Prompt #4 Agree or disagree with the following statement: Lady Macbeth is
the person most responsible for all of the events of this play.
Ambition-fuelled individuals are likely to exeute a variety of atrocities, including
murder in order to gain power. Throughout William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, many
individuals are partially at fault for the total chaos of Scotland’s kingdom, which
causes a complete change of hierarchy for many characters, but only one, the
character of Lady Macbeth, is the most responsible for all of the horrific events in the
play. She originally encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan, turning Macbeth into a
ruthless murderer driven by ambition. She then congratulates (does she? It might be
better to say she does not question him) Macbeth after he killed Banquo, thus
implying that he should continue with his surge of power. Lastly, she does not make
any attempt to stop Macbeth from murdering Macduff’s family as she knows it is the
right thing (be careful- there is no indication that she even knows about Macduff’s
family being murdered until after the fact.) to do in order to maintain the crown.
NEVER USE IF STATEMENTS!If Lady Macbeth never strongly encouraged
Macbeth to kill Duncan in the first place, none of these acts would follow. STICK TO
FACTS THAT OCCUR IN THE PLAY- NOT WWHAT YOU THINK MIGHT
HAVE OCCURRED.\
2 of your three points in the directional statement need work- think instead about
how she ‘encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan –manipulation and guilt and threatening
his manhood – think about her continual statements to Macbeth about how he should
hide his true feelings until this essentially becomes his own motto – and think about
how even when she commits suicide, she is essentially abandoning Macbeth, leaving
him to his own devices, and literally causing him to give up and fight to his death,
thus causing his downfall.
Prompt #1: At the end of the play, Malcolm describes Mabeth as a “bloody
butcher” and Lady Macbeth as a “fiendlike queen,” refusing to accord
them status as tragic figures. Agree or disagree with Malcolm’s
assessment that these characters are NOT tragic figures, developing
your reasons with specific reference to the play.
According to the Greek scholar Aristotle, in tragedy, the hero is someone who is ‘not
eminently good or just, yet whose misfortune is brought about by some error or
frailty’. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Malcolm refuses to accord that
lady Macbeth and Macbeth are tragic figurest do not copy the prompt word for word
– reword it so that you use your own words and ideas!!!! Malcolm’s assertion at the
end of the play that Lady Macbeth is ‘fiendlike’ and tht Maccbeth is a ‘bloody
butcher’is correct, thus removing the possibility that either one of the Macbeths could
possibly be considered a tragic figure. In order to be considered a tragic hero, the
audience must feel sympathy for the tragic characters, the characters must base their
actions on the greater good for the people, not for themselves, and the characters must
face misfortune due to some error. or frailty. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not
fully satisfy any of these qualifications, and therefor are not considered tragic heroes.
Good- from here on in, you must discuss each of the Macbeths in the terms you set
out in your directional statement. IE in body paragraph 1 you need to discuss why the
audience cannot possibly sympathize with either of the 2 characters, even in their
most desperate situations, and give specific examples for both characters about how
you would feel about them (anger?) instead of sympathy…explain, explain, explain.
It’s not enough to just say the audience wouldn’t sympathize because Mac kills his
best friend. Explain in detail why audience would not sympathize (ie) explain what
their (Banquo and Mac’s) former relationship was, then explain the impossibility of
sympathizing with someone who kills omeone so close to him simply to maintain a
crown. Also, discuss how you cannot sympathize with Lady Macbeth even when she
is tragically sleepwalking because she caused the blood to be forever on her hands,
etc etc. Do this for each paragraph.
PROMPT #3 Show how Shakespeare’s use of imagery or a motif reveals a
theme OR reinforces aspects of a major character in Macbeth
During the Elizabethan times, people strongly believed in the supernatural and used it
as a scapegoat for things they did nOt understand. In Macbeth, by William
Shakespeare, the supernatural is used as a motif to strengthen the features of the main
character Macbeth. Shakespeare uses a floating ghost to clearly portray Macbeth’s
guilt, and he uses the strange occurrence of the horses trying to eat each other to
confirm how evil Macbeth really is. You need at least three-think of another symbol
that helps to characterize him (ie) the floating dagger? May show how he feels he is
not in control of his mind or actions –and does truly show himself later to be brutally
out of control All of the above avoid phrases like ‘all of the above’ Say instead Each
of these demonstrate that the sthree symbols exemplify the motif of the supernatural
and allow the reader to fully comprehend the depth of Macbeth;’s true character.
