MACBETH - NDSU

Shakespeare: The Man and the Legacy.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English playwright during the reign of Queen ElizabethI and King James I. Many people credit Shakespeare as the greatest playwright of westerncivilization. Some scholars claim he is more popular today than at any other point in history(Gompertz, 2016). Shakespeare wrote at least 39 plays and 154 sonnets. Shakespeare also inventedmany words and phrases. Here are a few ones we still use today!Phrases:“Break the ice” The Taming of the Shrew“Devil incarnate” Titus Andronicus“Wild-goose chase” Romeo and Juliet“Eaten me out of house and home” Henry IV: Part 2“All that glitters isn’t gold.” Merchant of Venice“A laughing stock” The Merry Wives of Windsor“Too much of a good thing” As You Like It“It’s Greek to me” Julius Caesar“Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve” Othello“Knock Knock, Who’s There?” Macbeth“What’s done is done” Macbeth“Come what come may” (More commonly today as: “come what may”)Macbeth“In a pickle” The Tempest“Fair play” The dleHostileKissingLong-LeggedLonely, Puppy DogRantSkim MilkWatchdogWorthlessUpstairsZanyJames VI of Scotland (later JamesI of England) publishes his Dæmonologie, acollection of pamphlets and books on thehistory and application of witchcraft andblack magic. The Dæmonologie later serves asShakespeare’s inspiration for the weird sistersin MACBETH.Shakespeare’s Globe has been rebuilt twice. It wasdestroyed by fire in 1613, then rebuilt in 1614. It was torndown in 1644 when the puritan movement condemnedattending theatre. This is the modern recreation of theGlobe Theatre completed in 1997. You can find moreinformation at shakespearesglobe.com.Macbeth in ContextApril 26, 1564William Shakespeare is born.Macbeth Play Guide Page 8Queen Elizabeth I dies.July 25, 1603 King James VI of Scotlandis crowned King James I of England. He beganfunding Shakespeare’s acting troupe, causingthem to change their name from “The LordChamberlain’s Men” to “The King’s Men.” HisScottish heritage inspired Shakespeare to setMacbeth in Scotland. According to legend, thecharacter Banquo is James’s direct ancestor.November 5, 16051676The Paris Garden is built on The RiverThames’s south bank. The Paris Garden was apopular venue for bear-baiting, cockfighting,and other animal blood sports. Outside thecity, The Thames’s south bank was whereall the edgy and mischievous entertainmentof Shakespeare’s day was located. Otherpopular activities included public executionand punishment, religious pageantry, politicalceremony, music, and dance (Greenblatt, 36).The witches, shrouded in fog, meetMacbeth. Macbeth, 2015The Globe Theatre, which served as ahome for Shakespeare’s acting troupe, is builton the River Thames’s south bank. Becausethe globe was on the Thames’s south bank, itcompeted with bear-baiting, brothels, and othertheatres for people’s attention. An open-airtheatre, The Globe had space for 3,000 people toattend a play at a time. There was gallery seatingunder a roof for the nobility and standing roomon the ground, which cost a penny for admission.Rowdy peasants called groundlings would bringrotten fruit to throw at bad actors.The Gunpowderplot is foiled. English Catholics attempt toassassinate James I and his government byplanting gunpowder under the parliamentbuilding. The gunpowder plot fueled James I’sanxiety and belief that he was the constanttarget of assassination attempts. BecauseJames I funded Shakespeare’s plays, thegunpowder plot provided political inspirationfor MACBETH (Greenblatt, 2710).1606Shakespeare writes MACBETH. James I’sinterest in witchcraft, the supernatural, Scottishheritage, and political assassination inspiresShakespeare to write this dark tragedy.1599In bear-baiting, trained dogs would attack a beartied to a wooden stake in the middle of an arena.Often this fight would lead to the bloody deathof the bear.March 24, 16031611Guy Fawkes, a key conspirator in thegunpowder plot, is captured by soldiersin 2005’s V for Vendetta.King James I’s commission of the Bibleis published. The King James Bible marksJames’s continued interest in the supernatural.April 23, 1616William Shakespeare dies.Macbeth Play Guide Page 9

