7.+Macbeth

Directions: your group is responsible for compiling and creating responses to all sections and will be graded on the completeness and accuracy of the information provided. In addition, your response must include material covered in class, not information "cut and pasted" from on-line study guides. Assignment is worth 100 points. Remember, you are helping your classmates by providing a complete response.

1) **__Plot Summary (no more than 250 words please)__**: Sarah

Macbeth, a Thane under King Duncan, and Banquo are fighting Macdonwald, and after his defeat receive a prophecy from the Weird Sisters that Macbeth will become king, and Banquo will father many kings. Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth, urges him to follow through on the prophecy by killing Duncan, and after much deliberation Macbeth stabs Duncan in his sleep. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee, and Macbeth becomes king. Macbeth hires three murderers to kill Banquo so that his sons will not dethrone Macbeth, and at a later banquet Banquo's ghost appears to Macbeth and causes him to act strangely. Macbeth visits the Weird Sisters again, who give him three more prophecies through three apparitions: first, to beware Macduff; second, that he will not be harmed by any man born of a woman; and third, that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth feels safe (because everyone is born of a woman, and forests can't move), but he orders Lady Macduff and her children to be killed, because Macduff did not attend his coronation and fled the country. Malcolm and Macduff, in England, raise an army to go to Scotland and conquer Macbeth, who is depressed because Lady Macbeth has killed herself following sleepwalking episodes in which she tried and failed to scrub imaginary blood off her hands. Macbeth thinks he is safe in the castle until he learns that soldiers are advancing behind tree branches cut from Birnam Wood - thus Birnam Wood is coming to Dunsinane Castle. Macduff finds Macbeth and Macbeth learns that Macduff was born via a cesarean section and not technically "born of a woman," and therefore can conquer Macbeth. After Macduff kills Macbeth, Malcolm becomes king and all returns to normal.

2) **__Major Characters, Description, and Relationships__**: Sarah


 * Macbeth**: the Thane of Glamis at the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a loyal, brave soldier under **King Duncan**, until the Weird Sisters predict that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and then the King of Scotland. After he does become the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth kills Duncan after being urged on by his wife, **Lady Macbeth**. Once he is crowned, he becomes increasingly more power-hungry and brutal, killing his friend **Banquo** and later **Lady Macduff** and her son. He is an extremely unsuccessful ruler, treating his people poorly and creating unease and breeding treason. He also proves to be arrogant and paranoid in his quest for power.
 * Lady Macbeth**: **Macbeth**'s only confidante, she is Macbeth's beloved wife and the mastermind behind the plot to kill **Duncan**. She exhibits many masculine characteristics, but ultimately she does not (or cannot) commit Duncan's murder. She easily manipulates Macbeth and those around her, but after the murder of Duncan she becomes consumed by guilt and begins sleepwalking, attempting to remove imaginary blood from her hands. Eventually, she committs suicide, unable to bear the guilt of her deed.
 * Banquo**: A trusted friend of **Macbeth**'s and a fellow Thane, Banquo receives a prophecy along with Macbeth - that Banquo will never be king, but that he will father many kings. He, unlike Macbeth, chooses not to act on the prophesy, and later haunts Macbeth at the banquet after Macbeth orders Banquo killed. Has a son named **Fleance**.
 * Duncan**: A widely revered and loved king, he is the ruler that **Macbeth** is not. He has two sons, **Malcolm** and **Donalbain**. He is eventually murdered by Macbeth in his sleep.
 * Malcolm/Donalbain**: The sons of **Duncan** and the rightful heirs to the throne (first Malcolm, then Donalbain). Both flee Scotland after Duncan is killed, but only Malcolm returns, with **Macduff**, to fight **Macbeth** and regain the throne.
 * Macduff**: Opposed to **Macbeth**'s reign from the very beginning (he fails to appear at Macbeth's coronation), he eventually helps **Malcolm** put together an army in England to fight Macbeth off the throne and to get vengeance for the murder of his wife, **Lady Macduff**, and his son by Macbeth's orders.
 * Lady Macduff**: The wife of **Macduff** and the mother of a small child, she seems to be a loving, caring mother, and serves as a foil to **Lady Macbeth**. She and her son are murdered on **Macbeth**'s orders.
 * Weird Sisters**: The three ambiguously sexual witches who appear in the very beginning of the play and at several more points, they present the prophecies to **Macbeth** and **Banquo**, and later toy with Macbeth's ambitions using the ambiguous prophecies, charms, and spells. They seem to act as both the comic relief and the masters of the entire play, as they seem to decide the fates of all the characters.

