Bloody Trophy

        Macduff comes in with Macbeth's head as his trophy. They successfully took over the castle. Malcolm is crowned king and he declares that all thanes will be made earls. 
I assumed either Macduff or Malcolm would in the end become king.  Macbeth should have never been king in the first place. The power got to his head and ruined him. In the beginning of the story Macbeth seemed to be a good guy, the power and witch prophecy ruined him and his wife. Malcolm was always the rightful king to the thrown, If he hadn't run away maybe this whole situation and all the deaths could have been avoided. But then Shakespeare wouldn't have a story. I think Malcolm will make a great king, like his father. There bravery saved Scotland from Macbeths evil rein.  Macbeths death was a sweet relief for the Country and for himself. His blood lust and killing had consumed him, he had lost his mind. His death although gruesome brought him peace. 

The inevitable battle has come

In the country near Birnam Wood, Malcolm talks with the English lord Siward and his officers about Macbeth’s plan to defend the fortified castle. They decide that each soldier should cut down a bough of the forest and carry it in front of him as they march to the castle, thereby disguising their numbers. A messenger enters with astonishing news: the trees of Birnam Wood are advancing toward Dunsinane. Enraged and terrified, Macbeth recalls the prophecy that said he could not die till Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane. Resignedly, he declares that he is tired of the sun and that at least he will die fighting. On the battlefield Macbeth feels confident because no one born of woman can kill him so he isn't particularly worried. He just strikes everyone around him vigorously, after slaying lord Siwards son he disappears in the fray. Macduff is searching for Macbeth who he wants to personally slay apart. Malcolm and Siward emerge and enter the castle while Macduff and Macbeth finally come face to face and battle. Macbeth assures Macduff that he is unbeatable and refers to the witches prophecy, Macduff then reveals that he was not born naturally of a woman he was ripped from the womb. ( c section) Then Macbeth fears for his life but insists that he will not surrender no matter what, and that he would rather die then kiss the feet of Malcolm.( They exit off stage fighting. )

sleep walking suicide

      Lady Macbeth seems to be losing her mind along with her husband. One night in the palace she goes into a trance with a candle in her hand. The doctor and gentle women are amazed at her decent into pure madness. While in this trance she is moaning about the murders of lady Macduff and Banquo, she says she sees blood on her hands that she knows will never be washed away. Lady Macbeth feels extreme guilt for her and her husbands actions. She kills herself in this "trance". Some don't believe suicide while sleep walking isn't possible but it is medically proven its called parasomina pseudo-suicide. in a recent event New York times shared a case where a young designer Tobias Wong hung himself while sleep walking. He had a history of weird activity's in his sleep walking such as billing clients, cooking steak dinner, and making silly outfits for his cats. They reported explains that he had been over stressed and because when your asleep your not thinking of right and wrong and do's and don'ts. When sleep walking its all learned behaviors or actions. Our prefrontal cortex which essentially makes us human, this is our personality and decision making part of the brain. During sleep it is turned off, so while sleepwalking your not aware of what your doing. Lady Macbeth I don't believe committed sleepwalking suicide. I think she either went crazy or the guilt just built up to much and she couldn't take it. 

   

Kingship vs. tyranny

   Macbeth changes from somewhat having feelings and guilt to pure evilness killing just to kill.
 In (Act 1 scene 7) Macbeth- " Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ so clear in his office, that his virtues/ will plead like angles, trumpet- tongued, against /the deep damnation of his taking off."
   This shows when Macbeth was still himself and justly before he lost his mind. He is trying to talk himself out of killing Duncan because he knows Duncan is a good king, and that he is not arrogant or selfish, he is generous and kind. This quote shows that Macbeth realized Duncan was a good king and he feels guilty taking him away from Scotland. And because Duncan was a good king this represents Kingship.
    In ( Act 4 scene 1) Macbeth - " The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon fire; give to the edge o'the sword. His wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls who trace him in his line. "
This quote is when lennox tells of Macduff's flee to England. This could have been Kingship because of the power Macbeth has to kill anyone who got in his way. But because of his actions in killing it is tyranny, because it isn't for the good of anyone. It was a selfish act out of hate and the desire to kill and nothing more.

Macbeth at first was noble with kingship but soon shifts to tyranny when he gets obsessed with power and making his position incapable of being taken from him. He slowly loses his mind with all his bad deeds and is pure evil.

