Summary
Summary Macbeth class notes for English Lit GCSE
- Course
- Institution
contains act summaries as well as sample essay's
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
parin08
Content preview
Context● Witch trials were still common in the 16th/17th Century
● The scene can only be set through the language
● Macbeth Remakes - 1971, Roman Polanski/2006, Geoffrey Wright/2010, Rupert Goold
● The three witches are shown to be able to tell the future (That will be ere the set of sun),
like the Fates
Structure
● 5 Act Structure - typical for Shakespearean tragedies
● (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement)
● Genre - Tragedy. Moral falling leading to catastrophic downfall. Can be political or
personal.
● Tragic heroes - protagonists who are both heroic in deed and nature, but also who
possess a fundamental character flaw which causes their downfall e.g. Achilles’ heel,
Ozymandias’ hubris.
● Tragedies were part of Ancient Greek theatre - integral part of democracy, social order,
acted as a mirror to society. Tragedy is portrayed through civil lessons, catharsis in the
climax.
● Aristotelian unities - place, time (24 hours), believable action
Glossary
● Hurlyburly - battle
● Macbeth is the eponymous character
● Catharsis - release of built-up tension
● Hubris - fatal sense of pride
● Hamartia - a character’s flaw
● Peripeteia - a sudden reversal of fortune
, Scene summaries
Act 1 - scene 1:
● Starts with the paranormal with the witches
● Witches finish their sentences, sound like casting a spell
● Witches speak in rhyming couplets
● There is battle going on someone else's and introduce us to Macbeth
● 3 witches are an inverted version of the holy spirit and are like the 3 fates
● ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’, what is bad is good for them but is a paradox so it doesn’t
make sense
● Last line is equivocation for the witches
Act 1 - scene 2:
● Men are recounting the battle to King Duncan
● They talk of how Macbeth defended the king from a rebellious thane (lord)
● This Thane of Cawdor is a traitor, sided with the king of Norway
Act 1 - scene 3:
● Shakespeare uses mirroring/parallelism as Macbeth's first line is ‘foul and fair a day I
have not seen’ when meeting the Witches for the first time which they said in scene 1
‘foul is fair and fair is foul’.
● Witches prophecies Macbeth to become ‘thane of Cawdor’ and then king
● ‘Lesser’ and ‘greater’ is an equivocation, the witches do not make sense
● Macbeth thinks Cawdor is ‘a prosperous gentleman’ as he does not know of his betrayal
● Banquo and macbeth use iambic pentameter that suggests they close friends
● Whenever Shakespeare uses ‘Aside’, other characters cannot hear so the character can
speak their thought process in a soliloquy
● Banquo warns Macbeth about the Witches prochies ‘The instruments of darkness tell us
truths’
● Macbeth thinks of killing Duncan as his first thought when the witches prophecies him
becoming king
Act 1 - scene 4:
● ‘Gentleman on whom i built an absolute trust’ - dramatic irony by Duncan as the next
thane of Cawdor will betray him
● ‘Stars, hide your fires’ - Macbeth wants the heavens to turn the blind eye as he wants to
become king
● Duncan calls Macbeth ‘peerless’, dramatic juxtaposition between Duncan view of
Macbeth and what Macbeth thinks of himself
● A running theme in the play is predestination vs agency, scene 4 builds up on this
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller parin08. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.89. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
76799 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now