Act 3, Scene 1
- Act 3 opens with Banquo who immediately mentions the 'weird women' and he fears that 'thou playedst most foully for't' demonstrating that he suspects Macbeth.However he doesn't seem to believe himself to be in danger even though it is clear he is a threat to Macbeth's ambitions. Macbeth has been made King and him and Lady Macbeth are going to have a 'great feast' that evening and Macbeth says 'I'll request your presence' which is strange because it seems as though he is specifically asking him to come.
- Macbeth is then left alone and he speaks a soliloquy saying 'There is none but he (Banquo) whose being I do fear.' This implies that Macbeth is feeling threatened by Banquo, perhaps because of the prophecy saying that it is his sons that will become King. This then ties in with the idea that Macbeth has requested him at the feast. Macbeth has already killed people because he felt threatened so he might have something planned for him that night.
-The murders then enter, Macbeth tells them that they share the same enemy in Banquo. He says 'Both of you know Banquo was your enemy... So he is mine' (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 112-115). He also says that he wants his son, Fleance, killed along with him. This bring in the theme of morality because Macbeth doesn't seem to have a problem with killing a child. He just wants him out of the way so that he can have and keep the crown.
-In scene 2, Lady Macbeth speaks in rhyme, this is similar language to the witches. As soon as Macbeth enters the scene, she goes back to speaking normally, perhaps she doesn't wish for him to know what she is doing. Lady Macbeth also asks a lot more questions such as 'what's to be done?' (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 45). This suggests that she may be less sure of herself and has to turn to Macbeth for the plan. This shows a power shift between the characters as in the Kings death, she was the one that told Macbeth what to do. Instead of the idea that Lady Macbeth was manipulating him to do it, he is manipulating her to do it instead.
-Macbeth uses violent imagery such as 'thy bloody and invisible hand' (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 48). There is a link between this imagery and the first time that we hear of Macbeth, when the Captain says 'he unseamed him from the nave to the chops' (Act1, Scene 2, Line 22). Macbeth has always been violent but instead of it being within battle, it is to the people that trust him the most which creates the idea of it being more sinister.
-Within Scene 3, we actually witness the murder of Banquo. This is an important scene because not only do we see Banquo's reaction, we see Fleance escape which is the first time that we see something go wrong within Macbeth's plan. This means that Macbeth isn't quite as untouchable as he thought that he was.
-Scene 4 is the feast, which has some very important people invited to. Macbeth see's Banquo's ghost, this is the second time that Macbeth see's an inanimate object. Many of his friends are witnesses to this and so the fact that Macbeth may be crazy is now known to other people. He may not be quite as stable as people first thought and this could lead to people making connections between him and the deaths.
-The audience meet the head witch, Hecat, in Scene 5. This is quite an important scene because we have always seen the witches to be within power and perhaps even manipulating situations but now we see someone that is above them. Hecat seems to be angry with them because they have acted against her will. When this play is acted out, this scene is not always used but I believe it to be an important one because the witches are almost humanised because they also have an authoritative figure. They manipulate Macbeth which is a human quality, meaning that maybe the witches aren't supernatural at all, it perhaps was a combination of manipulation from the witches and self fulfilling prophecy from Macbeth.
-Lennox speaks of how Macbeth killed the two servants outside of Duncan's room, saying 'was not that nobly done?' (Act 3, Scene 6, Line 14). People are still looking up to Macbeth at this point, thinking that the reason he killed them was because he was so upset that he did it in honour of Duncan when in actual fact, we know that it was to cover his own tracks. People still believe that it was the Kings sons that murdered their father though, so Macbeth is still clear of being called guilty.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Thursday, 10 October 2013
Macbeth- Act 2 Reading Journal
Act 2, Scene 1
-Scene 1 opens with Banquo and Fleance which is interesting because Macbeth has just decided to murder the King and Banquo is a possible threat because his 'children shall be Kings'. They then meet Macbeth in a dark corridor which is fortunate for Macbeth because his 'face..is a book where men may read strange matters'. There is dramatic Irony when Banquo says to Macbeth 'I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters' and Macbeth replies 'I think not of them' which as an audience, we know to be untrue because he has become obsessed by them. This highlights that Macbeth realises that even to his best friend, he has to keep this secret which only further isolates him and allows him to fester in his own thoughts. This could possibly mean that he is planning Banquo's murder and by veiling the truth is makes Banquo unguarded and vulnerable.
