The Renaissance and William Shakespeare

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The Renaissance and William Shakespeares,
Macbeth

• Macbeth Introduction

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The RenaissanceKey Facts

• What?
• rebirth of classic era (Greek and Roman
  ideas)
• When?
• 14th-17th century
• Where?
• Spread from Italy to rest of Europe
• Why is it Important?
• Canadian values and laws are derived from the
  ideas reborn during this time.

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The RenaissanceA New Philosophy Humanism

• .
• .
• They are capable of learning and they use reason
  and experience to do so.
• They are social, collaborative, and
  compassionate, not competitive and self-centred.
• They try to do their best and choose what is good
  for themselves and others.

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The RenaissanceHumanisms Effects on Society

• _____ celebrated the Divine within the
• human mind and body.
• _______ that allowed students to learn through
  discussing and
• experiencing, instead of memorizing,
  developed. Student opinions were valued.
• _______other than the Bible were written and
  read, leading to freedom of thought and access to
  ideas.
• The _________ was weakened, so a new type of
  government was needed.

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• New studies, like Science, Math, Architecture,
  Geography, Astronomy, Agriculture, and Art
  emerged as a result of access to knowledge and
  ideas.
• People were free to travel they were no longer
  owned as serfs Feudalism thus broke down and
  gave way to Democracy.
• .
• These people formed a new middle class
  _____________.
• Exploration and trade boomedknowledge of other
  cultures increased. Views of the world changed

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The RenaissanceViews of the World

• Renaissance views of the world were governed by 2
  principles
• ______ and _________
• Two systems of organizing and understanding
  the world helped people to feel secure (orderly)
• _______________________
• __________________________ (our focus)

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• 1) The 4 Humours, Elements, and Seasons
• Science was developing, but didnt exist as we
  know it.
• People believed the world was made of 4 elements
  __________________________________________________
  _.
• They believed the body was made of 4 humours
• _____________________________________________
  ______.
• They thought people each had one of 4 personality
  types
• sanguine, melancholic, choleric, or
  phlegmatic.
• And they thought .

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Find your personality type
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• 2) The Great Chain of Being
• Although greater equality among people of
• different classes, and among men and women,
• had been achieved, the idea of organizing
• the world into a hierarchy was still strong
• God
• Angels
• Humans
• Animals
• Plants
• Rocks/Minerals

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• The Great Chain of Being
• The Chain was believed to have been_______________
  ___.
• Everyone had a place in the Chain that was
  considered
• destined, natural, and divinely created.
• King/ Queen
• Nobility
• Bourgeoisie
• Peasants and Servants
• It was considered wrong, rude, greedy, and
  impious to
• try to improve ones position in the Chain. In
  fact

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• If people did not mind their places in the
  Chainif they aspired to move up--they would
  upset the balance of the universe, which was
  created by God.
• .

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But what about Humanism?

• Humanism celebrates human potential, and thus
  peoples ambition, which enables them to
  actualize such potential. So how can ambition be
  the root of evil?
• __________________

To account for contradictions in their beliefs,
like simultaneously celebrating and condemning
ambition, Renaissance citizens blamed witches.
They also blamed witches for other things they
couldnt understand, like natural disasters,
humans wrongdoings or crimes, and sickness (The
Plague).
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These ideas of Order vs. Disorder, caused by
human ambition, lead us to the play, MACBETH
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MACBETHImportant Facts

• Author William Shakespeare
• Genre Tragedy (a play whose hero dies at the end
  as a result of his own character flaws, usually
  excess ambition, and subsequently corrupt
  behaviour)
• Written in 1606, England
• Setting Medieval (1000s) Scotland
• Shortest of Shakespeares playsapproximately
  1000 lines, as opposed to Romeo and Juliets
  2500-ish
• One of the goriest of W.S.s plays 100
  references to blood
• Written in BLANK VERSE (iambic pentameter, no
  rhyme)
• The Witches upset the versetheir lines rhyme.

