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2. WORD WARS: This chapter explores Shakespeare’s extensive use of opposites/contrasts in Macbeth, especially when these reflect thematic conflicts in the play. Also, we teach students to recognize and explicate Shakespeare’s extended metaphors. [LITERATURE]

3. FATAL PASSION—THE WAR WITHIN: This chapter explores a major theme of the play—the struggle between conscience and instinct. It also looks at how this theme shapes the plot of Macbeth. From this and the preceding chapter, “Word Wars,” students gain an excellent understanding of the language and development of the entire play. [LITERATURE]

4. CAULDRON OF CHAOS—WITCHES IN SCOTLAND & ENGLAND: This chapter examines the role of the witches and their familiars in Macbeth; in particular, it explores the widespread 15th-17th belief that witches had the power to turn the natural order (in both nature and government) upside-down—“fair is foul and foul is fair.” We also discuss James I’s Demonology (1597), a treatise that links witchcraft to treason (the same connection is suggested in the play). James wrote this book after the so-called North Berwick witches allegedly tried to kill him with spells. (Shakespeare subtly alludes to this in the play.) This chapter makes the role of the witches in Macbeth clearer and much more meaningful. [LITERATURE & HISTORY]

5. VIKINGS IN MACBETH: The Viking (Norwegian) invasion that begins the play is supported by Scottish rebels. Such alliances were typical in the 10th and 11th centuries. This chapter examines the history of the Viking assaults on Scotland and the Scottish factionalism that it provoked. At the same time, the Viking chapter helps students more fully understand the opening and closing scenes of the play (Note: Siward was also a Viking). [LITERATURE & HISTORY]

6. ROYAL MURDER & THE REAL MACBETH: This chapter introduces students to the real Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and looks at the bloody competition for the throne that dominated Scottish politics throughout the 10th and 11th centuries. It also focuses on the reign of Macbeth’s successor, Malcolm, who was exiled at the court of Edward the Confessor during Macbeth’s reign. The death of Macbeth helped make the consolidation and Anglicization of Scotland possible under Malcolm. (Shakespeare implies the latter in the final scene.) Finally, this chapter explores the enormous influence of Malcolm’s Anglo-Saxon queen, St. Margaret, on the next two centuries of Scottish history. (Malcolm’s and Margaret’s marriage was an important side effect of the Battle of Hastings.) [LITERATURE & HISTORY]

7. ENGLAND’S “HOLY KING,” EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: This chapter explores Edward the Confessor’s role as an exemplary king in Macbeth. It also looks closely at Edward’s reign and the events that led to the Battle of Hastings. [LITERATURE & HISTORY]

8. BAYEUX & THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS: In this two-part chapter we examine the Bayeux Tapestry both as a work of art and a window into history, i.e., a study of feudal customs and a dramatic re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, a battle that reshaped Scotland during Malcolm’s and his son’s reigns nearly as much as it did England. (There is an almost yin-yang relationship between Scottish and English history after 1066. The study of one deepens students’ understanding of the other.) [HISTORY & ART]

9. UNRAVELING THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY: The second part of this chapter teaches students to read the pictorial language of the tapestry, and discusses the similarities between the tapestry and Anglo-Saxon manuscript illumination. [HISTORY & ART]

10. BOOKS OF LIGHT—ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS: This chapter examines medieval manuscripts from the Irish Book of Kells to the golden age of illumination in the 12th century. This section also explores visual patterns and limited color palette in medieval art. [HISTORY & ART]

11. MAKING MANUSCRIPTS—THE MONK’S ART: This chapter takes students through the stages of illumination and includes examples of works in progress by a modern illuminator. Students will be asked to illuminate a scene from Macbeth, using some of the techniques discussed in this section, as well as patterns, limited palette and visual metaphors (that reflect metaphors in the play), as discussed in the preceding chapter on manuscripts. [ART]

12. AN 11TH-CENTURY MUSICAL REVOLUTIONARY: This chapter explores the work of Guido of Arezzo, whose important book on medieval music theory, Micrologus, laid the foundation for Western musical notation. The chapter also emphasizes the importance of recognizing musical patterns in sight singing. [MUSIC]

13. THE TREBUCHET—THE NIGHTMARE WEAPON OF THE MIDDLE AGES: In this chapter we explore the history and laws of physics associated with the most powerful weapon of the Middle Ages: the concepts of potential energy and work, and the physics of levers, hinges and rotational motion. [HISTORY & PHYSICS]

SUPPLEMENTALS: ROMANESQUE ART: This article introduces students to the Romanesque style, which was in the ascendant at this time in Europe; however, it reached Scotland late, like other Continental influences. The article focuses on the Cathedral of Durham, which was begun in northern England the year Malcolm and St. Margaret died, 1093. [ARCHITECTURE & ART HISTORY] In two other supplemental articles—ST. MARGARET & HER ROYAL SONS and BRAVEHEART & THE BRUCE: SCOTLAND’S HEROES—we explore the unification of Scotland & England, which is alluded to in the play. The unification of the two kingdoms began, of course, with James I, two or three years before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. [HISTORY]