Worksheet: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Worksheet - Screening Play Performance of Macbeth by Globe Theatre, London
Presentation on 'William Shakespeare: About the Playwright'
Presentation on 'Macbeth' - About the Play
1. Write
an essay on your understanding of the concept of Shakespearean Tragedy. Justify
/ Illustrate ‘Macbeth’ as Shakespearean Tragedy.
2. What
is Aristotelian concept of Tragedy? How far does ‘Macbeth’ fit in the Aristotelean
concept of Tragedy?
3. What
do you mean by ‘Poetic Justice’? Is there a poetic justice in ‘Macbeth’?
Illustrate your answer.
4. Can
we read Macbeth as Aristotelian ‘tragic hero’? If so, what is his ‘hamartia’?
5. What
is the meaning of ‘hamartia’? What is Macbeth’s hamartia? Compare it with
hamartia of other tragic heroes known to you (like Hamlet, Othello, Oedipus
etc).
6. What
do you understand by the concept of ‘hero-villain’? Is Macbeth a fit character
for this concept? Illustrate your answer.
7. What
sort of artistic liberties are taken by William Shakespeare in ‘Macbeth’? (Key:
Historical Macbeth vs Literary Macbeth: https://www.scotland.org.uk/history/time-macbeth
- the sequence of the murder of King Duncan and that of Banquo are purely
imaginative interpolation. The goodness given to the character of Banquo is also
questioned on the grounds that the ruling King James I was a lineage of Banquo’s
from Scotland).
8. What
is the content of the ‘letter’ written by Macbeth to Lady Macbeth? What is its
importance in the play?
9. Thematic
Study:
a. The
theme of Ambition
b. Tragedy
of Ambition – the Medievalism
c. The
Unchecked Ambition and its Power to Corrupt the nobleness within humans
d. Cruelty
and Masculinity
e. Theme
of Guilty Conscience
10. Character
Study:
a. Macbeth
– the Hero-Villain – the Valiant Villain – The Milk of Human Kindness wasted on
the altar of ambition – tragic hero
b. Lady
Macbeth – a Witch or a Victim?
c. Macduff
– the ultimate avenger
d. Banquo
e. King
Duncan
f.
Malcolm and Donalbain
g. Lady
Macduff
11. The
Study of Scenes from the play ‘Macbeth’:
a. Scenes
of Three Witches
b. Murder
of King Duncan
c. Porter
Scene
d. Banquet
scene – Visitation of Banquo’s Ghost
e. Night
walking scene of Lady Macbeth
f.
Final fight between Macbeth and Macduff
12. The
Study of Quotations:
a. Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act I, Scene
3: This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth?
b. Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 1, Scene
7: If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well
It were done quickly
c. Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene
1: Is this a dagger which I see before me,
This handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
d. Macbeth says these lines in Act 2,
Scene 2:
Whence is that knocking? –
How is’t with me, when every noise appalls me?
What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?
e. Macbeth
in Act 5, Scence 5: Tomorrow,
and tomorrow, and tomorrow
f.
Banquo in Act 1, Sc 3: “Oftentimes to win
us to out harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest
trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.
g. Lady
Macbeth in Act 1 Sc 5: The
raven himself is hoarse . . .
h. Lady Macbeth in Act 5 Sc Out damned spot. . . Hell is
murky.
13. The
Study of Cinematic Adaptations of ‘Macbeth’:
a. Write a note on any one film adaptation of ‘Macbeth’
i.
What
changes are made by film makers in the adaptation?
ii.
How
are these topics dealt in the film adaptation - ‘the setting’, ‘the witches’, ‘events’
& ‘theme’?
b. Some
of the well-known cinematic adaptations are:
i.
Orsan Welles’s Macbeth (1948)
ii.
Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957)
iii.
Roman Polanski’s ‘Macbeth’ (1971)
iv.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool (2003)
v.
Geoffrey Wright’s ‘Macbeth’ (2006)
vi.
Justin Kurzel’s ‘Macbeth’ (2015)
14. Research:
a. Shakespeare
based Macbeth very loosely on historical figures and events. Research the true
story of Macbeth. Explain the differences between history and Shakespeare's
version. Explain the effects that Shakespeare's changes have on the overall
story.
b. Research
the Great Chain of Being in Elizabethan times. Explain the Great Chain of Being
and develop a thesis about its effects on Macbeth. How is this way of viewing the
world evident in Macbeth? Provide examples from the play
c. The Politics
of Aloofness in "Macbeth" BALDO, JONATHAN. “The Politics of Aloofness in
‘Macbeth.’” English Literary Renaissance, vol. 26, no. 3, 1996, pp. 531–560. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43447533.
d. "Macbeth"
and the Play of Absolutes Reid, B. L. “‘Macbeth’ and the Play of Absolutes.” The Sewanee Review, vol. 73, no. 1, 1965, pp. 19–46. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27541080
Question for Examination purpose (Click here)