-Macbeth is then left by himself and Shakespeare gives him a soliloquy. Within this, he speaks of a dagger that is floating before him- 'Is this a dagger which I see before me'. This is a supernatural event as he is seeing an inanimate object. This is the first time that we possibly start see Macbeth having psychological problems as his mind reacts to murder. This is the scene before he kills the King, as he says 'A dagger of the mind, a false creation' suggesting that he understands it is a hallucination. There is a chance that this is because of the trauma of him knowing what he is about to do. This isn't the first time that he has killed a person so perhaps, the trauma is a result of the person he is about to kill rather than the act itself, to some extent celebrating murder as in one instance it is portrayed as a positive and heroic act while another it can be portrayed as something sick and masochistic.
Act 2, Scene 2
-Lady Macbeth enters and her speech is full of animal imagery, saying 'the owl that shrieked' which suggests that the act of murder is possibly an animal instinct and this makes them seem quite simple characters as they don't use their knowledge and logic. Animal imagery is a theme used throughout the play. She also says at the end of her speech while she is alone that 'had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't'. She is suggesting that she would have done it, had he not looked like her father. She may being trying to justify to herself that she is not weak and if she wanted, she would be able to do it herself or possibly this is her mind playing tricks as she is carrying out a sin that her father would've instilled to be wrong.
-Macbeth has 'done the deed' meaning that he has killed the King. At this point in the play, we know that there is no turning back. We don't actually see Macbeth kill the King and this could be to keep some sort of detachment from Macbeth and the act so that as an audience, we don't feel repulsed by him. Although he did it, it didn't go quite to plan because he brought the daggers with him, he then refuses to go back into the room and so Lady Macbeth commands him 'give me the daggers'. This may be because she wants to have done something to prove it to herself that she can. Even though she didn't kill him, she was still able to go into the room to plant the evidence that the guards had killed the King.
Act 2, Scene 3
-The Porter is drunk and portrays a comic character. This brings a comic relief after such a serious scene. When he meets Macduff, he is trying to be crude and shocking when he says that 'urine' is provoked by drink. Macbeth then enters the scene and Macduff asks him whether the King is up yet. Macbeth tells him no so Macduff goes to wake him. This is an important scene because we see the way that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth react to the news. In the mean time Lennox suggests that he heard 'strange screams of death'. Macduff enters very shocked and then goes to wake everyone to tell them the news. It is Lady Macbeth the comes out first, this is probably because she hasn't actually been sleeping and has been waiting for Duncan to be discovered. When she is told the news, she acts to be horrified and shocked 'woe'. Macbeth suddenly admits that he 'did kill them' and the attention shifts onto him however Lady Macbeth needs the attention to be away from them so she pretends to swoon. It is also possible that she did this to act as though she is sickened by what has happened meaning that no one will suspect her.
-The King's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, are left together. They conclude that running away would be the best thing so one goes to England and the other to Ireland. As far as they are aware, it was the guards outside the room that killed the King meaning that they have been given no reason to suspect anyone else. However they believe that 'there's daggers in men's smiles' implying that they can't trust anyone.
Act 2, Scene 4
-Macbeth killed the guards which seems like it was in vain as now they are not the suspects. Macduff tells Ross that because Malcolm and Donalbain have fled, it 'puts upon them the suspicion of the deed'. So now, it seems that everyone believes that both the sons have killed their father rather than the guards and this means that they will never become King as they have committed murder and treason. Macduff goes on to say that Macbeth 'is already named and gone to Scone to be invested'. This means that Macbeth will soon become King and the three witches prophecy will come true however it is interesting that no one suspects Macbeth. This could be a natural ending for the play because both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have got what they wanted however further turmoil is needed in order for there to be punishment, ultimately Shakespeare is reinforcing society's values.
-There also seems to be freak events happening as the horses 'ate each other' which could be a result of the witches. It could also be a reference to Macbeth as he is harming his own race, just like the horses that 'turned wild in nature' much like Macbeth.