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• THE CURSE OF THE SCOTTISH PLAY
• The play is cursed, and referred to only as That
  Play, The M word, or The Scottish Play by
  actors and directors, for fear that saying the
  full name, Macb will bring bad luck.
• The film which was produced by Playboy
  Productions and directed by Roman Polanski.
  Roman Polanskis wife was murdered by Charles
  Manson. (we will watch this version in class)

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• Macbeththe Setting 11th Century
  Scotland

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Macbeth the Characters

• Duncan good King of Scotland
• Malcolm Duncans eldest son, heir to the throne,
  Prince of Cumberland
• Donalbain Duncans younger son, second in line
  to the throne
• Macbeth Scottish General, Thane of Glamis, later
  Thane of Cawdor, war
• hero, friend of Duncan
• Lady Macbeth his smart, strong, ambitious wife
• Banquo Macbeths friend, ancestor of
  Renaissances English King James
• Fleance Banquos sonhis line become the future
  kings of Scotland and England
• MacDuff Scottish General and ultimate saviour of
  Scotland, restores
• throne to Malcolm
• Lady Macduff murdered wife of MacDuff
• Ross, Lennox, Mentieth Caithness, Angus Scottish
  Nobles
• Seyton attendant/servant to Macbeth
• Porter Macbeths butler, a drunk and a lecher,
  the comedic relief of the play
• Hecate head-witch, leader of the 3 main witches
• 3 Witches evil, scheming women with beards and
  supernatural powers

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King James I and the Character, Banquo,in Macbeth

• King James IV of Scotland was given the Throne by
  Queen Elizabeth in 1603. Shakespeare pleased King
  James I (of England) greatly when he made the
  most honourable character in the play, Banquo, a
  fictional ancestor of James I.

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Macbeth the Plot

• 1) Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, wins a battle
  against the Norwegians and helps capture a
  Scottish traitor working with the enemy.
• 2) King Duncan hears of Macbeths victory and
  plans to make him Thane of Cawdor, too.
• 3) Before Ross can give Macbeth his new title,
  Macbeth and Banquo run into 3 witches, who give
  them both a prophesy
• They tell him hell be the Thane of
  Cawdor and King of Scotland
• They tell Banquo his heirs will be
  Kings of Scotland.
• 4) Macbeth is later greeted by Ross with the new
  title of Cawdor, so he starts to think.and
  believe
• 5) He writes a letter to his wife, who plans to
  get Macbeth to kill the King and take his throne.

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• 6) The pair invites Duncan to a party and kills
  him
• 7) Duncans sons flee, fearing theyll be next,
  and the crown falls on Macbeth.
• 8) Banquo and Macduff become suspicious, so the
  Macbeths try to kill them too, and become drunk
  with power and corruption.
• 9) The witches tell Macbeth that he wont die
  until a forest moves to his castle and that only
  a man who wasnt born from a woman can harm
  himso hes not afraid.
• 10) Macduff finally gets together an English
  army, who sneak up to his castle behind tree
  branches, to Macbeths castle. MacDuff, born
  through C-section slays Macbeth and returns the
  crown to Malcolm.

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Now, back to the ideas of ORDER and BALANCE
in Macbeth

• People living during the Renaissance thought
  that imbalance was a sign of evil. In the
  __________, Macbeth, the plays protagonist, a
  Scottish General, aspires to be Kinga position
  higher in the Chain of Being than his own. This
  ______________ (_________________) leads him to
  do evil things and upsets the universes
  ________________________. As a result, the
  humours, elements, and seasons are all thrown
  out of whack. For example, there are more than
  100 references to blood and water in the play.
  Thus, Macbeths ambition is responsible for
  Scotlands descent into ______________.

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and how Renaissance people believed that witches
led people who are inherently good astray

• In Macbeth, Shakespeare _________________________
  __________________________________________________
  __.
• Third Witch All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be
  king hereafter.The Witches also create
  disORDER when they upset the verse of the
  play--their lines rhyme, but the rest of the play
  is in BLANK VERSE.

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Macbeth the Big Ideas

• Conflicts
• good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, ambition vs.
  knowledge of whats right/wrong, clarity vs.
  insanity,
• Themes
• people choose their ultimate ends, unchecked
  ambition corrupts, masculinity breeds cruelty,
  tyrannical leadership is wrong, men and women
  share power and responsibility.
• Motifs
• blood, water, darkness, storms/water, tyrannical
  masculinity, hallucinations, children, prophecy,
  inverted Chain of Being
• Symbols
• blood, rain/weather

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• The Globe seated people of all classes, but
  demonstrated Renaissance beliefs in the Chain of
  Being by having the Penny Pinchers at the
  bottom, and the higher classes at the top.
• The Globe also showed the Chain at work with its
  trap doors down to Hell and balconies above for
  characters playing angels, Nobles, and Royals,
  etc., to descend from.