbeth in 1948. Welleswas one of the innovators of the American film industry and became famous for such classics asCitizen Kane. His film of Macbeth was shot in film noir style, using severe light and shadow, likeearly detective films of the day. It was also set in an expressionistic landscape. The non-realistic setswith their jagged rocky slopes and diagonal cliffs reflected Macbeth's inner struggle.Another important film adaptation of the play is Roman Polanski’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. In thisproduction, evil is not shown in an expressionistic way, but rather in a very gruesome, realisticway. The witches are a group of deformed old hags who live underground. While manyproductions make the witches a force of supernatural evil, Polanski’s witches are creatures ofhuman flesh who come straight out of the dirt. To emphasize the gore, Polanski even makes sure

Film noir:A film style of theearly ‘40scharacterized bysevere contrast inlight and shadow.Expressionism:An artisticmovement of themid-20th centuryin which artistsattempted toreflect innerthoughts inabstract visualterms.

Rick Miller in MacHomer (2000). Orson Welles as Macbeth (1946).24

that every ingredient of the witches brew, the livers,eyes and tongues, are shown on screen in all their slimyglory as they are added into the pot. And even thoughShakespeare’s text reads that the witches disappear“into the air,” Polanski shows Macbeth lying to Banquoas he speaks these words, telling his friend that thewitches are disappearing “into the air” while they areactually delving deep into the earth.Directors from cultures around the globe have alsoused the plot of Macbeth, abandoning Shakespeare’stext to write a script set in an entirely different world. Aclassic film based on the story is Akira Kurosawa’s epicSamurai film, Throne of Blood (1957). Kurosawa tellsthe story of Macbeth in a way that is relevant to thehistory of his own culture, setting the film in medievalJapan. Kurosawa's Macbeth is a prominent Samurainamed Washizu, and his wife is named Asaji. The witchin this film is a single glowing white figure, an oldwoman, slowly chanting a haunting poem andspinning thread. Her poem, which Shakespeare wroteas “Double, double, toil and trouble,” starts like this: “Allmen are mortal / Men are vain / And pride dies first /Within the grave.” Asaji is depicted as an emotionlessmanipulative force who tempts Washizu’s ambitions.The rustling of her kimonos is often the only hauntingnoise one can hear when she is on screen. Evil in thisfilm is supernatural, existing in air and fog, in contrastto Polanski’s earthbound adaptation.

In 1991, writer and director William Reilly made a movieentitled Men of Respect, which told the story of Macbethwithin the world of the mafia. The lead character in themovie is a hitman who visits a spiritualist who tells himhe will one day rise to the head of his family. Anothervery recent modern-day adaptation of Macbeth isScotland, PA (2002), written and directed by BillyMorrissette. After reading the play in high school,Morrissette thought that it would be interesting if thestory of Macbeth took place in a fast food joint. As anadult, Morrissette made his high school musings a realitywith the production of his film, which sets the Bard’s talein a rural Pennsylvania town, in which Joe McBeth andhis wife Pat’s deadly ambition is to become themanagers of Norm Duncan’s burger restaurant. Theyachieve their goal by murdering their boss, and adetective named McDuff is called in to investigate theircrimes. The witches in this film are three mysterioushippies who hang out on the grounds of a local carnival.From Haiti to Japan, from high power American politicsto a fast food restaurant in the middle of nowhere, froman expressionistic landscape to The Simpsons, the storyof Macbeth has been made relevant to time and placeby many directors and writers with imaginative ideasthat spring from personal experience and their distinctcultural backgrounds.

Scene from Orson Welles’ 1936 stage production.

Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957).

Costume sketch from Orson Welles’ 1936 stage production.

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Dramatizing Violence on Stage: Then and NowLiving during the age of the Duello, or formal duel,Shakespeare’s actors were trained in swordplay andable to perform rapier and dagger or broadswordbattles on stage, as when Macbeth and Macduff battleto the death in Macbeth. Theatre spaces were used topresent fencing matches so audiences knew thetechniques of real fighting and would complain loudlyif a fight in a play seemed fake. In today’s theatreviolence is safely staged through techniques of modernstage combat; actors create physical storytelling thatwill simulate violence without putting actors at risk.Search with students through the text of Macbeth forinstances of violence and list them on the board. Thendiscuss each instance, how it might have been stagedduring Shakespeare’s time and how it might be stagedtoday. What are the differences? Similarities? What isdifferent or the same about how we view violence as asociety today compared to Shakespeare’s time? How dowe handle violence in our movies or TV today?

