Macbeth Backround Quiz

what is a bard

a poet

Where and when was shakespeare born?

April 23rd 1564 in Stratford upon Avon

when was shakespeare’s baptism

April 26th 1564

who are his parents?

John Shakespeare and Mary Arden

Why was shakespeare known as “wealthy”

his father was a member of stratford’s council and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy landowner

what was his education like?

attended New Grammar School, but no proof of a university

who did he marry?

Anne Hathaway

how much older was she than him?

7 years

who were his children?

Susanna (1583) and twins, Hamnet and Judith (1585)

When were the lost years?

1578-1592

what were the lost years?

a time period of shakespeare’s life that we know little about

1578-1585

time after his departure from grammar school

1585-1592

time when he was beginning his family

when did shakespeare die?

April 23rd 1616

why did he leave his estate to his oldest daughter Susanna?

she was married to a doctor who could take it over

what did he give to Judith and his wife?

300 pounds to judith and his second best bed to his wife

who printed the first folio

John Hemminges and Henry Condell

what were the four categories of the stories

comedies, romances, tragedies, and histories

Macbeth was…

one of shakespeares most famous and shortest plays

when does a tragedy occur

when the fatal flaw of the main character is exposed and causes his/her destruction

fatal flaw

character flaw that when focused on brings out the worst in the protagonist

what is macbeth’s fatal flaw

ambition

Stage 1: exposition

Intro section of the play in which time, place, characters, and situation are presented

Stage 2: exciting (or inciting) force

Something happens that gets the action moving, usually in the first act

Stage 3: rising action

Series of events leading up to climax, usually covers more than one act

stage 4: climax

Highest point of action in the play. Change in the protagonist, who seems to now be following a downward path (not always in the middle of the play)

stage 5: falling action

events following the climax that mostly go against the protagonist

stage 6: moment of final suprise

near the end of the play and begins to look as if things will go the way of the protagonist after all

stage 7: catastrophe

Complete downfall of the protagonist, either through death or some other devastating experience

what are the themes in macbeth

ambition, fear, guilt, fate and free will, and appearance and reality

what is a motif

Recurring elements and patterns of imagery that support the theme(s)

what are the motifs in macbeth

Sanity vs. insanity, order vs. disorder, light vs. dark, blood, the supernatural

what is iambic pantameter

The meter Shakespeare nearly always used when writing in verse

who is iambic pantameter spoken by?

Usually spoken by “high class” characters while lower class or minor characters spoke in prose

how many syllables each line

10

what is a pair of syllables called

“iamb” or “foot”

does a line start with stressed(/) or unstressed(U)

Unstressed