Reflection of Macbeth

The play of Macbeth relates easily with many essential questions that have been asked in this unit. The two essential questions that really stuck out were: What does it mean to be human and How does power corrupt. Macbeth proved himself human when he succumbs to the power and manipulation from both the witches and Lady Macbeth herself. Lady Macbeth calls him a coward in Act I Scene VII to cause him to guilty for going against his promise to her. "Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem," (I, vii, 44-47) Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into doing her deeds through toying around with his conscience and causes guilt to be the ultimate drive towards his actions. The obvious question that everyone will answer is how does power corrupt. Gaining power from killing the king, Macbeth becomes power hungry and is obsessed with this new power and ability to do whatever he wishes as king. Because of this obsession of power, Macbeth leads to kill those that once cared for him to kept this power from escaping his grasp. After hearing the prophecy from the witches, Macbeth swears to kill the family of the one that fled from him. "The cast of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; gives to the edge o' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line." ( IV, i, 164-167). Macbeth here, is determine of killing the members of Macduff to ensure that the last apparition that was revealed would not come true. He did this in order to keep the power that he has gained, and to possibly gain more power by having the power to keep the power of a king. Macbeth is the clear example of how gaining even a little power will corrupt one self as they gain more. Power here, is the drug of the world.

What I learned throughout this project was that working in groups is easy, when everyone collaborate, which is exactly what everyone in our group did. We worked together to achieve it as fast as possible because we all had really busy lives. It was difficult to find a time to actually film the project, but we eventually found a free to time to put everything together and I was completely happy with the outcome. I also learned that it is really important to understand the play and to go beyond the black and white words to really understand the purpose of the play and what Shakespeare is trying to say and tell others. Something I noticed for the next time we work in groups is to not leave everything to the last minute, which we didn't do, but it is always a good reminder to myself. Also it is important to spend time analyzing the scene, maybe not word for word, but analyze the concepts and what the author or poet is trying to say.

I am extremely proud of the analysis of this scene we did because we dug deep into the meaning of the true meaning of the scene to uncover Shakespeare's message towards his audience as he reveals how easily manipulated we can be. He reveals a common characteristic that we may all possess, whether we admit it or not. If I divided the work of each of the group members, I would have to say that we all did equal amount of work contributing to the project. There was no one that did not do their part so it was a good group which helped us finish the project with effect time use and days before the dead line.

Macbeth Act 4 Scene 1

EQ: What does it mean to be human?
How does power corrupt?

In Act 4 Scene 1, the 3 witches brew a potion that can tell them the future and what will happen under which circumstances. Macbeth requests to look into the potion to see his own prophecy concerning his future. The apparition show an armed head, a bloody child and a child crowned with a tree in his hand. These are symbols of what may happen in the future that can strip him of his power as king. Now, Macbeth knows too be aware of the than of Fife, that no man born of woman shall harm himself and that he will be vanquished "when Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him" (Line 101-102). Then, when the witches leaves, Lennox comes and notify the king that Macduff has fled to England and it is then that Macbeth orders the death of Macduff's family and kin.

What does it mean to be human?
To Macbeth, the concept of being human hasn't passed through his head since he gained the power of a king. Now, he is power hungry because he already had a taste of what it feels like to be king. This is also another example of being human, because it shows how vulnerable we are and how easily influenced we are by what we are exposed to. "Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits:" (Line 158) This line shows how Macbeth does not wish to be exposed of his weaknesses, although they seem unlikely to happen. This is proof that he wishes to stay in power

How does power corrupt?
We can also see in this Scene how becoming king, gaining all that power, has really corrupted Macbeth. Instead of just ordering the death of his friend, he wishes to kill another friend's family to show off his power, but also because he is frightened. In the beginning, the quest for power corrupted Macbeth into the king that he was loyal to. Now, after gaining all that power, Macbeth has to do more bad deeds to remain in power, which includes killing those that he was/are close to. "The cast of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls" (Line 164-166). This shows us clearly that Macbeth wishes to eliminate the family of Macduff

comment to conflicting...

