Shakespeare
He was born in this town in 1564.
What is Stratford-upon-Avon?
Shakespeare set Macbeth in Scotland while this king ruled England.
Who is James I?
Most of Macbeth is written in this rhythmic pattern of 10 syllables per line, alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.
What is iambic pentameter?
What theme(s) can we pull out from this quotation?
“I am afraid to think what I have done; look on't again I dare not.”
What is guilt/conscience?
Macbeth is terrified and morally shaken after committing murder — his conscience is active and tormenting him.
Where do the witches meet at the start of the play?
What is a heath (or deserted place)?
Shakespeare married this women and had this many children.
Who is Anne Hathaway and 3 children.
Setting the play in Scotland gave Shakespeare this to explore dangerous ideas safely.
What is political distance?
Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called this.
What is blank verse?
What theme(s) can we pull out from this quotation?
“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
What is Guilt / conscience?
This quote shows guilt as psychological and permanent, not something that can be physically washed away.
What is the weather like in the opening scene?
What is stormy, foggy, and chaotic?
Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest __________. (must be specific to genre)
What is tragedy?
Killing a king was considered a crime against both God and the __________.
What is the natural order?
When the rhythm of iambic pentameter breaks, it can signal this or moral imbalance.
What is emotional disturbance/chaos?
What theme(s) can we pull out from this quotation?
“Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t.”
Answer: What is ambition and power?
This quote shows how ambition drives characters to manipulate appearances to achieve power.
What paradoxical phrase do the witches say that sums up the play’s moral ambiguity?
What is “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”?
Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be __________, not just read.
What is performed?
Superstitions say the play is cursed because witches were angered by the use of these in the text.
What is real spells/incantations?
The witches speak in a different rhythm than the rest of the characters; it’s called this.
What is trochaic tetrameter?
What theme(s) can we pull out from this quotation?
“I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me…[but] I would… have dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.”
What is ambition and power OR gender and identity?
Lady Macbeth demonstrates how she manipulates her expected social/psychological role to pursue ambition.
Why does Shakespeare open the play with witches instead of noblemen or soldiers?
What is to establish supernatural influence and foreshadow chaos?