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mystery plays

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a medieval dramatic form based on a Biblical story, usually dealing with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

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miracle plays

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a medieval dramatic form dealing with religious subjects such as Biblical stories or saints' lives, usually presented in a series or cycle by the craft guilds.

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morality plays

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an allegorical form of the drama current from the 14th to 16th centuries and employing such personified abstractions as Virtue, Vice, Greed, Gluttony, etc.

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Age of secular (non-religious) theater at time of shakespeare

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50 years before shakespeare

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Globe Theater

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Shakespeares theater in London

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globe theater 1

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Flag

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globe theater 2

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heavens

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globe theater 3

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tiring house

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globe theater 4

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upper stage

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globe theater 5

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gallery

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globe theater 6

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main stage

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globe theater 7

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inner stage

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globe theater 8

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open yard

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globe theater 9

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support pillars

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globe theater 10

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trap door

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globe theater 11

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entrance

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globe theater 12

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brick foundation

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when/where globe was

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Globe Theatre in London was built in 1599 on the Southbank of the river Thames in Southwark, London in close proximity to the Bear Garden.

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Who/what group closed theaters about 25 years after Shakespeare's death?

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Puritans

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Act

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a division within a play, much like chapters of a novel

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Scene

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a division of an act into smaller parts

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Blank Verse

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non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare's plays are written in this form, which is very close to normal speech rhythms and patterns. Often Shakespeare will deviate from this form in order to make a point about the character's state of mind or for other emphasis, like a change in the mood.

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Iamb

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a unit in poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

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Iambic Pentameter

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a 10-syllable line divided into 5 iambic feet (one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable). This is the basic rhythm of Shakespeare's verse.

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Rhyming Couplet

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two rhyming lines at the end of a speech, signaling that a character is leaving the stage or that the scene is ending

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Stage Directions

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italicized comments that identify parts of the setting or the use of props or costumes, give further information about a character, or provide background information; in Shakespeare's plays, stage directions can also appear in brackets, parenthesis, and/or half-brackets

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King of England during writing/performance of Macbeth (relative to what character in the play?)

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James I had been king for 3 years. He was fascinated by witchcraft, which might be why Shakespeare included the witches.

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Macbeth

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A Scottish general and the thane of Glamis. ("Thane" is a Scottish title of nobility, and Glamis is a village in eastern Scotland.) Macbeth is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not virtuous. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned king of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Macbeth cannot maintain his power because his increasingly brutal actions make him hated as a tyrant. Unlike Shakespeare's other great villains, such as Iago in Othello and Richard III in Richard III, who revel in their villainy, Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He shows at the beginning of the play that he knows right from wrong, and chooses to do wrong without being able to justify it to himself. Ultimately, he is unable to bear the psychic consequences of his atrocities.

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Lady Macbeth

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Macbeth's wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth apparently feel quite passionately for one another, and Lady Macbeth exploits her sexual hold over Macbeth as a means to persuade him to commit murder. However, their shared alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, does not bring them closer together, but instead seems to numb their feelings for one another.

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The Three Witches

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Three mysterious hags who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches' true nature unclear we don't really know whether they make their own prophecies come true, or where they get their knowledge from. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally wove the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings.

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Banquo

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The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches' prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo's character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo's ghost and not Duncan's that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth's guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo's reaction to the witches' prophecy.

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King Duncan

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The good king of Scotland whom Macbeth, ambitious for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan's line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.

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Macduff

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A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth's kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade's mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth's murder of Macduff's wife and young son.

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Malcolm

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The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland's return to order following Macbeth's reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff's aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father's murder.

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Hecate

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The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.

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Fleance

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Banquo's son, who survives Macbeth's attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance's whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches' prophecy that Banquo's sons will sit on the Scottish throne.

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Lennox

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A Scottish nobleman.

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Ross

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A Scottish nobleman.

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The Murderers

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A group of ruffians conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff's wife and children.

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Porter

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The drunken doorman of Macbeth's castle.

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Lady Macduff

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Macduff's wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of family life other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness.

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Donalbain

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Duncan's son and Malcolm's younger brother.

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What is a paradox?

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A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself and still seems true somehow. Fancy that. Everyday examples include, "Nobody goes to the restaurant because it's too crowded." When the lost is won. or fair is foul

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irony

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A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. Signifies sin.

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Dramatic irony

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we kniw rhat the characters don't (macbeth is already thane of cawdor when the witches give prophesy)

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Verbal irony

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sarcasm (fail not the feast- macbeth tell banquo knowing he will be dead)

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Situational irony

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opposite outcome of what's expected (macbeth starts the hero, ends the traitor)

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motif

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A recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary work.

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imagery

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Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.rdr

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symbolic storm

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unrest, bad omens

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symbolic numbers

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3- completion

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symbolic fog

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confusion

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Comic relief

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in a tragedy, a break in the seriousness for a moment of comedy or silliness (the porter)

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foils

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macbeth/lady m banquo/macbeth a character who is nearly opposite of another character; the purpose of a foil (a.k.a. character foil) is to reveal a stark contrast between the two characters, often the protagonist and antagonist

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soliloquy

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thoughts spoken aloud by a character when he/she is alone, or thinks he/she is alone

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monologue

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a long speech spoken by a character to himself, another character, or to the audience

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aside

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lines that are spoken by a character directly to the audience

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tragedy

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a serious work of drama in which the hero suffers catastrophe or serious misfortune, usually because of his own actions

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comedy

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a humorous work of drama

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pun

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a play on words, especially those that sound alike, but have different meanings, Seyton/Satan

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