Ilike how you found examples in the first Act ot support M's dilema. You see where he is at and how he is torn. I like that you found more than one eg to support your answer and that you backed it up with support from the play to further develop your writing. remind me to show you how to footnote Shakespeare.

Macbeth Act I

EQ: How do we deal with conflicting elements within our personalities?

Macbeth had to deal with his own conflicting elements concerning his personality when his wife persuaded him to kill the King. To Macbeth, it didn't seem right to kill the king because he is still loyal to the king, but at the same time, he was ambitious and wished to gain that power as king of the land. In Act I, Scene 5, line 9,Macbeth told Lady Macbeth of the prophecy of the witches. "...'Hail, King that shalt be!'" This shows his ambition of being king and being encouraged because the prophecy of the witches. In Act I, Scene 7, line 33-34, we see how Macbeth does not desire to kill the king because he is loyal to the king. " We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late..." Therefore, Macbeth experienced conflicting elements of his personality while making such crucial decisions that made him doubt himself.
Also, in the movie, we saw the exact same inner conflict of Macbeth while Lady Macbeth was the outer influence that helped him decide.

Notes for MacBeth

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth

response

You have definitely explained how the relationship is transformed. You have developed your writing. To further develop it-bring in an actual quote or two to actually back up waht you are saying. You do have good insight into the situation as you see how one grows.

Term: Ambition

Definition:
The drive behind a passion, something that pushes you forward to meet the goal that you have set. To strive for more.

Reasons:
So something gets accomplished. So we can achieve great things and prove to others that we are someone greater than the image projected.

Ways to go it:
By having a passion. By setting goals and striving to meet those goals.

Ways to maintain it:
To keep the drive with which we use to achieve our goal.

Ways one would use it:
To achieve something that they wish for. To want more in life than you already have.

Ways one could loose it:
By loosing the passion. By not believing in what they are doing and why. By loosing all hope whatsoever.

How it affects people:
Can motivate others to strive beyond what they are able to. Motivate others to join what they have started. Also make others feel the need of ambition in their own lives.

Others:
Without ambition, nothing would be accomplished and we wouldn't be able to stand where we are and say how we have achieved this standing. Without the drive, there will be no great in the world and there will be no culture or society.

Connections:
Ambition connects to loyalty, because you have to be loyal to thing object you are ambitions of, or else you will not be able to achieve it. Power is also linked to ambition because ambition achieves great goals, which may put those that achieve in a place of power at times. Therefore they need to know how to handle that power.

Our Legacy?

            How are we identified? How are we classified? This darn thing called the society has all the power. Only it knows what is right and what is wrong. It can determine the how your whole life experience may turn out, how others will see and judge you. A little too much power for a mere term made of billions of people. Yes, society is made by none other than mankind. We are the ones that create this ‘society’, ones that feed it and evolve it. So when someone says ‘What has our society come to?’ what will you answer? There is no one to blame, but ourselves. Just as we are the ones that write our own history, we are the ones forming this so called society. So, when you graduate from high school, is this what you are proud of?

            Walking down the high school halls for the last time, this was the only thought that filled my entire being. Is this going to be the legacy of our generation? Are we going to be remembered as the ones who are responsible for creating outcasts, bullying others, and judging everyone like a cover of a book? Is there nothing to do to change this?

            But then, I realized that we, the ones that create our society, do it out of pity for ourselves. We do it to make ourselves feel better. We make ourselves less lonely by trying to merge ourselves with others to be part of something, even if it’s not our true self.

            Simply as a human being, we crave company and cannot stand the thought or feeling of being alone. It is simply the unthinkable. Everything anyone has done is in desperate need of company, of other’s company, even if it is someone that is frowned upon in society. This art, of being alone, comes to us naturally. Everyone knows how to be alone.

