Thursday, April 21, 2011

Macbeth: Act 5 or The Movie

You choose! Analyze something in Act V or something in the movie...just get specific and dig beneath the surface! Remember: we are going for depth not breadth here!

Reminders:
1. Do not use "very" or "interesting"
2. Read previous posts before posting!
3. Proofread before posting!
4. Work to make your posts clear, concise, and to the point.

Good luck!

30 comments:

  1. Just like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has lost her sense of sight. She's just as paranoid as her husband. She refuses to face the things she's done. However, these sights have a way of catching up with Lady Macbeth the same as they did Macbeth. In scene one of Act five her chambermaid is describing the events of her sleepwalking to a doctor. When the doctor questioned the maid as to why her eyes were open the Gentlewoman states, "Ay, but their sense are shut". Lady Macbeth has lost her ability to see things for what they are. She can no longer live with the sights she has seen. She has seen Duncan murdered and she has seen her husband fly over the edge, which is too much for her to handle. The sights of murder and treason haunt her and she has shut down her sight to those things, or at least she has tried. Macbeth saw apparitions of people he killed and now Lady Macbeth relives her pained past in her sleep. She won't see these thoughts while she's awake to keep herself from going mad, but her subconscious takes over her sight and her movement while she is asleep. The doctor declared her problem one of the spirit, and her spirit is definitely in turmoil from the horrors she has faced. She refuses to see the truth of her deeds during the day, however, when night comes her physical sight may be deterred but her hindsight is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The introduction of Seyton into the play, is the point where Macbeth really starts to fall. This scene is one of the most important scenes in the play. It brings forth the idea that a persons want for earthly pleasures will ultimately end them. Macbeth is demanding that Seyton come into the room and serve Macbeth. Here, Shakespeare is playing upon the name Seyton to mean two people, him and the devil(satan). The fact that satan is serving Macbeth is implying that Macbeth is WORSE than the devil. This is the turning point because up until this, Macbeth has simply been compared to the devil. The first words Seyton speaks are, "What's your gracious pleasure?" (5.3.35) Seyton is basically saying, "What is your greatest pleasure?" It was to be king but he has that now and he still wants more. Selling your soul to the devil was as far as Macbeth could go, but now the devil is questioning his morality. He is like "Well, what is it you REALLY want if you are still calling on me for more?" Then Macbeth tells Seyton to get his armor so he can fight and Seyton tells him "Tis' not needed yet." (5.3.40) Satan is kind of saying "Look man, your dammed, and your armor isn't going to save you now." This is the last we really hear of Seyton, but not long after, Lady Macbeth dies, and Macbeth is slain. This scene is where the fall of Macbeth starts, and not long after his wife dies, and he is slain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are drowning in the blood from the murder of Duncan and the deaths following his initial killing. In the PBS film adaption of Macbeth, in Act 2 scene 2, Macbeth returns to his chamber with his hands forever stained scarlet by the blood of Duncan: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” “No,” responds Macbeth, for “this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine / Making the green one red” (2.2.78-81). Not even the immense seas of Neptune, God of the Seas, can cleanse Macbeth from his act of maliciousness. Moments later, Lady Macbeth enters the scene smeared with the innocent guards’ blood. She claims that “A little water clears … this deed.” However, no amount of water can purify the Macbeths’ act of murder upon Duncan because “what’s done is done” (3.2.14).

    In the Macbeths’ chamber prior to the royal feast, the room is dimly lit with a red glow; black and red are the dominant colors present. Lady Macbeth is clothed in a revealing, velvet red dress, laced with black gloves. Though Lady Macbeth’s outward character is esthetically pleasing, truly she is clothed in the blood of Duncan and carries the overwhelmingly heavy weight of guilt upon her shoulders, for it was her idea that drove Macbeth to commit such a dark deed. The abundant shades of red cast black shadows along the walls of the chamber, signifying the sea of blood that the Macbeths’ are slowly sinking into.