Supernatural motif strengthens the characteristics of Macbeth.
Other motifs you could use?
Garden imagery representing the change in Macbeth from a well respected
(seed/flower planted by the King) to a weed that must be plucked (by Macduff) you
could tie this into the tragic figure as well
Bloody imagery to represent the theme of the results of overwhelming ambition (in
the beginning, lady mac washes blood off of her hands saying its not a big deal; in the
end she can’t wipe imaginary blood off of her hans because of her guilt…and Mac
says he is so steep’d in blood he can’t turn back.
Clothing/borrowed clothing to represent Mac’s insecurity and the great chain of
being- how he can never truly fit into the ‘borrow’d clothes’ and is always described
and describing himself in ill-fitting clothes. Represents both his character as other see
him and his own insecurity and how Great chain has been disrupted
Sleep and the lack of peace in sleep to show that the chain of being has been
disrupted. Right at the beginning- Mac murders sleep until the end where Lady Mac
can find no sleep in peace and in the middle where Mac is shaken by nightmares
Manliness and the great chain of being what is expected of men/women- traditional
rols- man= strong, powerful, brave, honourable; woman= loyal, quiet, nurturing
When things are in order, men perform actions to prove manliness (young
soliders+Macduff) and women behave- Lady Mac being most weak and feminine at
the end of the play
When order is disrupted, women are in charge, and men obey –Lady Mac asking to
be unsexed; questioning Mac’s manliness. . Weird sisters (powerful) being described
as having beards. Lady Macduff cursing macduff for leaving his family behind.
prompt #2
Devlop a theme which helps to determine the extent to which guilt
influences characters’ actions and shapes the plot of Macbeth.
Committing baneful poor word choice- baneful??? Horrific actions inevitably result
in a vicious circle of guilt followed by even more baneful acts. Uld strongly suggest
this statement be reworded.
Human nature dictates that vicious actions committed for the sake of self
advancement inevitably result in remorse by the individual who committed the acts
once the full results of those actions are clarified. The ensuing guilt predictably
haunts the individual, leading to the tragic demise of that person. In Macbeth,
Shakespeare conveys a theme that the guilt caused by Macbeth’s initial thoughts and
later murder of King Duncan plays a key role in determining every ensuing action in
which the Macbeths partake and eventually causes both of their deaths.
WeWE?????? Write in third person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! see this when;
Guilt can be seen as the motivating factor when Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel
guilty for not wanting to fulfill his promise of murdering Duncan, resulting in his
actual murder of Duncan and causing each of the ensuing actions to take place;
Macbeth displays his guilt for killing Banquo, showing his erratic behaviour to his
thanes and causing the revolt against him; and Lady Macbeth begins guiltily
confessing her crimes in her sleep, resulting in her suicide and in Macbeth’s choice to
fight to his death. Each of these guilty feelings directly lead to the tragic demise of
the Macbeths.
Prompt 5
The concept that ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ runs throughout this entire
play. Develop a theme statement to show how this complicated concept of
order/disorder is developed throughout the play.
Throughout William Shakesspeare’s Macbeth, it is evident that when one cannot
recognize the differences between perception and reality, monumental consequences
are at cost. This theme is proven when Macbeth allows himself to think that
becoming king will erase all his problems, when Macbeth dismisses Banquo’s advice
regarding trusting the supernatural, and when Macbeth murders Macduff’s family.
Each decision Macbeth makes is one in which he allows himself to believe that his
actions are for the best, but in the endthe reality of each act he commits causes greater
difficulty for him, and in fact eventually leads to his death.
3 points are bit weak here –I would focus on the results of :
witches’ initial prophecies and Mac’s response versus Banquo’s response
duncan’s ideas about Mac and his naïve trust in him
lady mac’s belief that if they kill duncan all will be fine