By class time on Monday, please post a comment responding to either or both of the following questions:
1. Consider Macbeth's vision of the dagger in 2.1.44-2.1.77 (one of Shakespeare's best-known soliloquies). What do you think is going on in this scene? Is he hallucinating - and, if so, why? - or is it a supernatural event? Or is there any difference? How does the imagery of witchcraft and wolves in the second half of the speech relate to Macbeth's frame of mind?
2. Discuss the interaction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth throughout 2.2. How do each of them feel about the murder? Who seems to have more power? More fear? How do you predict each of them will feel and behave from here forward?
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28 comments:
Obviously I meant to say "by class time Tuesday or Wednesday, whenever your section meets." There is no class on Monday.
during this soliloqiue, I think macbeth's strange perception of the dagger is a manifestation of his fear and refusal to accept the situation before him. I think that in murdering Duncan, Macbeth realizes how much he is acting out of character, just to please others and/or satisfy and selfish desire for power. he questions if his dagger is "a dagger of the mind, a false creation/Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"(pg.53 ln 50-51), meaning that although the actual dagger is physically real and present, he is having major last-minute doubts of whether he can actually go through with the plan. "Is this really happening? Am i actually going to murder the king?" He is also already having post-murder paranoia because he prays that "though firm-set earth,/Hear not my steps, which walk, for fear/thy very stones prate of my whereabouts"(pg.53 ln 69-70).Macbeth is doubtful, afraid, guilty and disbelieving about the murder he is about to commit.
(for #2) i think at this point it is very clear that lady macbeth is the one in control of the situation. while it was originally macbeth's idea to kill duncan and he was the one that in fact commited the murder, she was pushing him forward every step of the way and wouldnt let him turn back when his conscience got the better of him. macbeth is far more fearful of the situation than his wife, who seems to feel little remorse or fear about the event. i have a feeling that lady macbeth will continue to feel little guilt about her actions and that macbeth will be constantly digging himself into a deeper hole if he cannot stand up to his spouse.
The idea of murder is messing with Macbeth's mind because he really isn't a malicious or coniving man.. yet at least. He sees the dagger and realizes he is actually going to have to follow through with their murderous plan and, left alone with his thoughts, is for lack of a better phrase, flipping out. He knows he has to do it but is still having major qualms especially as he holds the dagger, hears the bell to signal the start of the plan, and it gets even worse when he has blood on his hands afterwards and really stops being able to function completely. Witchcraft and wolves ties in because he is so scared he is bringing in crazy supernatural elements into his frazzled mind. He is scared, and the fear is driving him close to insanity. But i have a feeling that he will soon get the *blanks* to make this scheme and power mongering his own.
Macbeth feels like he has no real reliable reason to have to kill Duncan but Lady Macbeth thinks he should do anything it takes to receive the throne as king. Lady Macbeth seems to have more power and acts like more of the man. I think that Lady Macbeth will continue to conjure up the perfect plan for the vision to come true and Macbeth will be fearful but follow as Lady Macbeth says.
for #2 - lady macbeth is the forceful and driving one her relationship. while macbeth is worried about killing duncan, lady macbeth is encouraging him and calling him a coward for having second thoughts. after the murder, it is apparent that macbeth will be taunted with guilt while lady macbeth's power hungry actions will continue. lady macbeth is able to manipulate macbeth into going along with her ruthless plans and in the end it will most likely just hurt them both.
From the end of Act 1 we have seen the power Lady Macbeth has over Macbeth. As Macbeth hopes the witches are right about him becoming king, Lady Macbeth plans to take action in making the statement true. In 2.2, Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to go through with the plans of murdering Duncan. When she finds that her husband regrets the action and forgot to leave the daggers by the chamberlains, she quickly decides it was a job for her to take on herself because she says believes she is not as big of a coward as Macbeth. Overall, it is clear Lady Macbeth has control over Macbeth and it will continue to be this way until Macbeth chooses to make a decision on his own.
i agree with alyssa that from the start of the planning of the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth has controlled and manipulated Macbeth about murdering Duncan. she is much stronger than Macbeth, and this is shown when she puts the daggers back into the room when Macbeth is too fearful to. after all, it was Lady Macbeth who really wanted to kill Duncan, not Macbeth. i believe that Macbeth will be overwhelmed with guilt and Lady Macbeth will live with herself just fine when people find out about the murder
Throughout the second scene, it is apparent that Macbeth is in a state of consternation. He cannot seem to fathom the far-reaching consequences of his murder, and seems to be at the will of his wife, lady Macbeth. While Macbeth seems to be dwelling on the murder and seems to show genuine guilt, it is Lady Macbeth who runs the show, by making sure all of their ploys to set up others people are in place. Although Macbeth actually committed the murder, it is lady Macbeth who replaces the bloody daggers, showing she is in true control of this planned out killing, lacking any sense of remorse. killing, lacking any sense of remorese.
