Pages

Monday, February 7, 2011

Week of January 31

Dear Honor Students,

Please analyze the following quotes from Macebeth; identify the speaker, provide context for the meaning, and interpret the meaning.

1.   

Yet do I fear they nature;
It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend to it.
2.  
The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.
3.
Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round.

10 comments:

  1. Grigg- 1st response

    1.This quotation comes from the opening soliloquy of Lady Macbeth at the beginning of act one, scene 5. She is talking about Macbeth’s drive for the throne. She says that he has the ambition necessary to take the throne, but that he is too nice. He does not have the guts to take King Duncan’s life. She says, “Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (I.V.18-19). She realizes Macbeth clearly does not have the bravery necessary to take his king’s life.

    2.This passage is found in act one, scene four, lines 48-51. Macbeth is talking to himself about Malcolm becoming the king. He sees Malcolm’s imminent kingship and views it as another hurdle he will have to get over. This is conflict that Macbeth will simply have to deal with. He wants the gods, or stars to hide his evil ambitions of killing the king. He doesn’t want people to see what he is really planning.

    3.She is expressing her want for Macbeth to hurry home. She is in the process of manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan. She knows that he will not do it without her influence. She is so manipulative and conniving. She is trying to quell whatever is keeping him from going for the crown. This passage is found in act one, scene five, lines 25-28.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grigg- 2nd analysis

    1.Right before Lady Macbeth says these lines she reads a letter from Macbeth. In the letter he explains the war and his new title as Thane of Cawdor. She is of course very greedy and blinded by her ambition. She sees the only way she will get the crown and the power she wants is to kill Duncan. She decides that talking Macbeth into killing King Duncan will best suit her greed.

    2.Once Duncan announces his son as prince of Cumberland he realizes the throne will not be passed down to him. If he ever wants the title of King then he must take it for himself. As Malcolm is still too young it is necessary to kill Duncan now and be invested as the new king.

    3.Lady Macbeth speaks this quote. She is showing her true animosity as she is trying to turn her good and noble husband to the dark side. She plans on teaching Macbeth, in her manipulative ways, how to be crowned king. She will prove to Macbeth that the only possible way he will ever have power is to kill King Duncan.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Allegra Post 1

    1. The speaker in this soliloquy is Lady Macbeth. She believes that Macbeth is too innocent and nice to be able to take the throne.
    2. The speaker in this soliloquy is Macbeth. He sees the situation as a hurdle for him to get past. He does not want his scheme to be revealed.
    3. The speaker in this soliloquy is Lady Macbeth. She has a strong desire for Macbeth to come home. She has a plan to kill Duncan and wants him in on it since she feels to feminine to do the deed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allegra Post 2

    In this soliloquy Macbeth is weighing the good and bad options of killing Duncan. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is very eager to go through with the plan and kill him. He recognizes that if he were to do the deed, he would have to do it quickly. However, Macbeth does not want a bad deed such as this to come back and haunt him. He makes it clear that he believes in karma. He also recognizes that Duncan has never done anything to him, therefore it would not be fair to kill him because Duncan trusts him.. Macbeth is aware that ambition is the only thing motivating him, and that can be dangerous.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Allegra Post 3- Analysis of Lady Macbeth.

    1 & 3. Lady Macbeth wants to be "unsexed" because she feels as a woman she cannot accomplish what she wants done. She and Macbeth have a very intimate relationship and she knows she can manipulate him into getting what she wants. She is convinced that the only way Macbeth can get his desired power is by killing Duncan. The power is also more important to her because she wants Macbeth to go through with it more than he does himself. She expresses greedy and powerthirsty qualities.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Grigg- 3rd analysis

    1.Lady Macbeth is worried about Macbeth’s gentle nature, she feels that he is much too kind to commit the murder that she so desperately is after. She is cruel, demanding her husband to kill Duncan so that she can have the power. She plans on turning his ambitions to match her evil ambitions. She will teach him her cruel ways and win the crown over for herself. She is very manipulative.