Eye of Newt?In Macbeth, the witches are concocting a potion ofnasty-sounding ingredients in their cauldron, including“eye of newt” and “wool of bat.” Several of theseingredients are in fact plants rather than the nastypieces of animals they seem to describe. Have studentsresearch the definitions for each of these ingredients,list these ingredients on the board and then discusswhat exactly is in the cauldron. Then have studentscreate their own antidote for the witches’ potion. Whatwould they throw into their own cauldron tocounteract the witches’ spell? Why?

Language in MacbethIn Macbeth several different styles of language coexist,with the witches’ rhyming poetry contrasting theabrasive, jarring and unsure quality of Macbeth’slanguage or the firm forward rhythm of Lady Macbeth.Many scholars have argued that another playwright,Thomas Middleton, actually wrote the witches’ scenes,explaining the very different writing styles betweenthese scenes and the rest of the play. First with studentstrack some of the changes in Macbeth’s language, fromAct I, Scene iii to Act II, Scene ii to Act V, Scene v. Howdoes his language become more frantic in Act II andmore resolved in Act V? How big or small do histhoughts seem in each scene? Then track LadyMacbeth’s language, from Act I, Scene v to Act II, Sceneii to Act V, Scene i. How does she change through thecourse of the play? Ask students to explain why sheoften switches from prose to verse and why she beginsand ends the play in prose? Where do her thoughtsseem frantic and where do they seem very confident?

(Re) Making HistoryShow scenes from the 1995 film Braveheart in class. Askhalf the class to research the history of Macbeth, usingthe article “Don’t Know Much About History” from theFirst Folio Teacher Curriculum Guide. Ask the other halfof the class to use Internet resources to find informationon the real William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Askstudents to write an edited treatment of the play/moviethat would portray the assigned character in a morehistorically correct light. Ask each group to comparetheir treatments and list major changes to the play/movie agreed on by all members of the group.

Luck Be a LadyMany productions have portrayed Lady Macbeth as eviland heartless because she’s the one who convinces herhusband to go through with the murder. Ask studentsto write responses to the following questions: Have youever been convinced by a friend to do something thatyou knew was wrong? How did that make you feel?Who do you feel is more at fault for Duncan’s murder—Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Do you think Lady Macbethis evil and heartless or a woman who makes a badchoice? Ask students to draw a costume sketch for LadyMacbeth using their responses to the above questions.What does she look like? How does she fit into theworld around her? In relation to her husband?

ClassroomConnectionsBefore the performance...

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Good HumorsIn Shakespeare’s day there was a common belief thatthe body was ruled by four elemental fluids thatdominated a person’s temperament: blood, phlegm,yellow bile and black bile. These liquids, or humors,were used as a means of classifying people and theirbehavior. A healthy, “normal” person would have aperfect balance of all four humors, but anoverabundance of any one of them could causechanges in one’s personality. As a class, research thequalities of each humor and how they affect humanbehavior. Ask each student to select a character fromMacbeth and determine which humor dominates his/her personality, citing evidence from the text thatsupports the diagnosis.

More Language in MacbethHave students read aloud from selected scenes toexperiment with the speed and rhythm of thelanguage throughout the play. What does thelanguage seem to show us about Macbeth’srelationships in each scene? Review the short, rhymingverse of the witches in Act IV, Scene i. Why do theyrhyme so much? After students have read it aloudonce, try clapping out a quick beat together as a classwhile they reread it. Or, if time allows, play some quickmusic underneath their reading. What does the beatseem to reveal about the musicality of the verse? Howis the language of the witches different from thelanguage of Macbeth?

