Monday, April 2, 2012

Macbeth Notes

Macbeth is suppose to upset people.. Shows life at most brutal point.
  • In a barbaric era, population pressures made war and even the slaughter of one community by another a fact of life.
  • "Macbeth" means "Son of Life" -a christian name
  • "canmore" means big head/great ruler
Evil/Predestination

-Supernatural forces

*Full of double meanings. "fair is foul and foul is fair"

*Is the message of Macbeth one of despair or hope?
-dog eat dog world... human life itself is meaningless and tiresome.

*Shakespeare wrote Macbeth around 1605-1606.. historical

*Need to understand historical background in order to make connections in the play.

-Macbeth is an openly political play.

-Shakespeare changed history in Macbeth to create suspense and tension.

-If we understand the background we can figure out the motives of the characters.

-Macbeth was a man of penetrating genius, a high spirit, unbounded ambition. -Intelligent and ambitious.

* "Too full o' th' milk of human kindness/to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,/Art not without ambition but without/the illness should attend it."

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