    2.Malcolm is announced as the Prince of Cumberland, which basically ensures he will be crowned king after Duncan. Duncan wants to keep the crown in the immediate family and names his own son the heir to the throne. Macbeth views this as yet another obstacle he must face to get the crown. He does not want his evil ambitions known, so he keeps his plans secret.

    3.Lady Macbeth proves to the audience that nothing and no one will stand in the way of her greedy ambitions, her quest to the crown. It is evident that Lady Macbeth can be viewed as the evil character of the play, as she is the one that turned noble Macbeth to the dark side. It can be argued that the murder of King Duncan is on her shoulders. She is a truly deceitful, manipulative character.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Arianna Amini Post #1

    1. This first part is from Act 5 Scene 1. Lady Macbeth is talking about she has heard news from her husband Macbeth. She fears that his nature is "fill o'th milk of kindness" which translate to that she is worried that her husband is to kind and fragile to deal with all the events. When she sayd "to catch the nearest way" she is talking about his path into becoming the King. She knows that he will face hard times in order to achieve this and is worried about his soul. She knows that power is important to Macbeth along with herself and decided that the only way they can achieve this power is by murder.

    2. This quote is from Act 1 Scene 4 and is spoken to by Macbeth. Duncan has announced his son Malcolm as the Prince of Cumberland which makes him in line for the thrown. Since Malcolm is the true heir to the thrown, Macbeth will have to get rid of him as well. Macbeth does not like how Malcolm feels superior to him which is another one of his motives for being king. In last lines he wants to "hid his ambitions" as in not letting anyone find out about his plan. He says, "Let light not see my black and dark desires" which also makes us know that he wants the deed of killing the king to be as fast, painless, and easy as possible to avoid the guilt he will fear.

    3. Lady Macbeth speaks this quote in Act One Scene 5. She is talking about her dreams of becoming Queen. She says, "That I will pour my spirits in thine ear". Macbeth has a goal of being Queen and having the most power possible. She knows her husband is weaker than her and she uses manipulation throughout the story so she gets what she wants from Macbeth. She knows that she cannot get the crown unless she kills Duncan and she is willing to make her husband live the the guilt of murder for the sake of power for herself. This is were we truly see her selfish and manipulative ways

    ReplyDelete
  8. Arianna Amini Post #2

    1.During the first 2 Acts Macbeth is overwhelmed with guilt. He comteplated whether or not he should kill Duncan which almost shows his kindness. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is to weak and fragile to commit murder without her and she worries when he is not around. She fears what Macbeth will have to face in order to be king, but she is willing to do it because she knows it will give them power in the end.

    2. Malcolm feels a sense of power over Macbeth because his father is king. Macbeth truly is disgusted when Malcolm is given The Prince of Cumberland because he immediately makes smirky comments to Macbeth about it. Macbeth was “iffy” about the murder, but I think the situation with Malcolm kind of pushed him more towards murder. He also knows that he will have to find away to get rid of Malcolm because he does stand in the way of the crown.

    3. Lady Macbeth makes it clear that nothing will stand in the way of her and her crown. She is ruthless and manipulated over Macbeth because she knows he is too weak without her. The only thing she wants is power and she is willing to do anything for it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Arianna Amini Post 3

    1. Grigg, I agree with your first post. He does not have the guts to commit the murder and Lady Macbeth is aware of that. He does not have the bravery and he will need support

    2. Allegra, I agree with your post! Duncan might pick Macbeth over Malcolm if he really had too

    3. Allegra, I love what you said with this post. She has greedy ambitions and only wants power. She is on a quest to be queen and she has to use her husband to get it and she will.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Allegra

    Ari, I like what you said about how Lady Macbeth knows he is too weak without her. It kind of goes back to the "unsex me' statement, because she wants to be stripped of her gender hypothetically so she can feel things that men often feel during this time. She pretty much wears the pants in the relationship because at this time she is stronger than him.

    ReplyDelete