Lady Macbeth: Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valor
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”
Like the poor cat i' th' adage? (Macbeth, 1.7)
Macbeth: Please, stop! I dare to do only what is proper for a man to do. He who dares to do more is not a man at all. (Macbeth, 1.7)
Men who are not evil begin to be evil because they have the power to make that kind of decision. As much as Lady Macbeth wanted to kill Duncan herself, she couldn't because she is a woman. Lady Macbeth implies that Macbeth is a coward because he fears the consequences of killing Duncan. Because Lady Macbeth is someone Macbeth trusts and loves he does not want to let her down. By letting her influence his decisions he becomes evil. He believes that if he kills Duncan then he can be King and that would make her happy. He is also tempted by the idea of becoming King and the only person standing in his way is Duncan so he thinks it would be easy to do this one thing to get what he wants. Internally he is fighting with the roles that he plays as Duncan's kinsman and subject as well as his host. He is loyal to Duncan and would want to do him right by not killing him. But the thought of being King is too good of a prize. By crossing the line and commiting to killing Duncan Macbeth becomes evil.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/trump-focuses-his-attacks-on-carson-as-rival-slowly-chips-away-at-his-support/
Trump is kind of like Macbeth when he goes over the top in order to win votes. He's a good businessman but because he wants to be President so badly he makes ridiculous statements and does all he can to get Americans onto his side. This news article says he is attacking Carson because he doesn't want to lose support. Getting Carson out of the way means he is closer to being President. He is representing Lady Macbeth's viewpoint here and is more of a go-getter than Macbeth. He isn't scared to do what is necessary to become President.
Lady Macbeth: Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valor
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”
Like the poor cat i' th' adage? (Macbeth, 1.7)
Macbeth: Please, stop! I dare to do only what is proper for a man to do. He who dares to do more is not a man at all. (Macbeth, 1.7)
Men who are not evil begin to be evil because they have the power to make that kind of decision. As much as Lady Macbeth wanted to kill Duncan herself, she couldn't because she is a woman. Lady Macbeth implies that Macbeth is a coward because he fears the consequences of killing Duncan. Because Lady Macbeth is someone Macbeth trusts and loves he does not want to let her down. By letting her influence his decisions he becomes evil. He believes that if he kills Duncan then he can be King and that would make her happy. He is also tempted by the idea of becoming King and the only person standing in his way is Duncan so he thinks it would be easy to do this one thing to get what he wants. Internally he is fighting with the roles that he plays as Duncan's kinsman and subject as well as his host. He is loyal to Duncan and would want to do him right by not killing him. But the thought of being King is too good of a prize. By crossing the line and commiting to killing Duncan Macbeth becomes evil.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/trump-focuses-his-attacks-on-carson-as-rival-slowly-chips-away-at-his-support/
Trump is kind of like Macbeth when he goes over the top in order to win votes. He's a good businessman but because he wants to be President so badly he makes ridiculous statements and does all he can to get Americans onto his side. This news article says he is attacking Carson because he doesn't want to lose support. Getting Carson out of the way means he is closer to being President. He is representing Lady Macbeth's viewpoint here and is more of a go-getter than Macbeth. He isn't scared to do what is necessary to become President.
Teach to be Taught
Macbeth: But in these cases
We still have judgment here, that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips. (Macbeth, 1.7)
http://www.commdiginews.com/world-news/isis-strategy-shift-raises-global-terror-threat-52018/
http://www.inquisitr.com/2566962/isis-headquarters-in-iraq-destroyed-just-hours-after-paris-terrorist-attack-250-militants-killed/
Macbeth is reluctant to kill Duncan because he knows that bad fortune will come back around. Men who choose to be evil are teaching others to be evil too. Whatever harm he brings to others will come back to bite him in the butt. The cycle of evil continues because everyone will want revenge. An example of this from recent news is the ISIS attack in Paris. They are going all out with acts of terror all around the world. Of course there will be fear and people wanting to stop ISIS so those wanting revenge on ISIS or to scare them into stopping will want to harm them back. There is no definite end to this cycle and men who are evil will end up harming innocent people.
Thine Eyes Or Are They Mine Eyes
Macbeth: Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going,
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o' th' other senses,
Or else worth all the rest. (Macbeth, 2.1)
When Macbeth is pulling out his imaginary dagger, he says that it would lead him in the direction he was already heading. It's hard to tell whether it's him making the decision to kill Duncan now or Lady Macbeth. It seems that he is seeing eye to eye with her and is convinced that killing Duncan is a good thing. He says his eyesight is either the only thing working or the only thing not working. He is still unsure of whether this is the decision he wants to make or not. It could either be he is not thinking clearly or he is finally seeing the picture. I think evil men will have these thoughts about what they are doing and if it is right. Macbeth's goal was to become King and he chose that path that involved killing Duncan so he became an evil man. The consequence is that even if he regrets it, he'll have to live with what he has done because he can't take it all back.
Pity
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/05/Pity.jpg/310px-Pity.jpg
http://www.50-best.com/images/happy_birthday_memes/stay_gangster.jpg
Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear Macbeth.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.
Macbeth: And pity, like a naked newborn babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. (Macbeth, 1.7)
I think I understand the "Pity" painting now because I went back and read this part. Macbeth speaks about how he should be the one protecting Duncan not murdering him. He should close the door on the murderers face because Duncan is a great and humble leader, his death would be injustice. The news of the deed would be heard eveywhere and so I think Lady Macbeth is seen as the person under the baby and horses as the one being influenced with thoughts of killing Duncan. The weight of Duncan's dead is over her head. Her physical embodiment is the woman who is sad she can't kill him because she's a woman and she is praying (with the clasped hands in the painting) for the King to be killed so that Pity, as a baby, will ride with angels and horses to spread the news.
@ Ms. Genesky
Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear Macbeth.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.
I really like these parallels that you made between Macbeth, a 500 year old piece of literature, and current events that are happening today. It shows that human nature really doesn't change and patterns will always showcase itself in history. I also liked the fact that you gave context to the Pity painting because now that helps me to understand Blake's interpretation. Finally, I really think that your analysis of the Act 2 Scene 1 passage because you bring up some valid points of Macbeth's motivations behind becoming an evil figure!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anurupa in that I really enjoyed your explanation for the painting, Pity. I also questioned the influence of Lady Macbeth compared to Macbeth's own wishes in scene 2. I found your inclusion about the circle of evil or karma to be really interesting too. I had not really thought about the consequences that Macbeth faces in this way. Your connections to modern day people and events were surprising to me but worked very well. I compared Macbeth's choices to those of modern but fictional characters instead.
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