The Language of MACBETH and Rhythmic GuideShakespeare was a genius with words.Translations of his plays exist in most majormodern languages. Shakespeare is requiredreading in many schools and universities, and atleast thirty-seven professional theatre companiesin the United States are named after him. In hisintroduction to The Norton Shakespeare, StephenGreenblatt writes, “If we should ever be askedas a species to bring forward one artist whohas most fully expressed the human condition,we could with confidence elect Shakespeareto speak for us.” (1) Shakespeare grasps whatmakes us human and puts it into words. Scholarshave written papers, conducted debates, andpublished novels, all discussing Shakespeare’slanguage and how it affects our lives.The key to understanding Shakespearerelies on two key factors. First, Shakespeareuses figurative language to paint vibrant mentalpictures and create feelings and emotion withinthe audience. Second, his verse’s rhythm andmeter (or lack of rhythm and meter) are notesfrom Shakespeare about the text’s meaning.In a way, Shakespeare directs his plays frombeyond the grave. Understanding Shakespeare’sfigurative language and the rhythm of his versehelp us understand his plays better.Shakespeare uses metaphors, symbols, andother figurative language to give depth to hischaracters’ words. There are deeper meanings tothe words on the page which can be unlockedwith more investigation. Every Shakespearescholar, from students and academics to theatreprofessionals, is an investigator.To investigate Shakespeare’s intent when hewrites figuratively, we need to understand thescene’s context. Macbeth speaks in Act 1 Scene 3,“So fair and foul a day I have not seen.” This lineis spoken as Macbeth and Banquo return homeafter a significant battle. With this knowledge, wecan unlock the meaning hidden in the line. Theday is “fair” because Macbeth and Banquo wona great battle. “Foul” is mentioned because theday is physically dark and dreary, and the battle’svictory came with a great loss of life. Throughthis one line, Shakespeare is both setting thescene’s mood and unlocking Macbeth’s character.Shakespeare’s use of figurative language mightseem complicated. However, if we understandthe context of a particular line or scene, themeaning becomes clearer.Macbeth Play Guide Page 10Understanding how Shakespeare usesfigurative language is the first step inunderstanding him. Next, we will see howShakespeare used a unique rhythm callediambic pentameter in his verse. Iambicpentameter sounds like a heartbeat, baDUMbaDUM baDUM. Each baDum (called an iamb)is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressedsyllable. Iambic pentameter is a set of five iambs(baDUMs or group of two syllables) in a line.Here is a line from MACBETH as an example:// ///But screw your cour age to the stick ing placeThe – marks over the words indicate unstressed syllables, and the / marks indicate stressedsyllables. The rhythmic song-like quality of iambic pentameter helped actors learn their lines faster.It also gave Shakespeare a way to communicate meaning to the actors. Suppose a line spoken byone character ends where another character’s lines begin. In that case, Shakespeare is telling theactors that they should not pause but instead share the line. For example:It also helps to knowThe fair and foulShakespeare preferredday as depicted inAkiro Kurosawa’ssimple images basedThrone of Blood, aon everyday things he1957 adaptation ofcould see and observe.MACBETH.“It is the life of thingswhich appeals to him,stimulates and enchants him, rather thanbeauty of color or form or even significance.”(Spurgeon, 50) Shakespeare doesn’t create hisimagery out of thin air; he uses familiar things.For example, the porter’s line in Act 2 Scene3, “Here’s a knocking indeed! If a man were aporter of hell-gate, he should have plenty ofturning the key.” Here we see familiar things, adrunk, a great gate, a knocking at the door, hell.Literally, we see a drunken porter opening thecastle’s door, but Shakespeare uses figurativelanguage to create images beyond the literalmeaning of the words. (Conner) By comparingMacbeth’s castle with hell, Shakespeare istugging on our imaginations. The context ofthe scene, King Duncan’s murder, also drivesthe image of Macbeth’s castle being a hellscapehome. As an audience, we now have a moregraphic understanding of Macbeth’s castle’smood and feel, all because of Shakespeare’stool of figurative language./\///LADY MI heard the owl scream, and the crick ets cry. //Did not you speak? \MACBETH When?/LADY MNow. //MACBETHAs I descend ed?The lines “did not you speak, when, now, as I descended” are all one line and should be spokenwithout a pause.Notice Shakespeare also throws in a different rhythm in this line. There are two stressedsyllables back to back:\MACBETH When?