    As a result, the overwhelmingly vast sea of blood drives the Macbeths over the edge to a state of mental instability. Each reoccurring scene in the PBS film depicts the Macbeths struggling to hold their facades together. Their movements consist of slight twitches, uneasy laughter, frantic glances around the room, and the incapability to utter words such as ‘death’ and ‘murder’ that refer to their actions. The Macbeths’ violation upon Duncan plunged them into a sea of blood, which in turn will send them over the edge to insanity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The witches contaminate everything. In the PBS version of Macbeth, the three witches are portrayed as nurses working in the bunkers. In the scenes where they state a prophecy, they are wearing surgical masks. Although these masks are commonly used to keep viruses and impurities from being obtained, they can also be used to help stop the spreading of these by keeping them contained. When the witches speak, they violently pull the masks down, releasing not only the prophecy, but also an infectious disease. When Macbeth hears the prophecy, the masks are down and he has been infected. The disease sits in his system and it is all he can think about. Because he has been infected, he can transmit the disease as well. Lady Macbeth becomes ill with the disease of the prophecy through Macbeth. The germs just keep spreading. It causes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to go insane, and eventually becomes fatal. Being nurses, the witches are supposed to improve people. The prophecy was supposed to improve Macbeth’s life by predicting him being King of Scotland. Both of these, though, have the opposite effect. The nurses contaminate the air with the disease of the prophecy, which, in return, slowly turns Macbeth’s perfect future into a living hell. The masks are the only thing keeping in the prophecy, or disease, and when released, everything goes to hell.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Duncan's unforgiving personality in the movie portrayal of Macbeth made the viewer sympathize with Macbeth in his decision to murder Duncan. Instead of seeing the kind, gentle Duncan that was described in the book, this movie depicted him as a more ruthless leader. When told about the traitor, Duncan quickly demanded his execution rather than sparing him. This scene showed another side of Duncan, the cruel king, making me wonder if he was as good as I had earlier thought. Duncan's controlling behavior becomes, in sort, a justification for Macbeth's actions against him. But, what about the kind things that were mentioned about Duncan in the book? Some of those lines were left out in the movie, as if to make the viewer sympathize with Macbeth more than Duncan. This portrayed Macbeth as less of a villain at the start of the movie, differing greatly from the book. Depicting Duncan as a crueler leader than what the book implied helped the viewer to sympathize with Macbeth, making his downfall much more devastating.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Duncan, Macduff, Malcom, and Banquo are referred to as “the good guys” because of their honesty, loyalty to the people of Scotland, and noble efforts to return Scotland to a state of well-being. However, the PBS movie version of Macbeth puts “the good guys” in a different light. Even the noble characters in the play are Nazis. Furthermore, the witches, instead of being pictured as other-worldly sources of evil, they are dressed as nurses and chefs. The witches didn’t turn Macbeth evil; he and his fellow men were already Nazis. The witches only assisted him in his wrongdoings by planting evil thoughts in his mind. In the same way that Nazi nurses and doctors contributed to the evil actions o the Nazi soldiers, the witches contributed to the evil of Macbeth’s mind. Had the witches not spoken to Macbeth, he would’ve still been pernicious. The director of the movie is using this modern take on the play to make a statement about human nature: Supernatural forces do not make us corrupt; it is in our nature to be evil. Even “the good guys” have corrupt minds, simply because they are human.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Macbeth’s evil action has begun to bring everyone around down with him. In the PBS adaption, everything is dark and hell like. The actors are hardly visible because of the low lighting, and the only time an elevator is seen is when it is moving downwards, never up, suggesting that people are entering the hell without an escape. Like Brighton said, life is a living hell. Not only is everyone living in darkness, they are also clothed in darkness, dressed in blacks and dark greens. However, there is one exception to the dark- dominated clothing.

    The only light piece of clothing is the witches’ aprons. The aprons are white, suggesting purity. Could the witches be the only pure ones? Yes, they are pure because they have stuck to what they believe the whole play/movie. The witches are the only characters in the play who have been straight forward. The other characters have lied, run away from reality, or have hired someone else to do their work. No one has been as real as the witches. The PBS movie is using their clothing choice to put an ironic twist on the play. The witches are still seen as the creators as the downfall, but at least they own this title and don’t try to deny it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Off of Betsy's comment, the lighting in the PBS movie adds a dramatic effect on characters. The scenes were often of each character bathed in both light and shadows. This is depicting that there is good and evil in everyone, that not one person is all good or pure evil. The Wierd Sisters are the exception to this, not because they are pure, but because they are not human. The acknowledgement that people actions can be good and bad means that they truly are human. The Wierd sisters always being in the light and in white clothing suggests that they are indeed supernatural. The white doesn't mean that they are good, but that they have an obvious character, there is nothing in the shadows about them. Like Betsy said, they are always true to their character and never stray from those views.