Double, Double, Buffy’s in TroubleThe three witches in Macbeth play an important role inits plot, and were popular with Shakespeare’s audiences.Ask students to imagine the witches as they might beportrayed in today’s culture, perhaps in shows like Buffythe Vampire Slayer or Charmed or movies like The Craft.Have students create a setting and costume designs forthe witches. What would they use to make their witches’brew? How do they enter and exit? Where do they gettheir powers? Ask students to share their ideas anddesigns with the rest of the class.

South of the BorderConflicts along the borders of neighboring nationshave been common throughout history. In Macbeth,Shakespeare eludes to the border conflict betweenEngland and Scotland when, after Malcolm has fled toEngland upon the death of his father, King Duncan, hereturns to Scotland with English troops to battleMacbeth for the crown. The border between Englandand Scotland was plagued by constant warring, violentdisputes and strategic invasions by various rulers forpolitical gain. Divide the class into groups and assigneach group a modern border conflict (i.e. Iraq/Iran,Israel/Palestine, Africa, Russia, India/Pakistan) toresearch. Have each group write a scene-by-sceneoutline of an updated version of Macbeth set againstthe backdrop of one of these border conflicts. What isdaily life like along the border? Why does Malcolmsolicit help from that country? How does a country gainfrom helping Malcolm regain the crown?

Come What, Come MayRead aloud I.iii.38-149 and discuss Macbeth’s reaction.Compare his reaction to Lady Macbeth’s when shereceives the letter from her husband (I.v.1-30). Thesecond half of the witches’ prediction comes truebecause Macbeth and Lady Macbeth conspire tomurder the king. Discuss whether Macbeth would havebecome king if they had not taken matters into theirown hands. Pass out horoscopes from a recentnewspaper. Ask students to find their horoscope andwrite a scene in which they take an action based on thehoroscope, which makes it come true. Lead students ina discussion about fate and free will. What purpose dopredictions and horoscopes serve in our society?

ClassroomConnections…After the performance

Cause and EffectSome scholars argue that Macbeth is responsible for hisactions in the play, despite many other interpretationsthat he was simply living out his destiny as described bythe Weird Sisters. Have students reflect on TheShakespeare Theatre’s production: based on what theysaw, which side of this debate did the production seemto support and why? What is the message of the play ifMacbeth is responsible for his actions? How does it differif they are determined “fated”? Divide students into smallgroups based on their answers and have them searchthrough the text for specific lines and events thatsupport their side of the debate. Bring all groups ofsimilar viewpoints together to compile their findings,then have a member from each larger group present thecase. Reflect on the arguments made by each side. Didanyone change their opinion based on the evidencepresented?

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Macbeth

Books or Essays on Macbeth· Aitchison, N.B. Macbeth: Man and Myth. Sutton, 2000.· Anderegg, Michael A. Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture. Columbia Univ. Press, 1999.· Dagleish, Walter Scott. Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with the Chapters of Holinshed’s (Historie of Scotland)on Which the Play is Based. AMS Press, 1976.

· Ellis, Peter Berresford. Macbeth, High King of Scotland, 1040-57 AD. Muller, 1980.· Kinney, Arthur F. Lies Like Truth: Shakespeare, Macbeth and the Cultural Moment. Wayne State Univ.Press, 2001.

· Perry, Curtis. The Making of Jacobean Culture. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997.· Welles, Orson. Orson Welles on Shakespeare: The WPA and Mercury Theatre Playscripts, ed. RichardFrance. Greenwood Press, 1990.

· Wills, Garry. Witches and Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.Books on Shakespeare and Teaching Shakespeare· Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. Doubleday, 1978.· Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. Penguin Books, 1993.· Gibson, Janet and Rex Gibson. Discovering Shakespeare’s Language. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999.· Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, 1998.· Kermode, Frank. Shakespeare’s Language. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 2000.· Linklater, Kristin. Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice. Theatre Communications Group, 1992.· Pritchard, R. E. Shakespeare’s England. Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999.· Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive. Bantam Books, 1988.· Reynolds, P. Teaching Shakespeare. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992.Websites· daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare—Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet.· www.bardweb.net—The Shakespeare Resource Center.· www.shakespeare.uiuc.edu—Shakespeare Globe USA.

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Resource List