Here are the notes I shared with students regarding Shakespeare, Macbeth, and theater in general. The assignment is at the bottom of this post.
What do you
already know about Shakespeare?
Movies/TV
Inspired by Shakespeare:
1.
Romeo & Juliet (Gnomeo and Juliet and Warm
Bodies and West Side Story)
2.
Hamlet (The Lion King)
3.
The Taming of the Shrew (10 Things I Hate About
You and Deliver Us From Eva)
4.
Julius Caesar (Rise of the Planet of the Apes
AND Mean Girls)
5.
King Lear (Empire)
6.
Twelfth Night (Motocrossed and She’s the Man)
Shakespearean
Phrases We Use Today:
1.
Wild goose chase (R&J)
2.
Seen better days (As You Like It)
3.
Off with his head (Richard III)
4.
Forever and a day (As You Like it)
5.
Good riddance (Troilus and Cressida)
6.
Lie low (Much Ado About Nothing)
7.
As good luck would have it (The Merry Wives of
Windsor)
8.
You’ve got to be cruel to be kind (Hamlet)
9.
Love is blind (The Merchant of Venice)
10.
Be-all, end-all (Macbeth)
11.
Break the ice (The Taming of the Shrew)
12.
Heart of gold (Henry V)
13.
Kill with kindness (The Taming of the Shrew)
14.
Knock, Knock! Who’s there? (Macbeth)
15.
You can have too much of a good thing (As You
Like It)
Basics about
what Shakespeare wrote:
1.
Wrote tragedies, comedies, and histories
Fun Facts about Macbeth:
Theater superstitions. i.e. “Break
a leg!” etc.
·
Macbeth is often called “the Scottish play” or “that play.”
Supposedly when not in rehearsal or within the lines of the play themselves, if
the name Macbeth is said in a theater, bad things happen. Give students examples that I know. (The
Pajama Game, The Simpsons with Ian McKellen, etc.)
o
Tell students it is thought that the witches’ incantations are
taken from real rituals and are believed to cast actual spells on the players.
o
Legend has it that in 1606, Hal Berridge, Lady Macbeth, died
backstage unexpectedly.
o
In 1672 an actor playing the part of Macbeth substituted a real
dagger for the blunt stage dagger, and actually killed the actor playing King
Duncan in full view of the audience.
·
About theaters
o
All of Shakespeare’s Actors were men/boys, this was because the
theater was viewed as so disreputable that women were not allowed to perform.
o
Theaters resembled courtyards and were outdoors. Playwrights had to rely on natural lighting
for scenes. This is why Lady M carries a candle later on.
o
Macbeth opened at the Globe Theater, a three-story wood structure
that could hold 3,000 people.
o
Theaters had a hierarchy of seating. The poorer “groundling” stood around the
stage to watch while the wealthier patrons sat in covered galleries.
·
History (that won’t ruin the play)-mention Holinshed
o
Macbeth, or Mac Bethad was King of Scotland from 1040-1057. 11th
Century Scotland
was a barbaric land where war and ruthless slaughter were a fact of life.
o
In these times kings and rulers could name their own successor (it
wasn’t a privilege that was handed down from parent to eldest child like it is
today. However, family linkage tended to
be respected, and the title usually passed to a relative of the king.
o
The selection process of king caused drama to those who thought
they deserved king and such feelings were often dealt with by murdering the
family members judged unsuitable for power.
This was to ensure that the “favorite” won the race.
o
In the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not have a son, but Lady
Macbeth did have a son Lulach in a previous marriage. This can justify why Lady
Macbeth has a right to talk about about giving birth and nursing a child in the
play. (Show students Macbeth and the Kings of Scotland and the character list
from the Graphic Novel.
For next week:
Students are to read Act ONE of
Macbeth and complete the study guide I passed out to students. If a student missed class, I emailed the study guide to them.