    ReplyDelete
  9. “She should have died hereafter.
    There would have been a time for such a word.
    Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
    To the last syllable of recorded time,
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
    Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing” (5.5. 20-31).

    After Lady Macbeth’s death, Macbeth ends his internal battle between the significance of life and death, and realizes that one’s life is always a path that ends in death. Before Macbeth killed Duncan, he questioned what he might lose if he attempts to force fate to come true. He questioned whether a royal life in this world was worth a soul destined for Hell: “With his surcease success, that but this blow, Might be the be-all and the end-all here” (1.7.4-5). Now, Macbeth realizes that life is meaningless unless one uses life in order to have a good death in which the soul isn’t damned for eternity. Although Macbeth was able to successfully kill Duncan, his act of murder was the ending for him. Macbeth realizes that death has been his fear all along, and his inability to accept that death is inevitable has brought him to his downfall: “There would have been a time for such a word. / Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day / To the last syllable of recorded time” (1.7.21-24). Macbeth refers to death as a “word” because he wants to still remain in denial of its magnitude. In Macbeth’s denial of death’s imminence, he also tries to defy fate. Macbeth never grasped that he would die, which is why he was so focused to stop Banquo’s children from becoming kings, even though he would be dead by that time. He tries to fight death by killing everyone else around him. His paranoia of others conspiring against him is due to his fear of death. He realizes that all of his efforts to become the King of Scotland were worthless because he is about to die, and his soul will live in Hell eternally: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more” (1.7. 27-29). Macbeth is filled with sorrow because he realizes that he was a simple pawn in Fate’s game. He uses the word “stage” because everything he thought he knew wasn’t reality. He is a simple character in Fate's play. He tried to defy fate by hiding from it, but now he realizes that his time is up. Macbeth refers to life as “a walking shadow” because it’s always following death. Death isn’t the darkness, life is. Life brings humans to the ultimate downfall: a soul destined for Hell.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Like Emma mentioned, referencing Macbeth’s reaction to his permanently bloody hands, Macbeth becomes damned after Duncan’s death, the first of his murders. But what I realized after watching Lady Macbeth’s corresponding response to having bloody hands (as performed by Kate Fleetwood) is that Lady Macbeth, unlike her husband, is not damned.

    Macbeth answers the question of whether “all Neptune’s ocean [will] wash [the] blood clean from [his] hands” with a simple answer, “no” (2.2.78-79). “Rather,” he says, the blood harvested by his hands and the blood still to be spilled by his doing will be enough to “[make] the green [seas] red” (2.2.80-81). In other words, no, it (the blood) will never go away, and yes, it will continue to spread (by his doing, no less).
    Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, discovers, in her sleep, that she too has blood stained hands identical to Macbeth’s, but unlike Macbeth, her involvement with her husband’s obsession to rearrange fate ceases after the murder of Duncan. “Out damned spot, out, I say!” Lady Macbeth yells into the night (5.1.37). “What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that” continues a woman frightened by the thought of never being pure again (5.1.45).

    In Goold’s film interpretation, Kate Fleetwood illustrates a Lady Macbeth so full of agony over the thought of having unclean hands that she pours bleach over her flesh and hallucinates blood running from the sink faucet. Even as she spits the phrase “hell is murky,” she breaks down into tears, horrified by the deaths that she has helped to take place. I believe that this scene proves Lady Macbeth’s possession of a conscience. Though she may be cold hearted, Lady Macbeth knows that she has done wrong and fears the consequences of murder. Opposite of Macbeth, she fears damnation rather than seeing it as a free-for-all chance to kill off all of her enemies.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lady Macbeth is out of luck. There is no hope on earth to purge the queen of her evil actions. As Lady Macbeth falls into madness and sleep walks, even a doctor educated enough to care for the royal family cannot cure her. The doctor says, “What’s done cannot be undone” (5.1.71). Not even the repetitive cleansing her hands can wash away the sin of murder. “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45). No matter how hard she tries, no matter what she does to try and purge the besmirch of murder, she will never be clean. Her evil stays with her until her death which is also an act of killing: killing herself.