/LADY MNow. Shakespeare lets the actors and audienceknow tensions are rising by putting two stressedsyllables back to back. The Macbeths believethey are about to get caught murdering KingDuncan. In performance, actors build intensityand stress of the situation with the words“when” and “now.”The final irregularity of Shakespearianmeter seen here is an extra unstressed syllableat the end of the line with “descended.” Extraunstressed syllables at the end of lines areShakespeare’s way of showing uncertaintyor personal conflict within the character. Inthis case, Macbeth is beginning to distrust hissenses. In the next line, we also see Macbethworries that he woke the king’s son Donalbain.Shakespeare only puts irregularity inhis verse as an aid for actors to understandcharacter actions. Suppose a Shakespeare actor,director, designer, or audience member can findthe irregularities. In that case, they can unlockShakespeare’s intent and find new meaningwithin the character. Figuring out the rhythmand meter of the lines, as well as understandingShakespeare’s use of figurative language, goesa long way towards helping audiences andreaders understand a Shakespeare play.Macbeth Play Guide Page 11

ACTIVITIESYou’re an artist!Shakespeare’s MACBETHis full of vivid imagery andaction. The three witcheson the heath casting spells.Macbeth reaches out to grabthe imaginary dagger coveredin blood. Lady Macbethattempts to wash away the guilt of her deedsbut fails. A porter at the gates of hell. Macduffcries over his slain wife and children. Chooseone iconic scene from MACBETH and draw,paint, make a collage, or sculpt a sculpture thatdepicts what a character is going through in theplay. Think about how you can convey moodand personality through your art. Include a linefrom the play as a caption for your piece.FOR HOME AND THE CLASSROOMWalk and talkShakespeare.Shakespeare can beintimidating and feel oldfashioned on the page.Many Shakespearian actors,designers, and directorsovercome this intimidationby reading the words aloud and moving arounda room. Take a scene or monologue from theend of this guide (or another scene/monologuefrom the play) and walk around the room whilereading it aloud. When you see a comma, do alittle hop, skip, or wiggle. Whenever you see aperiod, take a short pause in your movementand voice. If a new line begins, turn around.Your brain is clever, and once you get the wordsin your body and start speaking out loud,Shakespeare’s meaning will become clear.Shakespearein an everydaytranslation.MACBETH is Shakespeare’sshortest play, but couldit be told even faster?Invent a text conversationbetween Macbeth and Lady Macbeth telling thestory of MACBETH. You may use as many textmessages as you want, but be sure to keep thetexts short. Take time to find images to add tothe conversation. Don’t forget the Macbethscould also take screenshots of other people’sconversations and send the screenshots to oneanother. Make sure to include all the big storymoments (like Duncan’s and Banquo’s murders)in your texts.Macbeth Play Guide Page 12It’s crafting time.Shakespeare is famousfor inventing many of thewords and phrases we stilluse today. He also madesome creative insults forhis characters to say. Someof these insults, “He hasnot so much brain as ear-wax” or “Thine faceis not worth sunburning,” are still funny today.Do a little research and find your favoriteShakespearian insult. Then, design a bumpersticker with the insult and a picture clarifyingthe quote’s meaning.You’re the bard!Scenic Designer for Theatre NDSU’s MACBETH KatieAndreachi went above and beyond the usual duties of ascenic designer to produce shadow puppets for multiplescenes. Here is the cruel murder of Macduff’s family.Puppetry.Prepare a banquet.Food and banquets played asignificant role in MACBETHsince they were major socialevents in medieval Scotland.Research the banquet foodserved at these banquets.How many courses wouldthere be? Create a menu for a MACBETH stylebanquet in today’s day and age. Make sure tohighlight some of the dishes for lords and ladiesthat were served in medieval times. How couldthese dishes be updated for a fancy modernmeal? What everyday dish could be added toyour menu to add diverse flavors and culture toyour meal? This website is an excellent place tostart when doing your research:www.medieval-recipes.com.Theatre NDSU’s productionof MACBETH relies heavilyon the use of puppetryand object theatre. Thistechnique allows for thewitches to be larger thanlife and play with