02_20_MACBETH.pptx. zanichelli ppt

Performer Heritage Second Edition Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2023
Jon Finch and Francesca Annis in The Tragedy of Macbeth by Roman Polanski, 1971.
Macbeth
Orson Welles as Macbeth in
the film (1948) directed by
Orson Welles.

Macbeth
James Heath, I have done the deed, 1888.
Kansas City, Carbonell-Weinglass Collection.
• The shortest of
Shakespeare’s tragedies.
• Complex psychological
analysis of what takes place
in the mind of the criminal.
1. Main characteristics

Macbeth
• No villain pitted against the hero.
• Macbeth begins as a brave
warrior but, led by ambition,
he chooses evil and becomes
a murderous tyrant.
1. Main characteristics
Parable of the
tragic hero

Macbeth
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
2. Dramatic structure
Symmetrical development

Macbeth
Introduction
The first two scenes: the
appearance of the three witches
and the news of Macbeth’s
bravery in battle.
The three witches in Macbeth by John Barnes, 1964.
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion

Macbeth
Rising action
Macbeth meets the three witches:
their prophecy begins to work on his
ambition. He kills Duncan.
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion

Macbeth
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Climax
Banquo’s murder
(Act III, Scene 3)

Macbeth
Fleance’s escape
The banquet scene
Arousing of Macduff
Macbeth retreats to Dunsinane
Castle
Thèodore Chassèriau (1819-1856),
Macbeth seeing the ghost of Banquo, 1854,
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims.
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Falling action

Macbeth
Final fall and death of Lady
Macbeth and Macbeth
Henry Fuseli, Lady Macbeth
sleepwalking, 1798, Musée
du Louvre, Paris.
Introduction
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Conclusion

Macbeth
• Set in Scotland in the 11th century.
• The weather is characterised by fog and thunderstorms.
• The action takes place first at Macbeth’s castle in
Inverness and later at the palace in Dunsinane.
3. The setting
Performer Heritage

Macbeth
• There is a contrast between the moors,
where the witches appear, and the castles.
3. The setting
The moors 
meeting place of the
witches and evil but
- natural
- fair
- safe
The castles 
apparently safe but
- unnatural
- foul
- dangerous

Macbeth
• Nobility of birth or wisdom.
• A flaw, either a mistake in the character’s actions
or in his personality, that leads to his downfall.
• A reversal of fortune caused by his flaw.
• The realisation that the reversal was brought about
by the hero’s own actions.
• The audience has to feel pity and fear (catharsis)
for the character.
4. Features of a tragic hero

Macbeth
5. The characters
Macbeth
• a brave general, leader of Duncan’s army
together with Banquo;
• urged into action by his wife;
• lacks moral courage;
• ambitious and superstitious;
• becomes cruel and unscrupulous.
Jon Finch in The Tragedy of Macbeth
by Roman Polanski, 1971.

Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
• suppresses her natural instincts
to plan the murder;
• strong-willed, supports Macbeth in his
weakness;
• devoted to her husband, she ends
up in madness.
5. The characters
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry
as Lady Macbeth, 1889 , Tate
Gallery, London.

Macbeth
King Duncan
• peaceful and refined;
• shows poor judgement of human
nature.
Banquo
• a contrast to Macbeth in his modesty;
• does not follow temptation like Macbeth.
5. The characters

Macbeth
Macduff
• becomes important after
Banquo’s murder;
• noble, loyal, patriotic;
• kills Macbeth at the end.
5. The characters

Macbeth
a. Regicide, as an act against
nature, brings chaos.
b. Reversal of values:
‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
(The three witches)
Henry Fuseli, Macbeth, Banquo
and the three witches, 1793.
Petworth House, National Trust.
6. Themes

Macbeth
c. Supernatural
• The three witches and their prophecies lead Macbeth
to success.
• The chaos of nature on the night of Duncan’s murder.
• Banquo’s ghost.
6. Themes
Henry Fuseli, The three witches, post 1783,
Stratford upon Avon, Museum of the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre.

Macbeth
d. Equivocation and false
appearance
e. Future time
Gabriele Lavia
in Macbeth, 2009.
6. Themes
chain of metaphors
connected with clothing.
cluster of imagery
concerned with growth:
babies, seeds, plants,
trees.

Macbeth
Blank verse is basically unrhymed iambic
pentameter:
Macbeth does murther Sleep, - the innocent Sleep;
Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care
(Act II, Scene 2)
7. Style
• Use of blank verse.

Macbeth
• If one character ends his speech
without finishing his line verse,
the following speaker completes
that line.
• Inclusion, within the verbal structure
of verse, of metrical space for other,
non-verbal signs.
7. Style

Macbeth
- similes
The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures
(Act II, Scene 2)
- metaphors
Life’s but a walking shadow
(Act V, Scene 5)
- symbols
the innocent Sleep
A little water clears us of this deed
(Act II, Scene 2)
7. Style
• A striking use of imagery:

Macbeth
- blood  the most frequent word in the play;
- the animal world  night and disgusting animals
are used to convey Macbeth’s troubled mind;
- images connected with growth, babies, seeds
and plants  linked to the theme of the future;
- images of clothing  linked to the theme of false
appearances.
7. Style
• Clusters of imagery:

Macbeth
This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses
(Act I, Scene 6)
7. Style
• Use of dramatic irony:
Duncan’s appreciation of the beauty of Macbeth’s castle:

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