October 22, 2013

Intro to Macbeth

Plays

• plays aren’t books, per se
• read it like it’s a play, dummy!
• out loud - this is the key to understanding the p,s,c,t better
• read the actual sentences - there is a real live sentence in there somewhere - find that,  and the meaning will be easier to find also
• plays are written to be PERFORMED

Hey, maybe you should read it WITH someone when you can!

Or a reading partner from the class, if MOMMMY won’t do it

We need to think about putting the ACTING into the lines. 

Playing character will also bring meaning, and enhance understanding

Who’s delivering these lines? What just happened to these characters? What are they feeling? What are they doing? 

You can’t just sit there and read this - you have to engage in the reading. 

These plays were written for ENTERTAINMENT. 

Not for study. 

Shakespeare

• this guy got famous for his plays and his exciting style of drama
• he was an early user of modern drama techniques
• he invented many of these techniques
• before him, most European plays were really boring - they were “Morality Plays” and they were basically little scenes explaining Christian virtues and such like

- now, imagine that plays were also deemed “evil” and nasty and they weren’t allowed in  the city limits of London, for example

• the people who made plays were considered dirty, nasty and low class
• the people who went to plays, however, were from ever social class and standing
• it was kind of like the Harry Potter thing (satanic, evil, crazy imagination!, etc)

• we want to see these plays as kind of rebellious and fun and crazy and exciting and maybe, a little bit dirty and nasty and that’s good. 

Another Weird Thing

• the king during this time period (around 1600) was also a writer
• you may have heard of this king - King James II - his name is kind of all over the Bible that was in church for ages
• Cool Part - he also wrote a book about witches, demons and supernatural craziness

Why? 

• why do we study these old plays? 
• why do we study Shakespeare? 

He was/is a DEFINER of elements of our language

Invented something like 4000 words and phrases

Play takes place in Scotland in the 1100s (or so) - Medieval period

• depressing
• Vikings
• violence
• Crusades
• monarchism
• lawlessness
• feudal structure
• Robin Hood
• evil
• dirty
• knights
• terrible time to be a woman!