    ReplyDelete
  13. She should have died hereafter.
    There would have been a time for such a word.
    Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
    To the last syllable of recorded time,
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
    Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing.
    (5.5.21-30)


    Macbeth is a tragic villain. Nothing about him is heroic. In the beginning of the play, Duncan characterizes him as a hero with loyalty and dignity, yet this is the only time we see him portrayed in a positive light. After multiple killings and many regrets, by Act V, we can declare that Macbeth is insane. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his inability to deal with regret. His “vaulting ambition”, leads him to do unnatural things that he later regrets. While pondering and regretting a certain scenario, he has the capability of convincing himself that he isn’t truly evil. This passage from Act V shows him defeated by his life, yet throughout the passage he starts to believe he actually lived a successful life. He characterizes death as “petty in pace”, “creepy”, “dusty”, and “brief”. By saying this, he feels satisfied with the fact that his life wasn’t just a waste of time. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/And then is heard no more”(5.5.28). If life is a game and doesn’t have any significance, then Macbeth shouldn’t worry about all of his misdeeds. He wants the reader to believe that life isn’t that important and if you don’t do something outrageous you won’t be remembered. At the end of this passage, Macbeth is contented with knowing that everything done in his life signified nothing. We see his struggle with going to Hell earlier in the play, and by using this phrase, all of his bad actions are erased, and Heaven reenters as a possibility.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Macbeth is locked out of Heaven; thus, he is already in Hell. Throughout the PBS film of Macbeth, there is a recurrence of a black, steel gate which is underground in the Macbeth’s house. When this gate is shown, there is always light above, which is shining through on the other side. This light indicates Heaven, which is blocked off, and Macbeth is always shown facing away from this gate. This gate is what’s keeping Macbeth’s soul from getting into Heaven. Even though this gate prohibits eternal happiness for his soul, Macbeth is the one who causes this. He is the one that has his back turned on Heaven. He is damning himself by continuing to commit murderers, and he knows it. For example, when Macbeth returns from killing Duncan, he is descending down the dark hallway and walking away from the light. At this point, Macbeth is officially damned. After Duncan is killed, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth walk onto the elevator together. At the same time, they shut the elevator’s gate, which also looks like the gate which is blocking Macbeth from Heaven. After they shut the gate, they both look at each other and the elevator begins to descend down. This shows that they are on their way down into Hell.

    “It is concluded, Banquo, thy soul’s flight, If it find heaven, must find it out tonight” (3.2.161-162). When Macbeth speaks this line, on the surface, he is talking about Banquo’s soul which will know its destiny soon. However, he is also talking about his own soul. Because he is committing a second murder, his soul will be damned for sure, and he knows this. His soul will meet its fate that night. In the PBS movie, after he says this line he begins to walk away from the light of the gate and into the darkness. This shows that Macbeth is already in Hell.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Macbeth's setting in a war zone gives a physical element of conflict to underlying deceit and power struggles. Whether placed in World War II or a fictional Scottish war, the element of battle gives an important key to the overall mood of the play. Ironically, the "safety" of the underground chambers in the PBS version becomes a chamber of deceit and secrecy. The frequent image of the elevator descending should mean that whoever is inside is retreating from the battlefield and into a safe place, but instead, the elevator is taking them to an even more dangerous killing ground. In war, there are many lies and secret motives and very little trust. In Macbeth, guests are fooled by conniving hosts, former friends must test each other's loyalty, and everyone must watch their back. Possibly the greatest similarity between the plot of Macbeth and war is the fact that both are about the conquest for power. The lust for control drives men to kill in order to obtain what they feel they deserve. The violence and unabashed foul play that drives the plot of Macbeth could not be set in a more appropriate scenario than war.

