Now that we have finished Act I of Macbeth, and have scanned the text
for examples of the motifs I listed before we began reading, write a
response in which you use your annotations to help you 1) demonstrate an
understanding of the passage in the context of the play and 2) identify
and discuss the significance of your motif within the passage. Why is
it meaningful, and how is Shakespeare playing with motif symbolically?
Here, again, is a list of motifs, and if you find one on your own, that's even better.
Things that grow (seeds, eggs, etc.)
Blood
Paradoxes
Rings (things that fold back upon themselves).
Hands
Sharp Objects (cutting through coverings).
Darkness
Vision / eyes
Fog / Murk
Time
Garments that don't fit.
Jewels
"Manliness" / Femininity
Gluttony / over-eating
Dichotomies:
Healthy bodies / dismembered bodies
Cleanliness / Dirtiness
Fairness / Foulness
Illusion / Reality.
Health / Sickness.
In class we have been reading Macbeth and have been learning about motifs. There are countless amounts of motifs in this book. One example that has stood out to me the most so far would be the message that masculinity has over the book and what it is to be a "man". During act 1 scene 5, Lady Macbeth wants her husband to go through with the murder of Duncan that way he will be king but she is worried he will not have the strength to do it. She says, "come, you spirits that tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direct cruelty. Make thick my blood." This is her way of saying she wishes she was a man and didn't have a conscience that way she could kill him herself. I have noticed that the theme of being masculine has come up various times throughout the book and is a very good motif!
ReplyDeleteThroughout the play Macbeth Shakespeare has sprinkled motifs in every scene. They can be anything. Sharp objects, the use of nature in the text, or even garments that do not fit. In the first act, however, the most effective motifs are those that involve mother’s milk and the idea that it is good and pure. These motifs usually tie in the concept of gender roles and masculinity into the play. In act one, scene five Lady Macbeth has just read her husbands letter. He has told her about the three witches and how they had told him that he would become Thane of Cawdor, and later King. She fears that Macbeth will be unable to become king because he is, “…too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” This motif can be viewed in two ways. One way is that Lady Macbeth does not think that Macbeth is man enough to kill Duncan. This is because women produce milk in their breasts and by saying Macbeth is full of milk is like saying that he is a woman. It can also be perceived that women, like their milk, are pure and innocent. When lady Macbeth says that Macbeth is, “…too full o’ the milk of human kindness,” she might be saying that he is just too pure and innocent to commit such a horrific act. Either way the use of the motif of milk is used to portray innocence and femininity. Macbeth doesn’t want to be associated with innocence or femininity and throughout the play he struggles with his own idea of masculinity. Shakespeare effectively uses the motif of milk as a representation of innocence and femininity to portray Macbeth’s inner struggle to fulfill his role as the masculine figure in his marriage.
ReplyDeleteThere are many motifs scattered throughout the play Macbeth. They all vary from dark things like blood to lighter, happier things like jewelry. One motif that really stood out to me and made me think was in act one, scene 3. Macbeth is talking to the witches and says “The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me in borrow’d robes?” Macbeth does not understand why he would be king when someone already wears the ‘robes of the king’ so to speak. These ‘robes’ that they are putting on him does not fit with who he is. They also reference clothing not fitting again later on in this scene when Banquo says “New honors come upon him, like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould but with the aid of use.” Banquo is saying that these new honors that have been given to not fit just like wearing others clothes, which is how they feel from what the witches said. When you were clothes that aren’t right you feel uncomfortable, whether they are to tight and small, or if they are to large and lose. If you have new duties that are like uncomfortable clothes, how can you perform them? In Macbeth’s case, someone already has the duties that have been given to him by the witches. To ask him to believe that these duties could be his is saying to not support the present king and the decisions that this king makes. Clothes are mentioned many times in the play but this scene really stuck in my mind and the clothing motifs in it really help with understanding what the characters are going through.