3) **__Literary Terms discussed in class (including a brief definition and how they relate to the text)__**: Sarah
 * Foil characters:** characters of the same sex and age who contrast with each other. Examples: Macbeth and Banquo/Duncan/Macduff; Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff.
 * In Media Res:** the story begins in the middle of rising action, gaining the reader's interest. In Macbeth, the story begins during a battle between Macbeth and Macdonwald.
 * Foreshadowing:** early indication of events to come. In Macbeth, the Witches predict the eventual demise of Macbeth through ambiguous prophecies.
 * Soliloquy:** a character reveals innermost thoughts alone on stage. Macbeth reveals his true feelings about murdering Duncan in his soliloquy in Act I.
 * Symbolism:** an object or person is used in place of an overarching theme. Symbols in Macbeth include blood, light/darkness, and unnatural events.

4) **__How has the writer created meaning? In other words, what choices has he/she made in plot structure, point of view, character, setting, tone, style and/or symbol in order to convey meaning?__**: Percilla

__Plot Structure__-
 * Short Introduction**
 * Witch scene which creates a somber mood for the entire play. It foreshadows the "foulness" that is about to come
 * Macbeth is depicted as a brave, intelligent, and noble warrior who is honored by King Duncan with a new title
 * Rapid Rising Action**
 * Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches who tell Macbeth his prophecies
 * Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan and take his throne
 * Climax**
 * Macbeth murders King Duncan
 * Rapid Falling Action**
 * Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance because the Witches said Banquo's sons would be kings one day.
 * Macbeth hires murderers to kill Lady Macduff and her son
 * Macbeth meets the witches for the final time
 * Short Conclusion**
 * Macduff carries Macbeth's head in on a pole and hails Malcolm as the new King of Scotland
 * It ends with the promise that order will return to Scotland under the rule of Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne.

__Setting__- In Scotland during the Middle Ages

__Tone__- Dark and ominous, often violent

__Symbols__:
 * Blood-** symbolizes murder and guilt. The first human character in the play is a bloody soldier, in which a war is occurring. Before Macbeth kills Duncan, Macbeth is staring at the "dagger of the mind." He sees thick drops of blood on the blade. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he is so shaken that all he can do is stand and stare at his bloody hands. He forgets to return the daggers, so Lady Macbeth has to do it for him. Now both of their hands are covered in blood. Macbeth wonders if all the water in the world can wash away the blood. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth goes mad thinking that she cannot wash the blood from her hands no matter how much water she uses.


 * Water**- symbolizes the removal of guilt, and the purification of the conscience. After King Duncan is murdered, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth need to wash Duncan's blood off of their hands. Lady Macbeth soon goes into denial, and believes that she cannot wash off the blood from her hands no matter how much water she uses.


 * Light/Darkness-** communicates evil and danger. All the murders are done at night because the dark is used to hide Macbeth's evil deeds. During the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth asks the night to not only hide her and her husband's evil ambitions, but to also hide it from heaven (which is the source of morality and good). When Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, her nights are turning into days, and she always insists that she has a light by her at night. It shows how the darkness she embraced during the murders has become overwhelming for her. She is always trying to run away from the darkness, but she cannot.


 * 5) __Themes/Motifs (at least 4)__**: Percilla
 * **Hallucinations-** represents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's guilt. When Macbeth is about to kill Duncan, he sees a floating dagger in the air. It is covered with blood and it points towards the king's chamber. The dagger represents the murder that Macbeth is about to commit. After the murderers that Macbeth hires kills Banquo, Macbeth hallucinates and sees Banquo's ghost sitting in his chair at a feast. Banquo keeps asking Macbeth why he murdered him. Lady Macbeth is also haunted by hallucinations since she sleepwalks and believes that she cannot wash the blood from her hands.
 * **Fortune, Fate, and Freewill-** Although Macbeth is told he will become king, he is not told how to achieve this position, so he has to come up with it himself. It was destiny for him to become king, but how he chose to get there was not right. Fortune is another word for chance. Once can rise to the top of the wheel and enjoy being superior, but only for a while. One can easily lose that position too Fate, on the other hand, is fixed. One's life is predetermined by external forces, who are the witches. This play shows that fate may dictate what will happen, but how that destiny comes about depends on chance of man's own choice or free will.
 * **Issues of Gender-** Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan. At first, he was uneasy about doing it, but Lady Macbeth questioned his manhood. She wishes she was "unsexed" so she could commit the murder. When Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and they are nervous, Macbeth questions their manhood as well. In this play, the women are the sources of violence and evil. The witches' prophecies bring about Macbeth's violent behavior, and Lady Macbeth helps plot the murder of King Duncan.
 * **Natural/Unnatural-** There is a scene between Ross and an Old Man after Duncan's death. There is a dialogue discussing the unnaturalness on the night of the murder. King Duncan was honored and loved, so his murder was unnatural and not right. The Old man explains how he saw an owl kill a falcon. The falcon is day creature and is considered majestic, while the owl is a night creature. In this case, the falcon is King Duncan, while Macbeth is the owl. They also discuss how they saw horses eating horses, which is an unnatural event. King Duncan's horses are described to be "minions," which means followers or supporters. Macbeth and lady Macbeth were King Duncan's minions, but they "turned wild" and murdered their master.
 * **Kingship/Tyranny-** Duncan is referred to as a "king" when he was in power, while Macbeth is known as a "tyrant" when he was in power. Under Duncan, people are rewarded when they help the kingdom such as promoting Macbeth to Thane of Cawdor. Under Macbeth, he only brings chaos to Scotland, which is symbolized by the bad weather and bizarre supernatural events such as a horse eating another horse. Duncan trusted Macbeth enough to stay over at his house, while Macbeth is paranoid and murders anyone that he sees as a threat to his throne.
 * **Fall of Man-** in Ancient Greek tragedies, there is the fall of a great man, such as a king, who goes from a superior position to a humiliating position (death in this case) because of one man's hubris. The thought of Macbeth being king made him and Lady Macbeth power hungry. Macbeth would be the one with hubris, and he will be punished by vengeance. In the end of the play, Macbeth is killed by Macduff, and his position is given back to Duncan's son Malcolm.