    ReplyDelete
  16. By the last page of Act 5 scene 8, the reader is certain that Malcolm will take the throne of Scotland. Because of this it is proven that the weird sisters do not control fate nor do they use a perfect power of prophecy. In Act 1 scene three,not only do they tell Macbeth his power filled future, but they also inform Banquo that his descendants will be Kings. The third witch prophesizes, while speaking to Banquo, that "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" (1.3.70). However, once Macduff brings Macbeth's head to Malcolm, he and all of the warriors yell, "Hail, King of Scotland" (5.8.71), meaning Malcolm. Although Malcolm does request that they "call home our exiled friends abroad" (5.8.79), which could infer Fleance, Banquo's descendants are not made kings by the end of the play. If the witches either lied or were proven wrong about that,what else have they made up or had false. Before Macbeth has his first line on-stage the three witches decide the next time they meet, Macbeth will be present. Because of this, the assumption can be made that the weird sisters have been watching Macbeth and possibly his behavior. If not, then they are certainly aware how he will react when they show him the three apparitions as well as the line of kings, all of whom resemble Banquo. Because Banquo's descendants do not become kings it is evident that the weird sisters are now just pushing his buttons. This is also assumed when Hecate becomes angry with the witches when she discovers they have told Macbeth his fate without her present. She is angry that she was neither there to share their art nor to put her own part in Macbeth's "destiny." It is obvious that the weird sisters also like to play with the lives of men when the sisters meet in Act 1 scene 3 and discuss how to make a man suffer because his wife called one of the sisters a witch and did not give her a chestnut. They like to meddle with the lives of men, it is a pastime. In summary, the sisters are not the three fates, they most likely told this "fate" to Macbeth in order to play with his mind.

    ReplyDelete
  17. As Betsy mentioned, in the PBS version of Macbeth, there is one elevator that all the characters use that is constantly moving down. However, one scene in particular that puts a lot of emphasis on the downward motion of the elevator is when Lady Macbeth is reading the letter from her husband. This is the letter stating that he has moved up in rank and sparks the thought in Lady Macbeth that they need to murder Duncan in order to get a higher status. As she is reading this, the elevator is moving down slowly and then goes slightly faster and increases in speed as she reads the letter. This is symbolizing the downward spiral of Lady Macbeth into hell. This is the first scene Lady Macbeth is in, and she is already damned. The opportunity presents itself, and she is already corrupt. This is showing that she has always been evil, and there is no escaping the sinful nature of human beings. As the letter continues she goes further and further into hell. This also symbolizing that ambition can cost us our souls. As her ideas begin to form in her head, she is constantly being drawn closer to hell. There is no going back, and the beginning for Lady Macbeth, is also the end.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The relationship between Macbeth and Seyton is ironic. In Act 5 scene 3, we are introduced to Seyton for the first and last time. Seyton is an attendant to Macbeth, which is the first case of irony. Macbeth is being served by Seyton (Satan), which is clear when Seyton refers to Macbeth as "my lord". Countless times Macbeth has been referred to as the devil. The most recent occasion was when Malcolm referred to him as "Devilish Macbeth". Now Seyton is servicing Macbeth, which is situational irony. Also, it is ironic a character would be called Seyton, when it is implied Macbeth is actually Satan. This lead me to question, is Macbeth really Satan or just Satan's servant?

    -Tiana

    ReplyDelete
  19. We never know Lady Macbeth’s identity. During the first introduction of Lady Macbeth in the PBS Movie version, her face is not shown. She is reading the letter from her husband out loud, and we don’t know if this is changing who she really is. Her face is blurred out to create a hazy effect and this sets up the mysterious atmosphere around her throughout the movie. We do not know Lady Macbeth before she hears of the witches prophecy, but this leaves a question: why does she believe the prophecy? When she steps out of the blur, she looks similar to the witches: pail, frail, dark; she is wearing white, as the witches do. This hints that Lady Macbeth may be connected to the witches somehow. She chants in a monotone voice, asking for evil to descend upon her. All of the mysterious, witch-like behavior shows that Lady Macbeth is truly evil, and as Elle said, has been from the beginning. No one knows who Lady Macbeth really is, but it is obvious that she may have a past that has damned her further into hell than even Macbeth.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Why World War II? The setting choice of the PBS version of Macbeth was deliberate and meaningful. This setting puts Macbeth in a more familiar light and causes the viewer to understand the true evil nature of his actions. It is much easier to process Macbeth in a familiar setting rather than in the unfamiliar setting of eleventh century Scotland.

    In portraying Macbeth as a nazi, similar in appearance to Hitler, the PBS version eliminates all sympathy for Macbeth.

