context

• who was king at the time?

  king james I
• what era was the play wrote in?

  jacobean
• where is the play set?

  scotland
• who wrote the play?

  william shakespeare
• what did people think of witchcraft during the jacobean era?

  associated with evil, king james I believed in them and didn’t support
• in the jacobean era, what was it like for women?

  women:

  • couldn’t own their own property

  • were controlled by their fathers until they got married

  • often couldn’t choose who they married and were controlled by their husbands
• what were women expected to be like in the jacobean era?

  • subordinate

  • dutiful (obedient)

  • nurturing
• what were men expected to be like in the jacobean era?

  • dominant

  • superior

  • noble
• what is the great chain of being?

  a hierarchy of all living things, with god at the top and minerals, plants and inanimate objects at the bottom
• what is the divine right of kings?

  the belief that god chooses the king
• who did macbeth write the play for?

  king james I
• what did king james I write a book about?

  the supernatural
• what did king james I think of the supernatural?

  he was interested but linked them to the devil
• what methods does shakespeare use throughout the play?

  • tragic hero (macbeth)

  • fatal flaw / hamartia

  • foil (character that contacts the tragic hero, e.g banquo)

  • fate

  • catharsis (a moment of shared expression from the audience, e.g. relief when macbeth dies but also sympathy for the hero he once was)
• what are the main motifs used throughout the play?

  • sleep = peace

  • blood = guilt

  • light = good

  • dark = evil