A magical stew to brew

Macbeth visits the witches again to get an update on his future. The witches are siring up a magical stew filled with  Eye of Newt, and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
    Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting
    Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing

 This stew is suppose to bring trouble to humanity. The stew produces Holograms  for messages to Macbeth.

1st- a bloody child, saying that he can not be harmed by anyone born of a woman.

this strikes me odd, everyone is born of a woman. I believe this is foreshadowing that the witches are going to be the ones to harm him with there magic.

2nd- An armed helmet head- telling him to beware Macduff. we already know at this point in the story what Macduff and Malcolm are planning so the reader is well aware of what this image means.

3rd- A child with a crown on his head- telling him Banquo's son will still be king

Its then that Macbeth decides he will kill Macduff's family and do whatever it takes for him to stay king. Killing Macduff will guarantee his spot as king and put his fears to rest. 

 

Do human events affect nature?

         In Macbeth a lot of events happen that cause other chain events in nature to happen, or at least that's how they explain the weird events. Now a days we would probably wouldn't even notice connections between two events and if we did we simply say its a coincidence. In Macbeth an owl which usually swoops down and kills mice went up and killed the falcon. The falcon was a day creature and a royal companion while the owl is an untamed bird of night and death. If things in nature stand for things in human life then King Duncan was the falcon and Macbeth the owl.
      Another weird thing that happens is when Ross points out that the clock says the sun should have already rose but it was still dark. Ross thinks the terrible acts of this night are stronger then the day. He believes the sun is ashamed and doesn't want to see the terrible acts of the night.
      When Banqo is killed and comes to Macbeth as a ghost and ruins there dinner party this  I believe is natures punishment to Macbeth. In the story it says Banqo was naturally stronger then Macbeth so I think this natural strength he had over Macbeth gave him the power to haunt him for his wrong doings.
    Nature is a balancing act, you must pay for your wrong doings. Nature is said to adjust according to the deeds of mankind to make us learn and do right the next time. I believe this to some extend but I think that this "nature" is God.

Macduff the buff

Macduff leaves the country to try and find Malcolm and convince him to get an army and come take over Scotland. As Duncan's oldest son he is the rightful heir to the throne. Lady Macduff believes her husband left out of fear, when in reality he left out of love for his family. He wants to fix Scotland, but he didn't realize he actually put his family in more danger by leaving. Lady Macduff tells there son that his father is dead, and a traitor. This is not the case though, Macduff seems to be the best person in this story, he has the right mind set and is trying to do what is best for his country. He finds Malcom and Malcom tests Macduffs honor and loyalty by saying he would be a worse king then Macbeth and that he would sleep with all women, steal all the treasure and ruin Scotland. After Macduff proves his loyalty he tells him he was just kidding about the terrible things he said about himself. Malcom is ahead of the game he has created an alliance and already has an army of 10,000 troops. 

Ross comes and tells Macduff lies and says that his family is fine. Then a little while later he feels guilty and tells the truth. Malcom advices Macduff to channel his sadness and put it into anger to fight against Macbeth. Malcom and Macduff will make a great alliance, they both have major built up anger toward Macbeth and will stop at nothing to bring him down and take over Scotland. I want Malcom to be king, I think he would be great, and it is his rightful spot. 

Beef with Banquo

  

    Macbeth is at it again, Banquo was with Macbeth when they heard the witches prophecy, and then right after the king just happens to die. Banquo isn't an idiot he knows there is no way its a coincidence. Banquo suspects Macbeth for murder, Macbeth then realizes he must get rid of Banquo too. He hires murders to kill Banquo and his son, because he has sons to pass the thrown down too. When the murder comes to kill them Banquo yells for his son to fly, to "flee" Fleance his son runs away but he is still murdered.  Banquo appears to Macbeth, Macbeth seems to be losing his mind. Banquo is a ghost that only Macbeth can see.  His wife of course who is always covering for him says he is having hallucinations and it is a childhood illness of his. Macbeth expresses that he would be willing to face Banquo in any other form like a bear, Rhinoceros or a tiger, but not as his own face.

 

How do people deal with guilt?

       Everyone deals with the feeling of guilt differently. Guilt is painful so people often find some way to soothe themselves. Some people "make up" their actions by doing good to even out the bad they did. They want to re- strengthen the ties to people they have damaged. Some people are to scared of the guilt to repair it specifically to the person they hurt so they will try to do nice things for others to make themselves feel better. Whenever you do something that could hurt another person, you run the risk of damaging your relationship with them. Your feelings of guilt lead you to be more generous to that person in a way that can demonstrate clearly that your relationship is valuable.

