Primogeniture In Macbeth

http://www.enotes.com/macbeth-text http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth Primogeniture
Act III.i ▪ Preference given to the 1st born son in inheritance of titles and property is called primogeniture ▪ It is important to know that primogeniture was NOT in effect in Scotland in Macbeth’s time, and Duncan’s naming of Malcolm as his successor in Act I was actually illegal on two counts. ▪ Not only did a law exist that restricted the succession to those who had reached adulthood (which Malcolm had not), but another law explicitly prohibited a son from succeeding his father on the throne. ▪ The man who actually had been next in line for the throne after Duncan was murdered was Lady Macbeth’s son by an earlier marriage, but he (LM’s
son) was murdered to prevent his becoming king.

Shakespearean Tragedy

▪ During the Middle Ages, English drama focused mainly on religious themes, teaching moral lessons or retelling Bible stories to a populace that by and large could not read.
▪ With the Renaissance, however, came a rebirth of interest in the dramas of ancient Greece and Rome. These plays fell into two main categories: ▪ comedies—dramatic works with a happy ending and did not need to contain humor ▪ tragedies—works in which the main character, or tragic hero, came to an unhappy end ▪ Tragedy: arouses pity and fear in the audience—pity for the hero and fear for all human beings, who are subject to character flaws and an unknown destiny ▪ seeing a tragedy unfold produces a catharsis, or cleansing, of these emotions, for by the end the audience is watching in awe as the hero faces defeat with great courage and dignity ▪ Shakespeare often eased the intensity of the action by using comic relief—the following of a serious scene with a lighter, mildly humorous one ▪ Characteristics shared by Shakespearean tragedy and class Greek tragedy: ▪ the main character, called the tragic hero, comes to an unhappy or miserable end ▪ the tragic hero is generally a person of importance in society, such as a king or a
queen ▪ the tragic hero exhibits extraordinary abilities but also a tragic flaw, a fatal error in judgment or weakness of character, that leads directly to his or her downfall ▪ outside forces may also contribute to the hero’s downfall—if so, the person or force with whom the hero battles is called the antagonist
▪ a series of causally related events lead inevitable to the catastrophe, or tragic resolution—this final stage of the plot usually involves the death of the hero, but other characters may also be affected ▪ the tragic hero usually recognizes his/her tragic flaw by the end and so gains the audience’s sympathy ▪ the tragic hero meets his/her doom with courage and dignity, reaffirming the grandeur of the human spirit

Shakespeare’s tragedies that have been made into movies: ▪ Romeo and Juliet—Shakespeare’s first great tragedy, is a tale of teenaged lovers from two feuding families in medieval Verona, Italy—a 1997 film version featured Leonardo Di Caprio and Clare Danes ▪ Julius Caesar—focuses on Roman emperor Brutus, a close friend of Julius Caesar’s who reluctantly joins the plot to assassinate him—Marlon Brando played Mark Anthony in the 1953 version ▪ Hamlet—tells the story of a prince of Denmark whose procrastination leads to disaster—Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in the 1996 epic film that uses all Shakespeare’s original script ▪ Othello—focuses on a North African soldier whose great flaw “is the green-eyed monster,” jealous—in 1995, Laurence Fishburne appeared in the title
role ▪ King Lear—tells of an aged monarch who fails to distinguish honesty from flattery—A Thousand Acres, an update of the King Lear story, became a film in 1997 ▪ Macbeth—a powerful drama of ambition and murder—Orson Welles’ 1948 version and Roman Planski’s 1971 version

Background to Macbeth: ▪ the title character is based to some extent on a historical Macbeth, a king of 11th-century Scotland who seized the monarchy after killing his predecessor, Duncan I ▪ written to please King James I, who had been the King of Scotland (as James V) before the death of his cousin Elizabeth in 1603 brought him to the English throne ▪ King James became the patron, or chief sponsor, of Shakespeare’s acting company, thereafter known as the King’s Men ▪ Shakespeare’s desire to please King James may account for the prominence of witchcraft ▪ the new king was quite interested in the subject, having himself written a book on witchcraft, called Demonology ▪ belief in witchcraft was widespread in Shakespeare’s day, particularly among less educated people

Additional Vocabulary: ▪ soliloquy—a speech that a character makes while alone on stage, to reveal his/her thoughts to the audience ▪ aside—a remark that a character makes in an undertone to the audience or another character but that others on stage are not supposed to hear—a stage direction clarifies that a remark is an aside—unless otherwise specified, the aside is to the audience ▪ verse drama—a play in which the dialogue consists almost entirely of poetry with a fixed patter of rhythm, or meter ▪ dramatic irony—what appears true to one or more characters in a play is seen to be false to the audience