MACBETH a
tragedy by William Shakespeare
"Murder at Dunsinane" a tragic story by Ian Serraillier based on
Shakespeare’s play
Macbeth at a Glance:
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare's tragedy
about power, ambition, deceit, and murder, the Three Witches foretell Macbeth's rise to King of
Scotland but also prophesy that future kings will descend from Banquo, a fellow army captain.
Prodded by his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, he murders King Duncan, becomes king, and
sends mercenaries to kill Banquo and his son. His attempts to defy the prophesy
fail, however; Macduff kills
Macbeth, and Duncan's son Malcolm becomes
king.
Written by: William Shakespeare
Type of
Work: play
Genres: drama; tragedy
First Published:
probably
around 1605-1606
Setting: Scotland
Main Characters: Macbeth; Lady Macbeth; Duncan; Macduff; Banquo; Malcolm
Major Thematic Topics: fall of man; gender roles; fortune; fate; free will; kingship/natural order; ambition; love
of self
Motifs: revenge; sanity; prophecy;
violence
Major
Symbols: hands; the Three Witches; ghosts;
blood; the weather
Character
List:
Macbeth: A
captain in Duncan's army, later the Thane (Lord) of Glamis and Cawdor. When
Three Witches predict that he will one day be king of Scotland, he takes his
fate into his own hands, allowing his ambition and that of his wife to overcome
his better judgment. His bloody reign culminates in a battle against Malcolm
and the English forces.
Lady Macbeth: The
devilish wife of Macbeth, whose ambition helps to drive her husband toward the
desperate act of murder. Subsequently, her husband's cruelty and her own guilt
recoil on her, sending her into a madness from which she never recovers.
Banquo: A
fellow-captain and companion of Macbeth, who also receives a prophecy from the
Witches: that his children will one day succeed to the throne of Scotland. This
information is sufficient to spell his death at the hands of the resentful
Macbeth, who is later haunted by Banquo's ghost.
Duncan: King
of Scotland. His victories against rebellious kinsmen and the Norwegians have
made him a popular and honored king. His decision to pass the kingdom to his
son Malcolm provokes his untimely death at the hands of Macbeth.
Fleance: Banquo's
son, who, by escaping Macbeth's plot on his life, will go on to be father to a
line of kings.
Donalbain and Malcolm: Duncan's
two sons. Fearful of implication in their father's murder, they flee Scotland,
Donalbain to Ireland and Malcolm to England, where he raises a large army with
the intention of toppling the tyrant Macbeth.
Macduff: A
thane (nobleman) of Scotland who discovers the murdered King Duncan. Suspecting
Macbeth and eventually turning against him, Macduff later flees to England to
join Malcolm. When Macbeth arranges the murder of his wife and children,
Macduff swears personal revenge.
Lennox, Ross,
Menteth, Angus, Caithness: Thanes of Scotland, all of whom
eventually turn against the tyrannical Macbeth.
The Porter, the Old
Man, the Doctors: Three commentators on events, all
of whom have a certain degree of wisdom and foresight. The Porter hints at the
Hell-like nature of Macbeth's castle; the Old Man associates the murder of King
Duncan with the instability of the natural world; the Doctors recognize disease
and disorder even though they cannot cure it.
The Witches: Three
agents of Fate and Evil (important plot catalysts) who reveal the truth (or
part of it) to Macbeth and Banquo and who later appear to confirm the downfall
and tragic destiny of the tyrannical Macbeth.
Character
Map:
_____________________________________________________________________________
THE TAMING OF THE
SHREW a comedy by William
Shakespeare
"A Wild-Cat for a Wife" a comic story by Ian Serraillier based on
Shakespeare’s play
Summary of The Taming of the Shrew and Characters:
The
beautiful and gentle Bianca has no shortage of admirers (Lucentio, Gremio and
Hortensio) but her father insists that she will not marry until her shrewish
sister, Katharina, is betrothed. Bianca's suitors persuade fortune-seeker
Petruchio to court her. The suitors pay for any costs involved and there is
also the goal of Katharina's dowry. Petruchio marries Katharina and he carries
Katharina off to his country house with his servant Grumio. Petruchio intends
to browbeat Katharina into submission and he denies her food, sleep and her new
clothes, whilst continuously singing her praises. Katharina is tamed. They
return to Padua where Lucentio has won Bianca. At a banquet they wager on who
has the most obedient wife. Each wife is issued with commands but only
Katharina obeys and promptly lectures everyone on the importance of wifely
submission.
