| what are thanes? | in exchange for their loyalty, the king provides strong warriors (thanes) with protection, lodging, food, and a share of their wealth. |
| what is the warrior code of ethics? | valor in battle is highly praised, treason is a death penalty offense |
| what is the Christian code of ethics? | loyalty, faith to God, God will never abandon you, the golden rule, “good deeds will get you a place in Heaven” |
| setting of Macbeth | 10-11th century Inverness, Scotland + England, royal palace at Forres |
| who in the play was a real person? what did he do? | Banquo, he was a relative of James I |
| how did James I affect the play? | this play is definitely a tribute to the king: a plot to destroy him and the parliament that failed generated a lot of sympathy for the king, Catholics were seeking revenge for some of James’ non Catholic laws, the payment for court performances of plays was doubled |
| who was James I | king at the time of shakespearean writing, he was made king of scots at 13 months old, his mother was imprisoned and killed, James served trials against many witches, and he wrote a daemonology |
| external conflict: | Macbeth vs. Macduff, Macbeth vs. his victims, England army vs. Scottish army |
| internal conflict: | Macbeth- kill Duncan or not? |
| what is a foil? | a character who contrasts with another character to highlight each other’s traits. |
| what is the main atmosphere of the play? | doom, foreboding, depressing, except for porter’s “knock-knock” joke |
| how does the diction of the play impact the writing? | it reveals class of society |
| explain how the Latin versus Anglo-Saxin language affected the play | Latin was more imaginative, whereas A-S is down to earth. During Macbeth’s dagger scene, he is torn between the two languages. |
| what did the raven resemble? | it was an evil omen, thought to foretell death |
| how is the play written (what form)? | it’s written in blank verse form (an unrhymed iambic pentameter) |
| what is an aside? | when a character is speaking, and it is meant to be heard by the audience, but not the other actors on the stage |
| what is a soliloquy? | when a character is thinking something, but he expresses it through a monologue, while he is the only person on stage. |
| quick definition of a metaphor | direct comparison |
| quick definition of an extended metaphor | a metaphor continued through out the entire story or poem |
| example of an extended metaphor in Macbeth | Macbeth as a horse back rider : refers to horses and their “tools”, uses phrases like “o’er leap” |
| what archetype does a shadow resemble? | everything underdeveloped |
| what is existentialism? | the belief of making one’s own meaning in life. |
| what is nihilism? | the belief that nothing matters in life (Macbeth after LM dies) |
| what did giving Malcolm the throne resemble? | it showed the modernizing of Scotland by transitioning from giving positions to those who were valiant in battle to going through a blood line |
| what does LM’s quote about “what makes them drunk hath made me bold” mean? | she made the guards drunk before the murder of Duncan, but she was slightly drink, giving her the strength to go through with the murder. (it brought out her shadow) |
| what was special about Malcolm referring to Thanes as Earls? | he was showing a sense of the modernization of Scotland through culture he picked up from England when he ran away. It also shows more of a unity through the Thanes. |
| what does equivocate mean and how is it used in shakespeare? | to use unclear language, often purposely to mislead someone. the theme of equivocation is what the play revolves around, as it is used by the witches during their prophecies to show their truly evil nature. |
| what is a morality play? | an allegorical story in which characters, settings, or actions can represent a moral quality or detail for the purpose of making a moral point. (the throne is our goal, the murders is our over ambition, macbeth is our shadow, lady macbeth is the evil side of our conscience, etc.) |
| what is aristotle’s definition of a tragedy? | -something designed to provoke catharsis (drawing our pity and fear from the audience)-uses embellished language, either through poetry or song-it’s an imitation of an action that possesses magnitude, but is still serious-requires a tragic hero |
| what is the definition of a tragic hero? does macbeth fit this definition? | a noble man whose life affects many and has a fatal flaw which becomes his downfall. macbeth does indeed have a fatal flaw (hubris), but he was never shown being too noble, though he was pronounced a thane twice, he was only noted as having terrible thoughts about the king and coming back from one battle. |
| example of old english: | beowulf |
| example of middle english: | chaucer |
| example of early modern english: | shakespeare |
| do you underline, quote, italicize, bold, or circle a play? | underline |
| who was macdonwald? | scottish rebel who joined with king sweno on norway’s side, who was originally the thane of cawdor, before macbeth killed him. this led to macbeth becoming the thane of cawdor after the opening battle |
macbeth
November 27, 2019