     Others don't know how to deal with guilt so they just seem angry. They use anger to try and release the feelings they don't like, this usually doesn't work. You have to confront what you did wrong and make peace. You have to forgive yourself to find peace. 

     Macbeth keeps doing the same things that are making him feel guilty therefor he is just going to feel worse. If he keeps this up I think he will lose himself. Macbeth is surrounded by lies, it must come to a point where he gets overwhelmed and just breaks down. He is living a life full of lies and deceiving, that will eventually catch up with him and eat him alive.  

     When I feel guilty I usually at first try and ignore it, I will go for a run or workout to try and release some of the anger I feel. Then I hit a small breaking point and I seem to go into a small depression, I exclude myself and just lay in bed thinking about everything. Finally the guilt attacks to hard and I break down, I start crying and talk to whoever is involved in the guilt I feel and I try to make it right. I personally hate feeling guilty, so I've gotten better at dealing with situations right when they happen so as to fix the problem faster before I feel to much pain. Macbeth needs to do the same he needs to come to terms of what he did and confess, yes his life will not be what he wants but its the right thing to do and he is causing pain in others life that is extremely unnecessary. 

Is Macbeth losing his mind?

                         



                              

        If I saw a dagger hanging in mid air I would think I was losing my mind. The dagger in Macbeth leads him to Duncan's room and guides him to draw his own dagger. My first thought was maybe the witches are magical and put a spell on the sword, but that is never mentioned in the story. When Macbeth starts seeing blood on the dagger he is sure he is losing him mind, but he pulls the dagger and kills Duncan. Unfortunately for Macbeth the servants saw him commit the murder, he then kills the servants and admits to killing the servant because he claims he saw them kill the king and was so mad at them. This I think was actually pretty smart on Macbeth's side, he saved his butt by fessing up to killing the servants in honor of the king. This makes him look like a noble man in the eyes of the people who don't know the truth. Macbeth does feel bad about the murder though, because he knows that the king is said to be God's representative on earth. Therefore he believes he has upset God and will be going to hell. 
         What surprised me though in this area of the book is that Macbeth doesn't seem to care when his sons run away because they are disgusted with there fathers actions. Now they look like the prime suspects of the murder. 

The Crazy wife and the plan

Macbeth totally wants to kill the king, but feels skeptical about it. His wife really wants to be queen and is scared her husband is to go to steal the throne by murder. She called him a coward ! He isn't a coward he is trying to be noble and do the right thing! 

Lady Macbeth is crazier then anyone in my opinion. She called on the evil spirits to rid her of her femine  weaknesses so she won't feel guilt. They planed to get the guards drunk so there not aware of what's going on and kill the king. but what if the guards don't want to drink that much? What will they do then ? 

Those witches are b*tches

Those witches are insane!! They went to torture a ladies husband just because his wife wouldn't share her chestnuts with them. Like go buy your own witch!!! You probably have warts and no one wants to get your nasty diseases! 

I personally don't think the witches are psychic,  I think they are just saying a possible outcome if Macbeth chooses a certain path. And because Macbeth and banquo hear of there possible amazing futures of course there gonna wanna accomplish this "prophecy" . 

Those witches can't be trusted though in my opinion. 

First read

We'll so far I'm not intrigued by the story but the books hints and definitions on the side sure helps a lot on understanding. 

The story starts off so dramatically. The captain is injured and bleeding to death. And in his last moments he is explaining the battle and tells of macbethss bravery. Macbeth seems like the prime guy, he has it all. He is a thane which means he is given land to look over and rule and is given even more land Because he's so awesome!! He is described as the husband of ballona who is the goddess of war. He is the ideal guy! I would steal him from his wife if I was in this story. 

But I DEFINATLY wouldn't have even let him even consider killing the king, no matter how bad I would love to be a queen. 

Intro

    Well honestly the last thing I want to be doing is blogging about shakespeare, but for my english class we are reading macbeth and have to blog about our thoughts on it. So I will give it my best but just know this is not how I want to be spending my time so I may seem annoyed most of the time and thats because I am. I'm not shakespeare's biggest fan, but here goes nothing. Hope anyone that reads this enjoys. Sorry if I offend any of you shakespeare lovers, if he still has lovers that is.