            So how do we choose to fight this natural concept? By surrounding ourselves with other lonely ones.

I remember this one class, we read a poem. “The race of man is suffering/ And I can hear the moan. ‘Cause nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.” (Alone by Maya Angelou)

As I slid down, back to the lockers, I can’t help but notice the deadening silence all around. The school has never been this quiet before. How true these words have been. There is no way to make it out of this world alone, to make it through this world even. Even in my short existence on this planet, I can fully justify that. My family and my friends carried me through everything. High school is alike a minefield, one wrong step and you’re blown away, away from the action, away from everything. You simply do not exist in this world anymore. As I tiptoed my way through high school, almost stepping on a couple mines, my friend was not so lucky.

“In fine we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.” (Richard Cory by E.A. Robinson) In fine, we thought she was fine. Had everything that a girl her age needed. Seemed to have taken all the right steps and done everything right.

The trail of red liquid had prolonged and grown. It almost reached me now. No matter how much I run from this, I will never escape it. I can run to the ends of this Earth, yet the stream will always follow me where I go.

I still ask myself, who am I really? What will I be proud of in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Even though it seems that my life hasn’t even ran half its course yet. But now I can never be sure. Someone so solid, so sure of herself, can doubt for two seconds and end up on the other side of the view. What about me then? Would I have the roots of assurance for myself to keep me grounded? To keep myself from thinking too much?

I can only hope. Mankind can only hope that there are those strong ones that exist out there.

“Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head.” (The Lottery by Shirley Jackson) She was just like Tessie. She didn’t even see it coming, yet the demons of her life surrounded her. There was nothing to be done. It was nonetheless unfair, but still, nothing to be done.

I finally stood up from my place and followed up the trail of red.

“’Thank you, Zachary,’ I said.” (The Charmer by Budge Wilson) Just as Winnifred thanked her brother for the experience during her childhood, I thank my dear friend. She has taught me more than I can ever imagine. She assured me in my times of weakness, yet I cannot return the favour. It is through our interaction, our friendship, that I learned from her, the secrets of life.

I dialled 911 on the phone.

“911, how may we help you?”

“I would like to report a suicide at the high school.”

Rest in peace, my dear friend. 

The Charmer Response

How are people transformed through their relationship with others?

In the story of "The Charmer" by Budge Wilson, we witness the growth of Winnifred through her relationship with her brother. Throughout her childhood, she had to witness how her charming brother, Zachary, wiggled out of every corner, rid of any problems that faced his way. He was the charmer and everyone seemed to be under his spell. He knew exactly what to say, how to say it and how to plead for forgiveness. He used the tale of the "prodigal son" from the Bible many times to plead forgiveness from his parents as well as worshiping them as if they are a higher power being. As the years carry on, his true colours show and he proves himself to be a whole different person. When Winnifred has her own kids, and she hears the familiar excuses, she had a deja vu of her brother pleading forgiveness of her parents. Because her experience with her brother Zack, she knew what was to come if she let her own children lead down the same way, they would have the same end. Therefore because of her relationship with her brother, she knew how to discipline her kids when similar traits started appearing. Likewise, I have met friends who knew exactly what to say when they have been caught doing something forbidden and have been able to get out of it without consequences. Because of the experiences I have had of these kind of friends, I can identify people who are similar in personality if they react the same way when put in such a position. Due to my relationship, I can better react when I meet someone similar. 

Response to "The Charmer" by Budge Wilson

There is no other portrait that fits the story of "The Charmer" other than the fox. In the story, the character of Zachary portrays perfectly what a fox is. He is sly, yet he will put on an innocent face. He will always have a backup plan if something fails. A fox is never sincere, and that is exactly what Zachary is underneath. I have made this connection because it reminds of all the 'Zacharys' I've seen in my life. They know exactly what to say at the exact moment to make everything alright. Yes, they will fix things up, but it will always be temporary.