Jack's English Journal

A few ideas as to how Lady Macbeth is presented:

– More powerful in her relationship with Macbeth, possibly dominating.

– Uninterested in sentiment and her husband.

– Fully focused on the task at hand.

– Emotionally unstable, possibly mad.

– Unable to conceive empathy.

How?

– Opposing the stereotype of women in the Jacobean era. Woman were expected to be kind, caring, loving and not much else. They were almost only there for functional purposes from what it seems. However, in this scene and throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare negates the stereotypical woman in Lady Macbeth. She is the opposite of what is expected of woman in many ways; she holds more power in her relationship with Macbeth, she is manipulative of a man, she does not consider her husband, she does not actively show any form of empathy and isn’t stable. All of these things oppose the stereotypical Jacobean woman. Furthermore, this may have even provoked audience members to consider her a witch because opposing the stereotypical woman and holding power was considered witchcraft under the reign of King James I.

– Interrupting the iambic pentameter or sharing the iambic pentameter. This adds a feeling of urgency to the scene but also places Lady Macbeth as uncaring for her husband and more powerful than her husband. This happens because the characters in Shakespeare’s plays speak their lines with an iambic pentameter, a rhythm. This rhythm is expected to be resolved or finished at the end of each characters line unless the line is a form of exclamation or a one word answer. In this scene, the iambic pentameter is often interrupted when Macbeth is talking which portrays Lady Macbeth as dismissive, uncaring, and indifferent towards her husband.

Why?

– Shakespeare does this because he doesn’t want the audience to empathize with Lady Macbeth, he wants them to dislike her character. By villainizing Lady Macbeth, audience members will begin to closely pick up on her manipulating of Macbeth. This leads some audience members to empathize with, identify with or feel sorry for Macbeth. This increases the chances that the audience will want Macbeth to triumph in some way and will want Lady Macbeth to be defeated. As I don’t know the end of the play I would expect that this is being done for some further effect on the conclusion or further key moments in the play.

Some quotes to support my arguments:

‘A foolish thought to say a sorry sight.’ This quote breaks the iambic pentameter in Macbeth’s speech and also is dismissive of Macbeth (opposing the stereotype).

‘Consider it not so deeply.’ “”

‘Infirm of purpose!’ Opposing stereotype.

‘Go get some’ ‘They have to stay there.’ ‘Go carry them’ ‘Give me’. All use imperative language and oppose the power balance stereotype in a Jacobean relationship.

‘Why did you bring these daggers from the place?’ Indifferent to her husband and fully focused on the task at hand.

Could we please have the assessment details that were presented in lesson posted on Edutronic so I can prepare! I hope I’m not wrong in saying it’s Act 2 Scene 2 and the question is ‘How does Shakespeare construct our understanding of Lady Macbeth’s character?’

His Royal Highness,

PLAY REPORT:

Play: Macbeth.

Playwright: William Shakespeare.

Conclusion: Unsuitable but Salvageable.

Reason: Witches and Demonology

Comments:

I believe that ‘Macbeth’ is unsuitable for public viewing because includes demonology. Three witches are cast within the play and this is unacceptable. The characters in the play also practice demonic behavior when casting spells and fortune telling. If this is enough evidence to stop this from being viewed by the public then consider not the rest of this report. If you would deem the play acceptable if changes made then continue reading.

My worry is that we don’t want any of the public to view demonic behavior and idolize it and/or attempt to practice it themselves after viewing the play. Furthermore, we don’t want any of the public to empathize or sympathize with the witches in the play.

Moreover, the witches aren’t depicted as certain antagonists in the play. Whether they are considered antagonists or protagonists is ambiguous and different viewers would consider the witches differently. However, this play could possibly be allowed for viewing by the public if Shakespeare was contacted and asked to present the witches in a more negative light. If the witches were presented in a more negative light and as certain antagonists, the audience would dislike them in the play and therefore, wouldn’t empathize nor sympathize with them. As long as the public don’t see or develop any parallels with the witches and don’t use the play to influence their thoughts on witches then the play could be released for public viewings.

If His Royal Highness deems this play salvageable then it is suggested that William Shakespeare is contacted and changes are made to the play. However, if His Royal Highness deems this play simply unacceptable then return a letter to myself and I will see that the play is not released to the public.

Exploring authorial intent is always incredibly interesting. Understanding not just what is written on the page and how that makes you feel, but why that is written on the page and why it makes you feel that way. Shakespeare constantly uses language devices and the pulse of the iambic pentameter to convey characters emotions, personalities and relationships with other characters. There is a very clear use of sharing the iambic pentameter between two characters in Act 2 Scene 2. This is where we will be looking at Shakespeare’s authorial intent.

In Act 2 Scene 2, Shakespeare has broken the iambic pentameter into pieces and shared it between two characters, in this case, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. So, what is the iambic pentameter? The iambic pentameter is used in all of Shakespeare’s works and we all still use it today. It is the rhythm in which the characters speak. Every character uses this rhythm whilst speaking and often completes the rhythm once through or more. However, in this scene Shakespeare has decided to break the iambic pentameters rhythm and has shared it between to characters. This develops a feeling of urgency, desperation, fear and trepidation into the scene.

An example of how the iambic pentameter is shared is when Macbeth says, ‘This is a sorry sight.’ and Lady Macbeth follows by saying ‘A foolish though to say a sorry sight.’ If said aloud, it sounds as though Lady Macbeth is cutting him off or in other cases finishing his sentences. Why is this? This is because the iambic pentameter has not been resolved when Macbeth’s line ends and Lady Macbeth resolves the rhythm with her line. This does a lot to influence what we may think of Lady Macbeth and what we might think of her relationship with Macbeth as an audience. We may now think that Lady Macbeth is more powerful in the relationship because she is cutting Macbeth off and finishing Macbeth’s sentences. We may also think that she plays a manipulative role in controlling Macbeth’s actions and I think this has been done intentionally by Shakespeare. Why? To either create a scapegoat for the murder or to continue to encourage thoughts that Lady Macbeth is actually at fault for the murders and that she’s evil.*

– I feel like I’m struggling to say what I want to say in the right words and the right way.

– The iambic pentameter is like a musical piece, the technique of sharing the lines works exactly like writing a rhythm for one instrument and ending the line on a staccato note without any resolution or resolve. Then, adding in another instrument that resolves and completes the line/rhythm. It feels like the first instrument was cut off.

*I hate the word evil, any good synonyms for that?