Settings in 'Macbeth'

Settings in 'Macbeth'

1. Witches

   • Acheron
     • Context - hell
   • Blasted Heath
     • Fog, weather...
     • Macbeth's description of it as the 'blasted heath'
     • Structure - first impressions - very Gothic

2. Macbeth's castle

   • Duncan's description
     • Dramatic irony
   • Duncan's murder
     • Lady Macbeth's true self - Gothic
       • Owl etc.
     • Oceans red...
   • Banquo, before the murder
     • Husbandry in heaven...
     • Witching hour (midnight)
   • Natural disruption afterwards
   • Dagger symbology...

3. England

   • Blissful
   • leafy boughs, pleasant shade
   • Scotland - context of relations in Shakespeare's day

4. Dunsinane fortress

   • Trapped - mentally and physically
   • Context - bear baiting...

5. Setting of the battle

   • Noble imagery...

6. Natural imagery

   • black and deep desires... calls on nature to cover

7. Temporal setting - link to James I, context... audience familiar with ending - what does this lend the play?

   • Sense of futility for Macbeth?

8. Context - mostly through description since play