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These scenes are very important because the central focus is the murder of Duncan, which is what sets off all of the crazy changes in Scotland. However, I was more interested to read about the reactions to the murder rather than the murder itself, and the reaction I'm most interested in is Macbeth's.
Even though Macbeth already knows about Duncan's death because he's the one who killed him, I had questions about what he would be thinking after the deed was done. It didn't surprise me to find out that he knew he made the wrong decision and felt extremely guilty about it, because if I didn't know the story before reading than I wouldn't have thought he'd have the guts to go through with it in the first place. Macbeth acts very upset immediately after killing the king, and his lines about sleep caught my attention. He says, "But wherefore could not I pronounce "Amen"? I had most need of blessing, and "Amen" Stuck in my throat." After reading this, I wondered what Macbeth must have thought would happen to himself after doing such an evil thing. This line shows that he was already having difficulty, before the murder, coming to terms with what he was doing. He must have thought about how this guilt would affect him later on, in the long run. Macbeth also says, "Methought I heard a voice cry, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep"--the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast." This sounds like he already knows that he will have trouble sleeping, as a direct result of his guilt, and he even contemplates all of the things that sleep is affected by.
How could he not guess that it could only get worse? The only answer to this that I can think of is that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are terrible at thinking ahead in general, as proven by their lack of planning around the other people they might have to murder in order to become king and queen and the very little they considered how suspicious they would appear.
What's also interesting is the contrast between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's feelings after the murder has taken place. Macbeth seems to feel guilty about it right away while Lady Macbeth tries to make it seem like she doesn't feel guilty. She appears to be doing this for Macbeth's sake, so that she can keep him from slipping up and bringing suspicion upon them, but I think she also tries to convince herself that she is okay with doing this, because she wants so badly to be strong enough to do evil things.
The last thing I want to address is how well Macbeth can deal with slaughtering someone in battle, but how poorly he can deal with killing someone off the battlefield. Honor was probably much more important in Shakespeare's day than it is today, but I've always found it difficult to understand how murder can be justified when you're doing it to people you don't know 'for your country', and when you're a soldier, you are honored for doing what is considered so wrong in a normal society. If Macbeth didn't feel any remorse after killing as a soldier but did after killing as a person, doesn't that mean that he only feels guilt in doing something that is considered wrong, not from actually killing?
Relationships
The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fascinates me because it's so unlike any typical romantic relationship you would expect from Shakespeare's era. In the typical marriage, the man is the dominant partner, and should be strong-willed and have all ultimate power over his wife. The woman would be the opposite, having quiet obedience and loyalty meant to compliment her husband. In this play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to have reversed these roles when alone. Lady Macbeth knows how to get what she wants and will do anything to get it, including manipulating her husband who is all too willing to please her. Macbeth even sends a letter to his wife immediately after receiving the witches' prophecies, at the very high risk of it being intercepted and read. Sending extremely sensitive information to her so that she is as well-informed as he is demonstrates this, because it shouldn't have been necessary to take that risk since Macbeth would be back home to tell her soon after anyway. It seems to me that Lady Macbeth's influence over him and his need for her approval is what pressured him to send the letter and keep her in the loop. When the couple is in the company of others however, they appear to put on a front that shows Macbeth is in fact in charge. The most plausible explanation for this is that it helps them look normal in a world controlled by men, and after the murder of Duncan, standing out could eventually lead to suspicion.
Questions
Why is Macbeth so weak in character and so insecure in his manhood?
These features are very obvious to the audience, as they are brought up several times and are what allows Macbeth to be manipulated by his wife. It seems odd that he would be so self conscious, because he has so much going for him - he is a powerful Thane, a skilled fighter, a friend of the King of Scotland, and a man in a society ruled by men. I wonder if Macbeth had always been so uncertain about himself, or if his wife provoked that insecurity from a secure man earlier in their relationship. In scene Act I Scene 7, he makes a seemingly confident decision not to go through with killing Duncan, but after Lady Macbeth taunts him about being unmanly, his self-doubt is brought on again and his mind swiftly changes. It's clear that he doesn't seem to know who he is or who he wants to be, because his personality and loyalties can change quickly and dramatically.
What was Shakespeare's opinion on male-dominated relationships?
Originally, after reading and watching this part of the play, I thought that Shakespeare might disagree with the concept of male supremacy, even though it was the norm in his society, because the female characters in Macbeth are so strong. However, it could also be argued that Shakespeare has illustrated that women are unfit to be in positions of authority, and cause more harm than good if not controlled, as they seem to go mad with power in the cases of Lady Macbeth and the witches.
Significance
The opening scene of Macbeth, although short, is a great way to begin the play because it immediately grabs the audience's attention through the supernatural element added by the witches. At the time Shakespeare wrote the play, the idea of witches was not as commonly used as it is today, which made this side of Macbeth very intriguing. The weather at the beginning is also pointed out to be dark and stormy, which coincides with the eeriness of the witches and their evil activities in a perfect example of pathetic fallacy. The gloomy tone of the first scene sets the atmosphere for the entire play.
In scene two, we get a sense of who Macbeth is through the conversation between Duncan, Ross and the Captain. In this conversation, Ross and the Captain speak very highly of Macbeth as they describe his actions in battle and his victory. The audience is told that Macbeth is honorable, courageous, strong, loyal, and we generally think of him as a hero before we even get to meet him. This substantial buildup gets us thinking of the character in a positive light, and allows us to get to know the character as an upstanding and well-respected member of society, before his character takes a turn for the worse.