2. When Macbeth returns from killing Duncan, he forgets Lady Macbeth's plan to put the knives in Duncan's servants room. When Lady Macbeth tells him to put the daggers in their room, he refuses saying he is "afraid to think what [he has] done". Lady Macbeth has all the power in the relationship. She convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan, even though he knows it's wrong. Macbeth is feeling uneasy about the murder and starts hearing a knocking sound. He is paranoid that someone will know what he has done. Lady Macbeth wants to have power so she feels that killing Duncan is justified if she, in return, becomes more powerful. Macbeth defidently has more fear than Lady Macbeth as he begins to hear noises that are'nt really there and becomes more paranoid. Lady Macbeth will continue on her quest for ultimate power, while Macbeth will be unable to say no to his wife.
#2 Throughout 2.2 the characters of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to "break through". We knew from previous chapters that Lady Macbeth was a strong woman, but not as strong has she has shown herself to be. Macbeth does not have to "gut" to look at what he has done more than once, forcing his wife to attend to his unfinished business. Lady Macbeth has continually shown her strong character, and her eagerness for royal power. It is for certain that Macbeth has the most fear between the two of them. He cannot finish his job, and almost breaks down in tears shortly after he has killed his victims. So far the behavior and characters of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have yet to change, and I think looking forward not much will change; Lady Macbeth will still be the driving force (or "peer pressure") pushing Macbeth.
I think that Macbeth's apparition is a clear example of his guilt and uneasiness with the deed he has committed to carry out. Macbeth has been wary about whether or not to go through with his plan to murder Duncan the entire time, and this is another example of the battle he is having with himself over it. Another thought might be that the witches are encouraging him to go through with his plan and taunting him by putting the dagger there and having it point toward Duncan. Whichever the case, i think it is easy to conclude that Duncan's death will continue to haunt Macbeth throughout the play, since it is already plaguing him before the murder.
in response to question 1...i think it is a hallucination or vision that he has. the question of whether or not to kill duncan has been tormenting him since the witches prediction. the wolves and allusion to the witches both symbolize the evil that he is about to take part in. in this soliloquie, the dagger lures him toward duncans room. It is as if the dagger is taunting him as it gets covered with "gouts of blood." he has doubts about killing duncan and its consequences, but lady macbeths argument makes him go through with the deed.
For question 1, his vision of the dagger leads him to the king and Macbeth kills him. I think it was a hallucination because it appears as he is walking to kill Duncan. Possibly, it is a manifestation of his unease over killing Duncan. It is not supernatural because he uses his real dagger to kill Duncan. The imagery of witches and wolves in the second half of the speech helps symbolize the evil nature of the murder.
When Macbeth sees the dagger,it is all a figment of his imagination. He sees this dagger because he has uncertainty when he is considering killing Duncan. when he tries to take the dagger it dissappears and that prompts him to take out his own dagger and continue to kill Duncan. The reason the dagger appeared was because it was a final decision that Macbeth had to make, does he kill Duncan or does he let him live?
I feel that this soliloquie represents Macbeth's true unwillingness to actually go through with the killing of Duncan. This so called vision is his mind's way of telling him that what he is doing is not right. This shows the immense power that Lady Macbeth has over him, as she got him to commit a murder. The imagery shows the emotional struggles that Macbeth has with dealing with the murder.
Question 2-
Lady Macbeth wears the pants the relationship. She is telling Macbeth to kill Duncan, though he doesnt really want to. When Duncan dies, Lady Macbeth does not feel as guilty as Macbeth does, and she was able to pursuade him to kill Duncan.
Question 1: The dagger is certainly a hallucination. It shows Macbeth's reluctance and guilt as he is about to kill Duncan. He knows it it wrong but also what must happen. Because he is so racked with guilt, the dagger is a haluccination and now a dream. A haluccination entails that it is his minds own creation and symbolic of the guilt in his mind. The images of wolves and witches help to further the tone of evil and death.
In response to question #2, I think it is clear that Lady Macbeth controls her relationship with Macbeth and the involved interactions between them. But at the same time, Macbeth has a very powerful and skeptical mind of his own. On the one hand he may be manipulated his wife and on the other; he is in constant conflict with his own mind. The struggle between these two overbearing forces will no doubt create more and more tension as the story progresses.