characterslike they are playing with dolls. Either withpaper or with objects you find on your own,design a puppet that would help tell the storyof MACBETH. Puppetry and object theatre inthe United States primarily entertains smallchildren (think The Muppet Show.) How doesour usual perception of puppetry influence howwe see the horrors of MACBETH? Does thinkingof puppetry as art for children make MACBETHpuppetry more or less unsettling? Collaboratewith others to put on a small puppet showtelling the story of MACBETH with your puppetsand found objects. Then ask your audience howhaving the story played out with puppetry madethem feel.Shakespeare wrote at least 39plays during his lifetime, andhe often borrowed stories fromother writers as inspiration.For MACBETH, he borrowedfrom a book called Holinshed’sChronicles of England,Scotland, and Ireland. Holinshed’s Chroniclesalso inspired many of Shakespeare’s historyplays like Richard III and Henry V. For ROMEOAND JULIET, Shakespeare was inspired by TheTragical History of Romeus and Juliet by ArthurBrooke. The tragedy KING LEAR was based ona British legend written down by Geoffrey ofMonmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain.Using MACBETH as inspiration, write a tenminute play of your own. Your play needsto have a conflict where characters wantsomething, but there are obstacles in their way.Your play needs to have a beginning, middle,and end, with the conflict introduced on the firstor second page. Ten-minute plays are typicallyabout ten pages long, with each page takingabout a minute to perform. You can decide foryourself which elements from the original storyto keep. For example, if you wanted to write aplay about what the witches get up to when theyaren’t talking with Macbeth, go with it! If youcondense the entire play into ten minutes, setthe play in a high school, or make it a comedy,that would work too. You are the playwright, andyou are in charge of your play’s world.Macbeth Play Guide Page 13

You’re a poet!Shakespeare wrote over 154sonnets (sonnet means “littlepoem”), and poetry fills hisplays. Remember, his poemsfit the rhythm and meter ofiambic pentameter. Using theguide above on identifyingiambic pentameter, write a poem in iambicpentameter. Shakespeare’s sonnets would alsohave rhyming pairs of lines, so line one wouldrhyme with line three and so on. Play aroundwith both the rhythm and rhyming scheme inyour poem. Often, Shakespeare used figurativelanguage like simile, analogy, and metaphor todescribe the world while conveying deep ideas.He wrote about his own emotions, youth, nature,aging, love, and beauty. See if you can followsimilar patterns or themes in your writing. Hereis a website that details further how to write asonnet: sonnet/You’re the graphicdesigner!Today, most plays havegraphic designers andmarketing teams workingon getting the word out.Theatres need posters,playbills (the program youget at the theatre), and sometimes study guidesto be made so the play can be successful.Choose some of the themes, images, or famouslines from MACBETH (like murder, betrayal,blood, witchcraft, long dark nights, rainyScotland, “Double Double, toil and trouble,”)and make a collage poster for MACBETH. Youshould set aside space for the title, MACBETH,and a quote from the play that makes sensewith the rest of your design.You’re thecostumedesigner!MACBETH has dynamic,memorable, andunique characters,from the murderousMacbeth to the nobleMacduff. Choose oneof the characters fromMACBETH and designa set of costumes forthem. You will need todecide the setting andtime of MACBETH. Is itset in Medieval Scotland?Are all of the characterssecret agents during theCold War? Is MACBETHan epic space operaspanning galaxies withmultiple alien species?Find research images toinspire you as you work.While designing, thinkabout why the characterwould be wearing those clothes. How does thedesign reflect both the world of the play and thecharacter? Is there a particular piece of clothingMacbeth Play Guide Page 14You’re the scenicdesigner!MACBETH is a play filledwith imaginative visualimagery and figurativelanguage. Focus on oneof the images here: blood,witchcraft, unnaturalweather, or woodland. You may also chooseyour own from the play. You will build/draw aset that embodies the image you have chosen.Consider the time and place you would like toset your MACBETH in. Is the world of MACBETHa dark fairy tale, or is it a modern world ofbusinessmen and intrigue? Is it a gothic horrorpiece in the style of Frankenstein