Sunday, January 22, 2012

Macbeth Essay

Maddy            
Mr. BG
January 20, 2012
A – Block
Macbeth Essay:

1. A) “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” – Macbeth (1.3.39)

B) The witches’ prophecy that Macbeth would be king one day has made Macbeth ambitious for this prophecy to become true but lacks the confidence.  He tells Lady Macbeth about this and she realizes he doubts himself and that she must take power over Macbeth. The only way for him to become king is to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is not the woman she appears to be, she is very evil and because she will do anything to get what she wants. She intimidates Macbeth to kill Duncan because she knows he really wants this but lacks the confidence in doing so and because she loves him so she pushes him to achieve his goal, so he can become king. This quote in particular resembles that things are not always what they seem because Macbeth secretly was a bad person.

C) As we first see in the movie, the lighting is very dark and giving a low key light so that there is a suspicion in the air. The low angle makes Macbeth seem very threatening to Banquo and the audience. The camera was zoomed out so that it gave the characters a chance to walk forward down the hallway which would make the movement be a tilt. The ways that the camera was zoomed out the viewers were able to see where exactly the characters were going to be showing their next move. The characters went from being in the elevator to being in the hallway where they spoke of these words and that would have been an establishing shot because it moved between two locations. Last but not least, Long shot was used to create the sense of intimidation because it showed their full body and the movements they made.

D) I thought that Macbeth was very power hungry but afraid to make a move in the beginning of the play. As the play progressed, he overcame those fears by helping to plot the murders. When he became king, he started to see the ghosts of the people that he had killed. In the end he regretted how he got there because he kept feeling some sort of guilt throughout the whole play. In the film, I thought that he was a very strong character who knew what was right from wrong. He seemed as though he knew how to stand his ground but was manipulated by his wife, who made him second guess himself. This was shown throughout the movie as each murder was occurring.

2. A) “I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you. Have done to this.” –Lady Macbeth (1.7.54-59)

B) When Macbeth decides that he cannot go through with the plan to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth is right there to tell him how weak he is for saying one thing and not following through with it. Within this quote, Lady Macbeth is actually stating that she could kill her own child if she had to for power without any remorse. This would fall under the category of Power Corrupts because Lady Macbeth is becoming very power hungry.  She will have anyone that stands in her way murdered and not have any regrets about doing so. This shows how someone of her stature can change when power is involved.

C) The first scene that we see involving this quote shows Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in a two shot frame because they are having a conversation. When Lady Macbeth gets aggravated, the camera tends to focus on a close-up of her so that she looks powerful. The frames with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are shot verse shot because while they are having a conversation the camera switches from Lady Macbeth back to Macbeth. The camera angle was low because the director wanted to make Lady Macbeth seem very strong and threatening to Macbeth and the audience. The lighting was very bright so this resembled high key because the scene was flooded with light. Since the scene was in the kitchen, the lighting fit the background of where they were having their conversation.

D) Lady Macbeth is a very manipulated woman who is extremely driven. She is proving to Macbeth that if she is willing to kill her own, then Macbeth should be able to also. Lady Macbeth did not see eye to eye about plotting to kill in order to get the crown which made Lady Macbeth disappointed in Macbeth and she therefore made fun of him and questioned his manhood. She put it in her perspective as being a woman and if she was capable of doing this, then why wasn’t he able to. After viewing the film, I saw that he was just a man as she was a woman and they were both very strong willed.


3. A) “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn, the power of man, for none of woman born, Shall harm Macbeth.” – Second Apparition (4.1.86)

B) Macbeth is told by the witches that no harm will come to those born of woman, by them telling him this he has let his guard down. He feels that no one will be able to hurt him and that he can conquer all. When being visited by these witches, he starts to feel guilty of all the murders that he has committed. This resembles the theme superstition affects human behavior because the witches like to mess with Macbeths head and tell him things that make him feel that he is indestructible.  

C) We follow Macbeth to a morgue room where the witches are saying spells around bodies of unmanned characters. A shot -reverse -shot was used to create a connection between the witches, the bodies, and Macbeth.  An eye- level shot was used to focus on the facial expressions of the characters speaking. Another camera angle called the high angle was used to visually show how the characters were portrayed throughout the scene. I think that both the non-diegetic and diegetic sounds were incorporated in this scene because of the rustling of the body bags and the music playing in the background when he entered the room.   

D) The witches were dramatic throughout the whole play but, their predictions were correct.  They made Macbeth feel that he could gain the crown with no repercussions or consequences.  In the end of the play, reality caught up to him and made him realize how he should have thought twice about what he did in order to achieve his goals. In seeing it in the film, I noticed that not much had varied because he was still very believing in the witches and their prophecies.

4. A) “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?—what, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting.” – Lady Macbeth (5.1.30-36)

B) The murders that she had committed began to psychologically impact Lady Macbeth when she constantly felt the need to wash her hands clean of the blood, even though actual blood was not on her hands. Lady Macbeth who was so resilient and sure of committing the murders in the beginning of the play was starting to break her down physically and emotionally. This quote fits under blind ambition leads to ones downfall because when Lady Macbeth is not aware of talking she tells things she shouldn’t and this leads to her downfall. It is as though she is trying to wash her hands of the blood and the crimes that she has encountered throughout this whole play.  

C) The lighting in this scene was low key because it was a very dramatic and the scene was flooded with shadows. A shot reverse shot was also used in this scene because it went from Lady Macbeth to the gentlewoman and the doctor talking back and forth.  Low angle was used to create a threatening affect that made Lady Macbeth seem possessed with paranoia. There were a lot of shots in this scene because the focus was on her instead of anyone else. An extreme close-up was used to focus on her washing her hands clean of the blood. A flashback was also incorporated in this scene because once she turned the water on; the water was red as if it were blood. This relates back to when she helped to kill King Duncan and the guards.

D) Lady Macbeth is very dramatic and in this scene in particular, she has a mental break down that shows her vulnerable side. She is not aware of what is going and what she is saying that it leads to her downfall. It is ironic that Lady Macbeth would mentally collapse seeing as she was the one who urged Macbeth to murder in order to become king. In the film, this was shown very thoroughly because she was very demanding in her orders and very prompt to make commitments to what needed to be done.

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