The interaction between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth demonstrates clearly that Macbeth feels much worse about the murder than Lady Macbeth. Macbeth being the one who committed the murder, feels awful for his actions, although it was his idea. Lady Macbeth feels little pity for Duncan and thinks what she pushed Macbeth to do is justified and right. It is clear from this interaction that Lady Macbeth has more power because of her ability to feel little for the actions that have played out. I predict Macbeth will attempt to break away from the deeds that Lady Macbeth has cast onto him, while Lady Macbeth will continue her manipulation and attempt to gain as much power as possible.
2. MacBeth feels like he has made a terrible mistake whereas Lady MacBeth feels that she is one step closer to having MacBeth in the throne, and since she has more power and is in control of their relationship, she will basically rule. MacBeth has fear and the Lady has power. I think that MacBeth will either own up to the murder or blame it on lady macbeth, and lady Macbeth will conceal the murder and continue to control macBeth.
(Question 2) It is obvious that in scences 2.1 and 2.2 Lady Macbeth is in charge. She forces Macbeth to persue her plans of killing Duncan despite his true feeling toward the issue. It is clear that Macbeth doesn't feel right about killing him but he has to follow through with the plans so not to dissapoint Lady Macbeth. She showed little or no fear about the situation while Macbeth was obviously greatly disturbed. After he killed Duncan he was still shocked by his actions while Lady Macbeth just told him to wash his hands and forget about. From these scenes I believe that we can predict Lady Macbeth to remain in charge with little guilt, and Macbeth to have a sensitive heart and experience much fear.
for #2. I believe that Lady Macbeth is perfectly fine with the idea that she assisted in the murder of her king. She says, "My hands are of your [Macbeth's] color, but I shame to wear a heart so white." To me this implies that she wishes it were her that killed Duncan, not Macbeth. Macbeth is clearly regretful about his actions. Lady Macbeth is shown as having more power, while Macbeth has more fear. I expect that Lady Macbeth will continue to make the decisions and Macbeth will continue to be her puppet (although fearfully).
Regarding the second question... It seems as though Lady Macbeth has more power throughout the scene. She claims to be ashamed of her husbands cowardness and it is her whom goes back into the room to put the daggers with the chamberlains. Also, Macbeth is very frightened from the knocking noises and afraid of the situation as a whole. I believe that it is Macbeth whom will feel remorse for his actions because he is the one that knows the corruption within the act of murder in the first place.
In response to the second question, it seems that Macbeth feels great remorse for what he has done, while Lady Macbeth shows no emotion or sorrow for what has happened. Lady Macbeth feels that this is what they must do while Macbeth thinks "This is a sorry sight." (pg. 57 ln 28). Everytime Macbeth suggests that what they are doing is wrong Lady Macbeth convinces him that he is "foolish" and that he must be a brave, strong man. The strong remorse for what Macbeth has done clearly effects him when he says, "'Amen' stuck in my throat." (pg. 57 ln. 44). It seems that Macbeth has no power over what Lady Macbeth is doing, and that she maintains confindence and power over him. I predict that Lady Macbeth will continue to dominate over Macbeth, continuing the many murders on the path to becoming king.
for #2, it seems that while macbeth is constantly regretting and hesitating in these murderous deeds, while his wife is pushing him forward with her ambitious mind. whereas macbeth has morals that seem to conflict with the actions, lady macbeth has tossed aside her own for power
I think that Lady MacBeth is now clearly the one in charge. She is the mastermind of the killing and MacBeth acts as her puppet. I think that MacBeth has a good conscience (for the most part) because he felt bad after murdering King Duncan, where his wife told him to look over it and not dwell on the past. I think that Lady MacBeth is going to continue to be the one calling the shots for the rest of the book because it seems as if she is the one that really thirsts for power.
#2. Macbeth seems to actually have a conscience, as opposed to Lady Macbeth, who is only concerned about killing whoever needs to be killed, and doing whatever it takes to get her husband to the throne. She, as Macbeth addresses, is more "manly" than he is; meaning that she has more violent ways about her and is more courageous, but not in a good way. Because she is so cuthroat to everyone around her and is such a manipulator, Macbeth suggests that she would only be able to have male children. This conversation between the two of them really shows us their true personalities, how Lady Macbeth has no conscience and Macbeth does. From this moment on, we can predict that Lady Macbeth will not have any regrets about killing Duncan, but Macbeth will be deeply troubled.
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