    Hitler banned all art, music, literature, and movies that contradicted his twisted beliefs. Macbeth did the same thing, eliminating all possible threats to his rise to power. Macbeth and Hitler were power hungry, both stopping at nothing to get what they wanted. And in both cases, this thirst for total control led to their downfalls.

    While Macbeth's string of murders seems much less significant when compared with the genocide Hitler was responsible for, the comparison is still relevant.

    Hitler is a symbol of tyranny, evil, and hate. By the end of the play, Macbeth embodies these same things as well.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lady Macbeth’s death is intentionally ambiguous, but most people assume that she committed suicide at the end of the book. She had a motive to take her own life and certainly showed evidence of not being in her right mind. I, though, am not convinced that she died by her own hand. I suspect that Lady Macbeth was another victim of her dear and loving husband.

    In her final scene, Lady Macbeth wanders unconsciously around the stage speaking about the murders and trying to wash the imaginary blood from her hands. She publically relives the murders; Macbeth must rid himself of this liability issue. He meets with the doctor, and encourages the use of a drug to rid her of these harmful memories, but to his dismay the cure does not come from medicine. Macbeth denounces the doctor and medicine in general. After Macbeth realizes there is no way to cure his wife’s sleep walking, I believe he turns to murder.

    Upon hearing the news of his wife’s death, Macbeth reacts too calmly. He brushes it off with “oh well, she should have died hereafter. There would have been time for such a word.” Most importantly, he doesn’t even ask how his “partner of greatness” died.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Body language is everything. In the PBS film, the characters use body language to create their desired outcome. The director of the film was able to maneuver the characters actions in order to show that the script in the play can mean nothing without the positions and movements of the actors and actresses.
    In the film, Lady Macbeth’s character can control Macbeth’s decisions and thoughts simply by the position she is in. While in the kitchen discussing the idea of Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth is able to completely change Macbeth’s mind without touching him. Macbeth had seemed to have made up his mind and was putting his foot down when he said to his wife,” We will proceed no further in this business”(1.7.34) of killing Duncan. However, in the PBS film, Lady Macbeth simply crosses her arms before she begins to speak. The arms crossed in front of her heart signify a shield of her heart, and therefore a guard on her opinion. In her opinion, Duncan needed to be killed that night; there was no changing that. In this way, this ‘shield’ protected Lady Macbeth from Macbeth. As expected, Macbeth was unable to ignore the isolated Lady Macbeth and was drawn to her. While she was speaking and drawing him back in, she had turned away from him and his ideas. In accordance to the “hard to get” idea, Macbeth had been sucked into her trap and by the end of the scene Macbeth was planning the idea to “have marked with blood those sleepy two of his own chamber and used their very daggers” (1.7. 86-87). Therefore within the short amount of time, Lady Macbeth had used her body language and position to convince Macbeth to completely change his mind.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Macbeth was already in too deep before the story even began. The PBS movie adaptation highlights this pre-existing insanity with the usage of two major presentation elements. War is madness. Using war as a setting for any story sets the stage for any human to go insane, especially where want of power is concerned. The characters entire existences revolve around a bloodbath filled with gruesome death, constant bombings, and confinement in dark, underground bunkers, and they have been exposed to all of these things, it is implied, for quite some time. By placing Macbeth in the overwhelming torrents of war, which is also an element in the play that is easily overlooked, the production is showing that he was not driven mad during the events of the play/movie, but well before hand, in the many gory battles he took place in well before the Witches exposed themselves to him. The movie gives us one more insight to the long forgotten sanity of Macbeth; he enters the play coming down. He is descending from the madness of war. He is sinking deeper into the madness, deeper in the darkness that consumes his life, deeper into the grasp of the war, the inhuman insanity, that has held him long before the reader knew him. Macbeth never had a chance. Because of the life he had chosen to lead, long before he had ever made the choice to kill Duncan, he was doomed.