ReplyDeleteIn Act I of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I have noticed a few connections to the idea of nurturing and milk. In Lady Macbeth’s monologue from Act I Scene V she uses this metaphor in reference to Macbeth’s soft and kind personality. The passage is a strong point of character development for both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself. After receiving the news that Macbeth was expected to become a king, Lady Macbeth pondered his ability to handle power. She has no doubt that he may become king and would do so with great ambition, but she also believes that he may be to soft and kind to pursue and follow through with this prophecy. Shakespeare brings this idea across by having Lady Macbeth describe Macbeth as “... too full o’ the milk of human kindness” in order to develop the innocent characteristics of Macbeth as well as the manipulative characteristics of Lady Macbeth. This also reveals a character conflict between the two of them in which Macbeth is constantly trying to develop an independent and confident edge to his actions but is continually pushed to be less feminine by Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare either used this metaphor to exaggerate the motherly qualities of Macbeth or his infant-like nature, both being full of nurturing milk. If it were to be interpreted as the first, the metaphor would add to Macbeth’s personality as powerful yet soft and kind. If it were interpreted in the sense of Macbeth being the child, it can build on the idea that he is innocent and kind and therefore must be looked after. In each sense however, I would think that Lady Macbeth is being portrayed as the one who is looking over him with a harsh but loving eye. Further into the play I will expect to see Macbeth making many attempts to shake this character flaw but each attempt will only worsen his situation.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Act 1, there are varying examples of motifs, symbols, or things of that nature. Two of them that seem to work hand in hand are the ideas that "milk = human kindness" and that "feminity = weakness" while "masculinity = strength;bravery;or the capacity to do harm/evil". A great example of such is Lady Macbeth's monologue in Scene 5. Part of this monologue reads: " Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal/thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;/Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/That no compunctious visitings of nature/Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between/The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,/And take my milk for gall...". Lady Macbeth does not believe she can kill Duncan unless she let go of her "feminie weakness" and "replace her milk for gall". "Replace her milk for gall" basically meaning that she needs to replace her human kindness with the capacity to not feel remorse for her actions, such as, for instance, killing a person whom has been nothing but kind to her family so that her husband may be king. We see these same motifs used in basically the same context, Lady Macbeth also using emasculation against Macbeth to get him to follow through with Duncan's murder. So, it's pretty clear where this is all going. The play is called "The Tragedy of Macbeth."
ReplyDeleteIn Macbeth, there are many motifs that occur throughout Act I. One of the most noticable motifs to me are garments that do not fit or clothing in general. In scene 3, line 112 Macbeth says, “Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?” This motif appears quite frequently. Macbeth is talking to the witches about how he is to become Thane of Cawdor, yet he feels likt it’s not quite his place. In this instance, the “borrowed robes” are a symbol for someone else’s title that is not Macbeth’s. And Macbeth feels as though that title does not belong to him. Later on in scene 3, Banquo says in line 155, “New garments come upon him, like our strange garments…” This is once again the motif of clothing not fitting right. Banquo is saying that Macbeth does not feel comfortable with these new titles and responsibilities. In scene 7, line 21, Macbeth says, “… And pity like a naked newborn babe.” In this, Shakespeare equates being naked with helplessness, and to me this goes hand in hand with clothing that doesn’t fit right. To me, when my clothes don’t fit correctly or I don’t like my outfit, I don’t feel right. Someone who is naked in public (stay with me) might feel helpless and to a level, they don’t feel right. So when Shakespeare has the characters in Macbeth talk about clothing that doesn’t fit right or nakedness, it is a symbol for their being uncomfortable with their situation and almost helpless. Clothing that doesn’t fit right is a symbol for a character not feeling right- morally or physically or emotionally.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare incorporates the theme of seeds or other things that grow throughout Macbeth. An example of the Motif is shown in act one during scene five. In this scene, the three witches tell Macbeth of his fate to be king. Banquo, who was accompanying Macbeth, then said “If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate”. This quote explains Banquo’s curiosity regarding how the witches know about Macbeth’s future and his yearning to find out his own fate. When he said they know “which grain will grow and which will not”, he is referring to how the future will turn out. Therefore, He is questioning the witches’ statements while also asking them to tell him his own destiny. The motif is crucial to the passage because it describes the growing and ever changing tendencies of time.