Macbeth is finally introduced to the audience in Act I Scene 3 along with his friend Banquo. The two encounter the witches from Scene 1, who prophesize that Banquo's children will be royalty, but he will not be. More importantly, they prophesize that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and even king one day. This event is particularly important because it kickstarts the entire plot and drives Macbeth's character changes and personal conflicts.
Andie Hunt
Newman
English ENG2D-10A
September 21, 2011
Cinnamon Buns
It's seven thirty on a Sunday morning. The sunlight gleams through the windows on the French doors leading to the balcony. Hans' face is buried in his memory foam pillow beside me, so that only his thick, blonde curls are exposed. I stretch my leg over the side of the bed and reach out until my foot touches the cool hardwood floor. I walk, on tiptoe, to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I head out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen.
Once there, I make myself a tea--one milk, two sugar cubes. Sitting at the breakfast bar, I empty my mug and leave the kettle out on the counter. Then, I slip through the door to the mudroom, slide my sandals on, and continue on to the garage.
My classic, powder blue Schwinn is leaned up against the wall. The paint is chipping off of the frame; after all, I have been riding it since I was just 15. But the vintage look of it makes me feel hipster, so I will never replace it.
After opening the garage door, I sit on my bicycle seat and push myself forward, to the top of the driveway, and abruptly take my feet off of the pedals. The wheels spin quickly as my weight pushes the bike down the asphalt. Ours is the only driveway in the area that isn't cobblestone. It's much more difficult to do chalk drawings on cobblestone.
My feet quickly find the pedals again once the bike hits the road, and I bike all through the neighbourhood. I'm not particularly worried that I'll be seen in my pajamas, because no one else in Granite Bay wakes up before at least nine o'clock on a weekend, unless it's Christmas. It's a beautiful neighbourhood, occupied with medium to large homes that all have nice gardens and pools and big backyards -- one of the typical suburban areas showcased in television shows depicting California. Because it's the oldest, our house is one of the smaller ones, but it backs onto a forest and a little river that provides a great exploration destination for my son, Clarke. He is an inquisitive seven year old with most of my facial features, but he inherited his adorable golden locks from his father Hans. After reaching the front gates of the community, I turn around and head back the way I came.
Upon arriving back at home, I gently rest my bicycle against the garage wall. As I open the door to the mudroom, the smell of cinnamon buns rushes in and hits my nose like a dump truck filled with good dreams. My stomach rumbles. When it's Over by Sugar Ray is blaring at top volume over the television speakers, which is Clarke's latest favourite song.
I take off my sandals and enter the kitchen, where my two favourite boys are holding their breakfast plates in their hands whilst dancing around the bar in their boxers. Hans dances over to me and kisses my forehead, then grabs my hand and proceeds to loudly sing, "All the things that she used to bring, all the songs she used to sing! All her favorite TV shows have gone out the window!" Then he stuffs the rest of his warm cinnamon bun in my face as Clarke watches us, giggling.
After breakfast, Hans suggests to Clarke that we all get dressed for the day. He speaks impeccable English, having lived in California for eight years now, but his beautiful Swiss accent can still be heard unquestionably in his words.
Once dressed, we all play catch in the backyard with a football. I teach Clarke how to throw a spiral with the ball, and although he's only a mature seven, he can already toss it better than Hans, who is very clumsy and uncoordinated (in a cute way). The boys continue to play for a while as I sit in a lawn chair and read the e-newspaper on my iPad 8. Hans throws the football a little too far, and as Clarke goes to retrieve it by the river, he discovers a pile of tall logs that had been cut down earlier for our summer campfires. He calls us over to explain his new idea, in which we all build a raft and use it to float on the water.
We spend about an hour constructing a perfect little barge, using spare rope found in the garage to tie the logs together. We put an extra layer on top of the first logs, running in the opposite direction, so that we sit too high to get wet. As the boys take care of the finishing touches, I quickly make some roast beef sandwiches and place them in the picnic basket along with a blanket and orange creamsicles. Finally, we cast off and spend much of the afternoon having our picnic, drifting slowly down the river.
When we get home, Clarke goes up to his room to do homework, and Hans and I spend our opportunity for alone time by playing with our new virtual experience console in the basement. We stand inside the giant orb and are given a multitude of adventures to choose from. I suggest that we go to a beach in Fiji, and Hans selects it on the screen. In seconds, the air around us turns hot, our ears fill with the sounds of waves gently brushing the shore, and sand is blown onto the floor. The whole spherical screen is transformed into a sunny paradise. Hans and I spend an hour in Virtual Fiji; being fanned and fawned upon by drink waiters and making intricate sandcastles.
Later, Hans calls my parents to invite them for dinner. Then, he goes to the butcher to pick up some steaks. Clarke is thrilled to learn that Grandma and Grandpa will be coming over, and helps me make my legendary chocolate chip banana bread for dessert.
At dinner, we hear stories from Grandpa about when he was a kid, while listening to 90's music and eating our perfectly tender steaks by candlelight. My dad had three siblings and lived on a farm, which made for some captivating adventure stories. After supper, we play Crazy Eights.
Around 10 o'clock, Grandma and Grandpa leave. Hans carries a very sleepy Clarke up the stairs and into his bedroom. After he gets his Scooby Doo jammies on and brushes his teeth, we tuck him in to bed and kiss him goodnight.
Then we get ready for bed, and as Hans lies down beside me to cuddle, he kisses me goodnight too. "I love you," he says, "Sweet dreams."