    ReplyDelete
  24. "And with some sweet oblivious antidote
    Cleanse the bosom of that perilous stuff
    Which weighs upon the heart?" (5.53-55)

    The evil that has filled the hearts and minds of the Macbeths will never be healed, never erased, and never forgotten. No matter how many times Lady Macbeth washes her hands, and no matter how many bodies are left in Macbeth's wake of wrath and jealousy, they will always be evil. But isn’t this exactly what Lady Macbeth wanted? She asked the spirits to "unsex" her, filling her life-giving breasts with remorseless gall, and didn’t they? Now that she isn't well, Macbeth turns to a doctor to help bring her back from her unnatural state. But it just can't be done, she was made to nurture and the weight of the murder was enough for her to take her own life. As for Macbeth, he accepts the fact he is going to hell; these murders are stepping stones to power. He is a man just like his wife wanted and will continue on without her seeing that it was her time to die. This line shows that he has lost all compassion, even for his wife, who was compassionless to begin with;he knows there is no cure for the evils he and his wife have committed. Macbeth is asking for a cure for their desires, which they sought after violently and arguably obtained. But nothing will reverse the wounds that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have inflicted upon themselves, and it is ironic Macbeth even dares to ask.

    ReplyDelete
  25. As Raegan and Caroline said, the setting in the movie is used to emphasize the deceit and fall to darkness in a familiar setting. One thing they did not mention, however, is how throughout the movie, the elevators going down represent his descent into hell. The first time we see the elevator descending is when Macbeth is meeting the Weird Sisters. After this fatal meeting, he begins the steady road to madness. Soon after, Lady Macbeth is shown in an elevator descending - another omen of the impending hell Macbeth will soon enter. Every time Macbeth moves, there is and elevator moving down. After he has been crowned king, he and Lady Macbeth are in an elevator together. In this scene, the elevator moves very quickly while Macbeth holds Lady Macbeth's hand in a death grip - symbolizing their speeding journey together into the pits of hell.

    There is a single moment in the movie when the elevator is shown ascending. This is before Banquo's ghost enters Macbeth's dinner party. Banquo is on his way to heaven, and thus has an elevator which moves up.

    ReplyDelete
  26. In the PBS film, Macbeth, the story mostly takes place in some sort of bunker during World War II. The fact that most of the beginning movie takes place underground enhances the theme of the play that Macbeth is damned before he even dies. When in the bunker, everyone is hiding in darkness, trying to protect themselves from enemies from above. In a similar manner, Macbeth spends the whole play trying to fight his fate which he supposes to be controlled by unearthly, supernatural beings- the three witches. But Macbeth doesn’t realize that hiding in darkness doesn’t save him from the witches. They are living right under his nose. Macbeth could be more vulnerable outside the bunker in his palace, but now he realizes he has already been damned. But now it isn’t physical darkness he’s hiding behind, it’s the darkness of murder and betrayal. Betsy talked about how everything is dark and hell like and how the elevator is almost always moving down, going deeper and deeper into the depths of the earth. This could very easily be seen as symbolic for Macbeth’s future journey into Hell. The more he is convinced of his damnation, the more he murders and the more insane he becomes and the deeper and deeper he digs himself into damnation. He knows he can no longer hide from his fate, so he takes it to the next level to try to force his own mind into believing that he controls his destiny.

    ReplyDelete
  27. "Out, damned spot, out, I say! One. Two. Why then, ‘tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. . . The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean? No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting." (5.1.31-36,38-40)


    Lady Macbeth's destruction is swift because of her husband. In this speech, the fall of Lady Macbeth is unfolding. Lady Macbeth's diction is choppy, jumping from idea to idea as her state of mind changes. Her sentences are short and unpolished, reflecting a mind too disturbed to speak eloquently. Although she spoke in iambic pentameter before, she now speaks in prose—thus falling from the noble to the speech of the common people.