ReplyDeleteIn Act 1 of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, I have noticed there are many motifs referring to darkness. In scene 5 Lady Macbeth says, “Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark.” She is calling out for darkness so that her dagger doesn’t see the act it is about to commit, stabbing King Duncan. Darkness here is linked to her ill intensions. Another time this motif is shown in scene four when Macbeth says to himself, “Stars, hide your fires Let not light see my black and deep desires The eye wink at the hand yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” Macbeth doesn’t want anyone to know what he is going to do; he wants his eyes to be blind to what his hands might do. The cover of night is brought up anytime something bad is going to or has recently happened.The motif of darkness is mentioned many times throughout act 1 of this play. Shakespeare is using darkness as a symbol of the horrible deeds Macbeth is committing and the ill intentions of him and his wife. Shakespeare also uses darkness to symbolize the “darkness” in Macbeth’s heart and the little remorse him and his wife feel for their actions.
ReplyDeleteThere are many motifs scattered throughout Shakespeare’s play Macbeth that allude of things to come in the play, directly or not. Some of the most common motifs in act 1 have been blood, masculinity or femininity, or things that grow. An example of the latter is in act 1 scene 2 lines 58-61, Banquo says ‘If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear.” Banquo is speaking to the three witches, after they have given Macbeth a glimpse into his future, and is wondering what his own might be. When I think of things growing, I think of things changing. The fact that the motif of things growing was used in coordinance with the prediction of the future appears to be very well thought out, because generally, in the future, things change. In act 1 scene 4 lines 31-32, Banquo says to Macbeth, “There if I grow, The harvest is your own.” Macbeth had said in the lines beforehand that if Banquo holds Macbeth in his heart as Macbeth holds Banquo in his, he’ll be rewarded, but Banquo is saying that if Macbeth holds him in his heart then it will be him who is awarded. When used in this context, the motif of growing could possibly be referencing the distrust that Banquo is feeling towards Macbeth, and his loyalty towards Duncan, and how if Macbeth trusts Banquo more, the harvest, which is something intended to be good, will be the justice served to Macbeth. The motif of growing is tied in subtlely, and has very easy to read meanings.
ReplyDeleteIn the passage on page 39 Act 1 Scene 7, Macbeth explains how if she had done the assassination, things would be much different. She reminds herself that the king is her host and she has to protect him and not go out and kill the man on her own. This explains how the play will go because she says how if things were done her way it would be a lot simpler. Except, they don’t go her way and she has to follow rules to keep the Kings safety. When Macbeth said
ReplyDelete“To plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips.” Lines 10-12 it interested me because of the way he used his words. As in, “this even-handed justice” which really meant the equal and fair justice system. Also, how he said “Our poisoned chalice to our own lips.” This interested me because someone could read straight over this and not understand that he really means, we drink the poison we give to others.
Reading the Act 1 of Macbeth, we found and discussed some motifs in class. In scene 7 of act one, lines 8-10, Macbeth says, “We still have judgment here, that we but teach
ReplyDeleteBloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice”. Here, Shakespeare uses blood as another word for crime or crimes. It makes sense since most crimes have to do with death or hurting people. Macbeth is saying that by committing crimes we teach other people to commit these crimes. This doesnt make sense to me since Macbeth ends up killing a few people throughout the play. If he is committing crimes, isnt it teaching children to be violent? There are a lot of motifs throughout this play but this one, about blood, kind of confuses me the most.
in act 2 scene 2 Macbeth says "What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. / Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / the multitudinous seas incarnadine, / making the green one red." here Macbeth does not literally have blood on his hands but the idea of blood is the fact that he murdered people. Macbeth is saying that even the biggest oceans (anything he tries to do to right his wrong), wont help that he will always know he has committed murder (like every time he tooks at his hand he sees figurative blood.)
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