Key Facts:
Full title: The Taming of the Shrew
Author: William
Shakespeare
Type of work: Play
Genre: Romantic comedy
Language: English
Time and place written: Around 1592, London
Date of first publication: 1623
Tone: The overall tone of the play is light and comic,
though the exploration of larger social questions, such as the proper relation
of the sexes in marriage, lends much of the comedy a more serious tone.
Settings (time): Unspecific, though presumably sometime during the
Italian Renaissance.
Settings (place): Padua, a city-state in Italy, prominent during
the Renaissance.
Protagonist: There is no single protagonist; Katherine and
Petruchio are the main characters.
Major conflict: Petruchio’s attempt to “tame” Katherine; that is,
to assert his authority in their marriage and overcome her hotheaded resistance
to playing the role of his wife.
Rising action: Petruchio and Katherine’s early verbal conflicts;
Katherine’s many scenes of shrewish behavior, including her attack on Bianca;
the various disguises and subterfuges (ploys/artifices/tricks) of the subplot;
Katherine and Petruchio’s comical wedding.
Climax: There is no single moment of intense action in
the play, but rather a long process of development culminating in Katherine’s
fully changed behavior. It might be possible to see a climax in the wedding
scene in Act III, or in Katherine’s decision in Act IV to submit to Petruchio
when he says the sun is really the moon, or her agreement to throw shame to the
winds and kiss him in the middle of the street in Act IV.
Falling action: The banquet at Lucentio’s house in Act V, scene
ii.
Themes: Marriage as an economic institution; the effect
of social roles on individual happiness.
Motifs: Disguise; domestication; fathers and their
children.
Symbols: Petruchio’s wedding costume; the haberdasher’s
cap and tailor’s gown.
Foreshadowing: Petruchio’s declaration to Katherine in Act II
that he is the man to tame her.
Character
List:
Christopher Sly: A
beggar featured in the Induction. He is tricked into believing he is a
gentleman.
A Lord: A
gentleman who delights in duping (deceiving) Sly after he finds him passed out
on his property.
A page, servants, huntsmen: All
work for or with the Lord to dupe Sly.
Players: A
travelling troupe of actors who perform the play of Katherine and Petruchio
before Sly, the Lord, and the Lord's household.
Katherine Minola: Elder
daughter of Baptista Minola. She is hard-headed, stubborn, and prone to
speaking her mind. Baptista decrees that as the elder daughter, Kate must marry
before her younger sister Bianca may do so.
Petruchio: A
young man of Verona. Through his friend Hortensio, he learns of Katherine and
agrees to wed her (for her dowry). What was originally a business venture,
though, turns to love as the story unfolds.
Bianca Minola: Younger
daughter of Baptista Minola. Bianca is loved by Gremio, Hortensio, and Lucentio
but cannot have serious suitors or marry until her older sister Katherine has
done so. Bianca is clearly Baptista's favorite daughter, although she may not
be as sweet as she appears.
Baptista Minola: The
father of Katherine and Bianca.
Hortensio: A
suitor to Bianca. He enters the Minola household disguised as Litio, the music
tutor. Eventually, he marries the Widow.
Lucentio: Son
of Vincentio. He is in love with Bianca and woos her disguised as Cambio, the
tutor.
Tranio: A
servant to Lucentio. He agrees to impersonate his master and pretend to woo
Bianca for him while Lucentio is disguised as Cambio.
Gremio: A
foolish old man; suitor to Bianca.
Grumio: Petruchio's
servant.
Biondello: A
servant to Lucentio.
Vincentio: A
gentleman of Pisa; father of Lucentio.
A Pedant: A
teacher from Mantua. He agrees to impersonate Vincentio for Tranio (unaware he
is disguising himself as Lucentio).
A Widow: A
rich woman whom Hortensio marries after he loses Bianca. She is contemptuous of
Kate but also shrewish in her own way.
Character Map:
OOW
2013
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