    As Macbeth's power grows, Lady Macbeth's has decreased. She began the play as a remorseless, influential voice capable of sweet-talking Duncan and of making Macbeth do her bidding. In the third act Macbeth leaves her out of his plans to kill Banquo, refusing to reveal his intentions to her. Now in the last act, she has dwindled to a mumbling sleepwalker, capable only of a mad and rambling speech. Even Lady Macduff who is not even that important has a moving death scene, being slaughtered along with her family, while Lady Macbeth dies off stage. Even her husband was cold in his apathy when he heard the news of her death, not even showing interest in it. This lack of stage time shows the final fall of Lady Macbeth, who was crushed by her husband's growing power.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Lady Macbeth lives in fear and regret of her decisions. In the PBS adaption of Macbeth, the producers emphasized Lady Macbeth’s paranoia and inexistent murderous nature. While Macbeth was to preparing to kill Duncan we saw Lady Macbeth filled with fear. She waited, paranoid, in a dark hall, her eyes dodged every corner, and she flinched at every noise. Many people jump to the conclusion that Lady Macbeth was the more blood thirsty than Macbeth, and I believe otherwise.
    Lady Macbeth was influenced by the prophetic word of the witches, and acted on them. We see Macbeth suffer from a terrible case of paranoia, while Lady Macbeth was rid of hers when Duncan was slain. Lady Macbeth is plagued by fear. A person can only take so much fear before it drives them insane, this is why Lady Macbeth discourages her husband from continuing on his murderous streak.
    Many situations strongly point to the remorse that Lady Macbeth feels. When Banquo is leaving she focuses on Macbeth’s every move. She sees the murderous look in her eyes and returns it with worry. Later when they are preparing to go to a feast, Lady Macbeth pleads with Macbeth to stop his murders.
    Like Emma pointed out, there are black, white, and red lights in the scene. Lady Macbeth is wearing a revealing red dress. She’s almost barely clothed in red, while Macbeth is soaked in a red light. She is losing her bloodlust while Macbeth exists in it; this along with her fearful and pleading tone to Macbeth during the scene before their feast show her obvious remorse.
    Lady Macbeth slowly begins to become more humane and upset about her actions, and less thirsty to precede with them.

    ReplyDelete
  29. No matter how much Macbeth may act strong and courageous, he's truly afraid of where his future lies. He tells himself that "[his] heart shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear" (5.3.10-11). He is trying to convince himself that nothing will happen to him while he's still on the throne. The second apparition told him "for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth," so he believes that no one will be able to harm him. But throughout Act 5 Macbeth uses that prediction to reassure himself that he can't be harmed when he finds out that the English army is coming for him. He hides behind those words, using them as a lie, covering up his fears.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The three caskets that Portia’s suitors must choose from represent equality in The Merchant of Venice. Prejudice is one of the main themes in this play. There is prejudice about race which, as Monica stated, is shown during the interaction between Portia and the Prince of Morocco. The first time the prince speaks to Portia he asks her to “Mislike me not for my complexion, The shadowed livery of the burnished sun, To whom I am a neighbor and near bred” (2.1.1-3). In more modern terms, he asks Portia to mislike him not because of his brown skin. This is also proven later in the play when Lorenzo tells Lancelet that he can justify Jessica being the daughter of a Jew better than Lancelet can justify getting a black woman pregnant. “I shall answer that better to the commonwealth than you can the getting up of the Negro’s belly. The Moor is with child by you, Lancelet” (3.5.36-38). This leads me to the next type of prejudice, religious prejudice. It is no secret that there is huge strive between Christians and Jews in this play. The play’s main antagonist, Shylock, states during his first scene onstage that he "hate[s] him [Antonio] for he is a Christian" (1.3.42). Shylock also declares that Antonio has “laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies-and what’s his reason” (3.1.54-57) Shylock asks rhetorically, “I am a Jew” (3.1.57) he concludes, answering his own question confidently. Even the good and kind Antonio refers to Shylock as the “devil” (1.3.107) and “a villain” (3.1.108) because of Shylocks religion while he and Bassanio are asking the Jew to lend them money. Antonio and his Christian friends have refered to Shylock as the devil for the rest of the play so far. Lancelet even calls both Christians and Jews bad while talking to Jessica in Act 3. sc. 5. He states that she will be damned because her father was a Jew, and Christians, who will raise the price of pork, will be just as much to blame. There is also a continuing prejudice of between the wealthy and the poor. This is shown by Bassanio’s need for money at the beginning of the play, so that he may impress the rich and beautiful Portia and be an equal with at least one of her other suitors. It is also shown by the use of the word “sirrah” throughout the play. A word which one uses to address one’s inferior. These three types of prejudice have been used throughout the entire play.

    The only time that these three instances of prejudice are inconsequential is during the test to become Portia’s husband. Portia is visited by men of different race, different social classes, and of unknown religion. Some of these suitors include, the County Palantine, a French lord, the baron of England, a duke, and the Prince of Morroco. The audience is unaware of the religious views of these men, and although these men of different races do have a reasonable sum of money they are still at different class levels than one another. In conclusion, the test of the three caskets symbolizes equality.

    ReplyDelete