6) **__Quotes from the text that capture major themes (at least 3)__**: Percilla

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair." (Line 12, Page 7, Act I, Scene I)

"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." (Line 157, Page 25, Act I, Scene III)

"Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires." (Line 57, Page 29, Act I, Scene IV)

"Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness." (Line 16, Page 31, Act I, Scene V)

"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." (Line 76, Page 35, Act I, Scene V)

"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none." (Line 1, Page 39, Act I, Scene VII)

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" (Line 44, Page 51, Act II, Scene I)

"With all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my and will rather the multitudinous seas incardine, making the green one red." (Line 78, Page 59, Act II, Scene II)

"My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white." (Line 82, Page 59, Act II, Scene II)

"On Tuesday last, a falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd." (Line 14, Page 73, Act II, Scene IV)

"Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, contending 'gainst obedience, ans they would make. War with mankind." (Line 19, Page 75, Act II, Scene IV)

"The night is long which never finds the day." (Line 282, Page 157, Act IV, Scene III)

7) **__Interpretive Questions (at least 3)__**: Taras and Percilla


 * Who is to blame for the killing of King Duncan? Is it the witches, Macbeth, or Lady Macbeth? Why?
 * What does the murder of Lady Macduff and her child reveal about Macbeth?
 * How does Lady Macbeth contribute to her husband's downfall?
 * What is the significance of Macbeth seeing a floating dagger and Banquo's ghost?
 * After Macbeth has been king for a while, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks carrying a light. How does this compare with her earlier desire to be hidden in darkness?
 * Macbeth and Lady Macbeth spend much time organizing the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth also hires murderers to kill Banquo, as well as Lady Macduff and her child. Were all of these murders worth the crown? Why or why not?

8) **__Historical/Social/Philosopical Influences on text (include relevant author biography)__**:

William Shakespeare was 18 when he married the 26 year old Anne Hathaway. They had four children together, one of which where named Judith and Hamnet which sound similar to Juliet and Hamlet. Hamnet died as a young child of unknown causes. This early incident in his life is said to be compared to that of his later characters. In that most of Shakespeare's characters died a tragic death, the best parallel to his son being Hamlet. During the time the English language was becoming the world's most popularized language. During this period Shakespeare would often combine words from other languages to somewhat create his own version of English, the term to describe this is neologizing.

The play itself was influenced by true historical events. Macbeth was the king of Scotland from 1040 to 1057. While Duncan was the king of Scotland up until his death in the year 1040. Duncan did in fact have two sons both name Malcolm and Donald. Macbeth was a duke during Duncan's reign and served as an assistant to the throne. After Duncan had lost several wars Macbeth turned and then led Duncan's own men against him and was murdered. After Duncan was murdered it was accepted that the Duke would take over the throne, while Duncan's wife and children(Malcolm and Donald) fled the country. After several years Siward, a commander of the English army, attacked the Scots and defeated Macbeth's army. Macbeth did not die but was overthrown and fled the country. The English then decided to restore the throne and put the proper lineage back to power. Since Malcolm was the older son he would become king. After his death, Donald also got his chance at the throne. The cause of Macbeth's death is unknown. Even though Macbeth is inspired by true events the play itself is historically inaccurate and over-dramatized. The real Lady Macbeth had actually had no signifigance in the murder or Duncan. During the time there were different factual variations. Shakespear chose to model his book after the information provided by Raphael Holinshed. Holinshed during Shakespeare's time was a chronicler, meaning his proffesion was the keep track of historical facts and events in chronological order. Holinshed then publicized his information in "Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Wales." This is what Shakespeare used as his source of historical information. The influences of Macbeth are mostly occurred historical events with the combination of Shakespearean drama.

During Shakespeare's time people believed in a chain of power. The top being God followed by the angles and saints, followed by the king, then other nobility. The bottom of the chain was the lower class they were looked as cursed or unloved by God. The title of king was seen as a god given power. When Macbeth kills Duncan he distorts the chain of power. So in order for the chain to be restored, it is natural that Macbeth had to die and Duncan's son to regain the true title to the throne.