-Scene 1 opens with Banquo and Fleance which is interesting because Macbeth has just decided to murder the King and Banquo is a possible threat because his 'children shall be Kings'. They then meet Macbeth in a dark corridor which is fortunate for Macbeth because his 'face..is a book where men may read strange matters'. There is dramatic Irony when Banquo says to Macbeth 'I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters' and Macbeth replies 'I think not of them' which as an audience, we know to be untrue because he has become obsessed by them. This highlights that Macbeth realises that even to his best friend, he has to keep this secret which only further isolates him and allows him to fester in his own thoughts. This could possibly mean that he is planning Banquo's murder and by veiling the truth is makes Banquo unguarded and vulnerable.
-Macbeth is then left by himself and Shakespeare gives him a soliloquy. Within this, he speaks of a dagger that is floating before him- 'Is this a dagger which I see before me'. This is a supernatural event as he is seeing an inanimate object. This is the first time that we possibly start see Macbeth having psychological problems as his mind reacts to murder. This is the scene before he kills the King, as he says 'A dagger of the mind, a false creation' suggesting that he understands it is a hallucination. There is a chance that this is because of the trauma of him knowing what he is about to do. This isn't the first time that he has killed a person so perhaps, the trauma is a result of the person he is about to kill rather than the act itself, to some extent celebrating murder as in one instance it is portrayed as a positive and heroic act while another it can be portrayed as something sick and masochistic.
Act 2, Scene 2
-Lady Macbeth enters and her speech is full of animal imagery, saying 'the owl that shrieked' which suggests that the act of murder is possibly an animal instinct and this makes them seem quite simple characters as they don't use their knowledge and logic. Animal imagery is a theme used throughout the play. She also says at the end of her speech while she is alone that 'had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't'. She is suggesting that she would have done it, had he not looked like her father. She may being trying to justify to herself that she is not weak and if she wanted, she would be able to do it herself or possibly this is her mind playing tricks as she is carrying out a sin that her father would've instilled to be wrong.
-Macbeth has 'done the deed' meaning that he has killed the King. At this point in the play, we know that there is no turning back. We don't actually see Macbeth kill the King and this could be to keep some sort of detachment from Macbeth and the act so that as an audience, we don't feel repulsed by him. Although he did it, it didn't go quite to plan because he brought the daggers with him, he then refuses to go back into the room and so Lady Macbeth commands him 'give me the daggers'. This may be because she wants to have done something to prove it to herself that she can. Even though she didn't kill him, she was still able to go into the room to plant the evidence that the guards had killed the King.
Act 2, Scene 3
-The Porter is drunk and portrays a comic character. This brings a comic relief after such a serious scene. When he meets Macduff, he is trying to be crude and shocking when he says that 'urine' is provoked by drink. Macbeth then enters the scene and Macduff asks him whether the King is up yet. Macbeth tells him no so Macduff goes to wake him. This is an important scene because we see the way that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth react to the news. In the mean time Lennox suggests that he heard 'strange screams of death'. Macduff enters very shocked and then goes to wake everyone to tell them the news. It is Lady Macbeth the comes out first, this is probably because she hasn't actually been sleeping and has been waiting for Duncan to be discovered. When she is told the news, she acts to be horrified and shocked 'woe'. Macbeth suddenly admits that he 'did kill them' and the attention shifts onto him however Lady Macbeth needs the attention to be away from them so she pretends to swoon. It is also possible that she did this to act as though she is sickened by what has happened meaning that no one will suspect her.
-The King's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, are left together. They conclude that running away would be the best thing so one goes to England and the other to Ireland. As far as they are aware, it was the guards outside the room that killed the King meaning that they have been given no reason to suspect anyone else. However they believe that 'there's daggers in men's smiles' implying that they can't trust anyone.
Act 2, Scene 4
-Macbeth killed the guards which seems like it was in vain as now they are not the suspects. Macduff tells Ross that because Malcolm and Donalbain have fled, it 'puts upon them the suspicion of the deed'. So now, it seems that everyone believes that both the sons have killed their father rather than the guards and this means that they will never become King as they have committed murder and treason. Macduff goes on to say that Macbeth 'is already named and gone to Scone to be invested'. This means that Macbeth will soon become King and the three witches prophecy will come true however it is interesting that no one suspects Macbeth. This could be a natural ending for the play because both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have got what they wanted however further turmoil is needed in order for there to be punishment, ultimately Shakespeare is reinforcing society's values.
-There also seems to be freak events happening as the horses 'ate each other' which could be a result of the witches. It could also be a reference to Macbeth as he is harming his own race, just like the horses that 'turned wild in nature' much like Macbeth.
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