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Hey I just finished an essay on MacBeth. The question was
"Discuss, Explain, Describe MacBeth's emotional/mental deterioration throughout the play".
My essay was about 800 words long and I was just wondering if people might want to give their own insight on this. I'd like to compare the opinions you people have to my own, and maybe edit my final copy a bit or add a few points that might be catchy before I hand it in tomorrow. Any opinions or discussions on this topic would be great!
-Justin
Judging from his descriptions in the exposition, its obvious that he is a solid character. His first big weird out comes when he sends Lady Macbeth away so he can talk to Banquo's murderers. Its the first point in the play that he acts without his wife. She's pretty much useless to him throughout the rest of the play. Than there's the Banquo's Ghost scene right after. That's when you can really SEE his instability coming to life. Also the apithetic reaction to Lady M's death, his overconfidence against Malcolm's armies, ect... A good production of the play will emphisize his stability in the begining and contrast it with his instability at the end. His downward spiral through sanity is really the force that drives the play along from one tragic murder to the next.
Similar to my description. I believe that Macbeth always had that sort of mental instability though. From the begginnings of the play Lady Macbeth seems to have him on a leesh so-to-speak. He seems insecure to act for himself, and lets his wife decide for him. The thing I noticed however was the exchange of personalities throughout the play with Macbeth and his wife. At first she was the stern one, making all the decisions and issuing the orders. Macbeth seemed to be the uncertain follower who did what he was told. As the play progressed Lady Macbeth became guilty of her crimes and became the uncertain one. Macbeth on the other hand became more confident in his decisions, sent his wife AWAY to make decisions(as opposed to her calling the shots), and seemed to be the stern and cold one. Although he was clearly insane by the end of the play and obsessed with the prophecies of the witches, He did indeed take lady Macbeth's place, and she took his in my opinion.
-Justin
OMG my memorys come back i read macbeth like 3 times over for a exam(enjoing it more every time) only to find out the non mecbeth qustion(on the mabeth paper) was worth more marks and the qustion was about bad guys.
my qustion why is shakespear studied in engish not Drama or thereter studies?
I guess that depends on the teacher. I remember taking Theatre History in high school, and we never actually read them, we just talked about when he wrote the plays, how they were produced and for whom, etc,... but now, in college I've taken specific Shakespeare classes, granted I'm an English Lit major, but I'm also taking a Brit Lit course that covers Beowulf to 1616, and my instructor won't touch them (how's that for a run-on!).Quote:
Originally Posted by hugo_fan24601
I guess English classes study them, because they're so influential. Shakespeare did so much borrowing from other works, and yet, so many other writers have borrowed from him. I have even seen Shakespearean influence in Harry Potter!
yes in thereater studies you very really perform any way but i think it woould be easyer to studie shakespear in T.Studies and learn about the english lang. side and the thereatical side to it