EA 190 Outline Week 3 Sign up is due MAY 2, A WEEK BEFORE THE PRESENTATION DATE, so you can organize groups if you want. Presentations will be on May 10. 7 minute limit for individuals, 12 minutes for group. Powerpoints should be uploaded to the "EA 190 Comp Assign 1" dropbox by May 10th at noon so I can have them ready to show in class. If you are using other presentation software, let me know ahead of time. II. Analysis of lines from last class. III. Thematics A. Doubleness is thematized again and again in Macbeth. Failure to correctly interpret the double meanings (literal/metaphorical, surface/true) seduces Macbeth into murdering Duncan, fools Duncan into trusting Macbeth, etc. Scene with Malcolm and Macduff also example of doubleness, but for apparent good purpose. 1. Another kind of doubleness: gender ambiguity Banquo to the Weird sisters: "you should be women,/and yet your beards forbid Gender ambiguity here also = doubleness and this will be true of Lady Macbeth as well ("unsex me here") . 2. Also doubles in the sense of contrasting pairs or the crossing of boundaries: male/female, sleep/waking, life/death, fair/foul, heaven/hell, night-dark-shadow/morning-light Look at more of these kinds of doubleness today in our analysis of characters and imagery from the play. IV. Character A. Major characters in Macbeth Video: Soliloquies from Judi Dench and Ian McKellan's 1978 performance (16 minutes) Video: Lady Macbeth soliloquy "unsex me here" (Kate Fleetwood and Patrick Stewart, 2010) Chapter 3 Video 17:10 "unsex me here" Video: Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth (Ian McKellan and Judy Dench, 1978) Video 22:24 "we will proceed no further in the business" (Ian Merrill Peakes and Kate Eastwood Norris) DISCUSSION NOTEBOOK QUESTION Major characters in Macbeth: choose ONE of the following (Macbeth or Lady Macbeth) to answer. Macbeth 1. Trace the development of Macbeth’s character over the course of the play, listing page numbers and lines. a. How does Macbeth understand himself as a man? b. How is gender (masculinity) related to ruthless ambition in his mind? At first? Later? c. What are the key moments for his decision-making process? When do things change for him? d. How is he influenced by the witches? Does he have a choice or is he fated? [next week's Forum question] Lady Macbeth 2. Trace the development of Lady Macbeth’s character over the course of the play, listing page numbers and lines a. How does Lady Macbeth understand herself as a woman? b. How is gender (masculinity) related to ruthless ambition in her mind? c. What are the key moments for her decision-making process? d. When do things start changing for her? Why do they change? Are there earlier hints this might happen? e. How does Shakespeare connect her to the witches? f. Does she have a choice or is she fated? IV. Imagery in Macbeth: Choose one of the following kinds of imagery to analyze. How does the imagery function in the play to support the development of theme, mood, and/or character? SIGN UP HERE. DID NOT SIGN UP: Brandon, Crystal, Keenan #1 Animal imagery (ravens, owls, horses etc.): How do animals represent human character/personality? Which animals are positive, which negative? When are they linked to the current situation or foreshadowing of what is to come? (Jay, Bevis, Yinglun) #2 Blood imagery (in war, relating to guil etc): Blood plays a major role in the play -- a fact emphasized in the Posner and Teller stage production. How is it linked to themes of guilt? How else is it used? (Louis, Tomoya) #3 Clothing: Clothing, and whether it fits or not, is an important indicator of new rank or status, mental state, moral character, etc. (Perla, Sam) #4 Weather imagery: Especially as a sign that social relations have been disturbed, or the mental state of a character. Thunder and lightning, rain, fog, and sunlight. How do descriptions of the weather represent the internal mental state of Macbeth, as well as external the state of Scotland and England? (Shirley) #5 Light versus Dark: how does imagery involving light versus dark (or visible versus concealed) relate to themes of doubleness, deceit, and equivocation in the play? (Blanca) #6 Hallucinations – What is real and what is fantasy/dream/ projection of a guilty conscience? Can we tell? What role do different hallucinations play in moving the action forward? (Michelangelo, Brandon, Keenan) V. Forum question for this next week: Is Macbeth fated to kill Duncan or does he have a choice? Or is this deliberately left ambiguous? In this it is important to consider a basic concept of tragedy first stated by Heraclitus: Ethos Anthropos Daimon "A man’s character is his fate/destiny". From internet (lost the place!!): If we believe this conventional concept that the tragic events that unfold are caused by flaws in the main character what is Macbeth's tragic flaw? We will come back to a consideration of tragedy in relation to King Lear. INTRO TO THRONE OF BLOOD (see schedule) There are many youtube video versions of Throne of Blood but you can also download it from the links page.
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