or the worksof Edgar Allen Poe? Or are you setting theplay in Elizabethan England during the time ofShakespeare? Find research images to justifyyour choices. Your set must also have a specialplace for the witches to enter and exit. Itneeds a special place for magic to happen (forexample, the vision of a dagger Macbeth sees inAct 2). Finally, it needs a place for epic battlesto happen. Be sure also to include areas forthe actors to enter and exit the stage. [IMAGE:Castle Macbeth. Caption: Scenic designer KatieAndreachi developed furniture placement, laidout entire rooms for filming, painted walls tocommunicate location, and designed shadowpuppets. “To uphold COVID safety precautions,each actor is performing in different rooms.This obstacle has been most challenging forMacbeth, who appears in multiple differentlocations.”- Katie Andreachi, Scenic Designer forMACBETH. Here we see Birnam Wood comingto Macbeth’s castle Dunsinane.You’re the sounddesigner!that defines the character? What do the colorsand fabrics of the clothes say about the personwearing them?Sound is one of theeasiest ways to tap intothe audience’s emotion.Specific sounds influenceour mood all the time infilm and television. Not only do we hear howthe soundtrack plays with our feelings, butthe sound effects designers choose to includewith the film also help us feel things. For thisexercise, you need to think of a unique settingfor MACBETH, then imagine how the worldof your MACBETH sounds. Does it take placein a dark forest late at night, with the hootingof owls and the sound of growling wolves?Does it explore the sounds of an urban junglewith the honking of horns and pedestrians’shouting? Does it occur in the early morningwhere there aren’t many people about, andyou can hear the wind whistling through longgrass on a prairie? Does your MACBETH havea soundtrack? Once you have decided whatyour MACBETH production sounds like, findexamples of the sounds you are interested inonline or do some recording in the real world.Make sure you have at least 3-5 short clips ofsound or video to use as examples, then presentyour ideas to an audience. Be sure to include inyour presentation notes why you made specificsound choices.Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, 1957 had the characterTaketoki (Macbeth) shot full of arrows in the final scene.The arrows show how adaptation can alter the sourcematerial and enhance its meaning without losing thescene’s heart.You’re the actors!At the end of this studyguide are pre-scannedscenes from MACBETH.With a partner, choose onescene. There is a scenebetween Lady Macbeth andMacbeth, a scene betweenMacduff and Malcolm, and a scene betweenMacduff and Macbeth. Translate each line intoeveryday English. Don’t only translate the oldwords into words you know. Write words youwould actually say, even if they don’t matchShakespeare’s rhythm. For example, if you hadthe line “Is this a dagger I see before me, thehandle toward my hand? Come let me clutchthee.” you may write something like: “Why isthere a dagger here? Is it for me? I could grabit.” Perform or recite your scene with yourpartner for an audience or recording.Macbeth Play Guide Page 15

You’re the lightingdesigner!In every play, the lightingdesigner influences themood and feel of the worldonstage. Lighting designersalso tell the audience wherethey should be looking. Ina Shakespeare play, lighting design is essentialbecause it adds meaning to the actors’ words.It also allows us to focus on what is importantin any given scene. Take the final battle scenefrom MACBETH. It would be challenging toidentify Macbeth and Macduff in a crowd offighting actors if a director wanted to stagethe entire fight without lighting. Pick any scenefrom MACBETH. You will design the lightingatmosphere for this scene, paying particularattention to what you want the audience tofeel while watching it. You will need to decidewhat the quality of light is. Is your productionmeant to mimic a realistic atmosphere withnatural lighting? Or is it sterile lighting like inan office building or a space ship? Find imageson the internet or in books that portray theatmosphere you would like to see in your

ACT 1 SCENE 3 4 With Lady Macbeth’s help, Macbeth murders King Duncan in his sleep. ACT 2 SCENE 2 5 Macbeth is crowned king as Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donal-bain, flee to England. ACT 2 SCENE 4 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot in 2001’s Scotland, PA, which modernizes the story of MACBETH