Context Flashcards
When was Macbeth written
1606
Who was the ruler of England when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth
King James I (IV of scotland)
What is Hamartia
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero
What is a tragic hero (Aristotle’s ideas)
A highly renowned prosperous person
Their change in fortune must be from good to bad
Their change is not as a result of vice, but of some greater error or frailty
The divine right of kings
Religious doctrine of the political legitimacy of a king.
An act against the king is an act against god
The king is appointed by god
In the 17th century what religion did most people in Britain follow
Protestants (similar beliefs to christians)
What is the great chain of being
A hierarchical structure of all matter and life
The chain begins with god, then angles, then humans and the plants and minerals
Within each level there are different hierarchies
What type of society was the Jacobean society
It was a patriarchal society
Women were considered emotionally and physically weaker than men
Men were the head of the family and the ‘breadwinners’
Why did shakespeare write the porter scene
As light relief
He wanted a character to relieve the tension after macbeth kills duncan
What is bathos
The sudden descent from the sublime to the absurd
What did Jacobeans believe about the macrocosm and the microcosom
They believe actions in the political world (microcosm) were reflected in the natural world (macrocosm)
What is regicide
Killing the king
Why would James I be scared for regicide at this time
Gunpowder plot in 1605
Many dislike his rule
