Vezbi

Macbeth

Najkoncentrirana vo smisla na peotski izras, zgusnat.

One of the key themes is condensed time. Слики на кондензирано време, минато, сегашно и идно.
Макбет размислува за убиството на Дункан- “the be-all and the end-all”. “If it were done when it is
done…”. Shakespeare plays with language. If the act be the-be all and the end-all- кондензација на
време. Ако во самиот момент на убиство завршува се, но има последици во иднината (совест), и
затоа the act is not the be-all and the end-all. The second sentence means the same. The subjunctive
implies that this is not the case.

Macbeth is one of the mature tragedies. Lady Macbeth- it is claimed that she is an epiphany of atrocity.
She challenges Macbeth’s courage and manhood. She says that if she has promised to kill her child, he
would do it. She is the epiphany of evil. This would mean that Shakespeare has created a one-
dimensional character. But, not, the sleepwalking scene. She is not that one-dimensional. She is also
troubled by her conscience.

James I the first was obsessed with witchcraft. He personally attended witch trials. One school of
contemporary critical theory- new criticism. They study both literary and non-literary texts form the
Renaissance. The cultural context, the history of ideas, this is what they are dealing with. They concluded
that S obviously tried to please James I, to flatter him by writing a play in which there is a witchcraft.
When M encounters them for the second time, the procession of kings. Macbeth was a real person. A
clash between the clans but Macbeth did not conspire against Dunkan. Shakespeare changed it.
Elizabeth did not have any offspring. James I was the legitimate heir but he was her nephew twice
removed, to her direct descendent. The issue of legitimacy bothered him throughout his reign. The
supernatural is S trying to please James I. According to one surviving document, the procession of kings,
one of them passed the mirror to James I so that he could see himself in the mirror and see the
suggestion that he is next in line. So, the play is about many things.

Compression of time, time condensed.

The fact the witches have beard suggests that evil has no sex or gender

Would Macbeth kill Dunkan without the prophesy of the witches, or without Lady Macbeth. Forget
about such questions. The witches only prompt him. The thought has already been there by the time he
meets them.

“weird”- comes from Old English “wyrd”- meaning fate. The three fates.

The release the evil in him. It would be too simplistic to say that he does it because of the witches, of
what they say to him.

First performed in 1606

Compression of time, equivocation- “fair is foul and foul is fair”- equivocation. Sth that is not what it is
(?). Introduced by a friar in a trial as part of his defense- what he actually said was not what he meant.
This is how the play opens. This is equivocation. Macbeth itself equivocates, perceives the world through
prophesies (?). “Ќе одиш и ќе се вратиш нема”- зависи од запиракта, equivocation. Prophesies have
always been equivocation- како ќе ги разбереш. As the play opens he is a noble, respectable warrior. He
begins as fair but then everything becomes foul. Lady Macbeth is foul but “fair” in the sense that she has
conscience.

The third issue, besides compression of time and equivocation, is manhood vs. womanhood. The “unsex
me” speech, there is the womanhood wanting her sex changed. At the same time she challenges
Macbeth’s manhood all the time.

The cauldron is a very important prop. It could be said that it stands for the gates of hell.

Stage directions- lightening, thunder, knocking on the door are also very important.

Act 1, scene 1 and 3- the witches. It is not them who plant the evil seed in Macbeth, they are the ones
who just release it. They say what he wants to hear.

He has two titles. “two truths”- that he is thane of Glams and that he will become thane of Gawdor.

The image is already in his head. The picture of it unfixes his hair and speed his heart. He is intelligent
and he knows that the only way to become king is by killing Dunkan, since he has two heirs.

The speech is a good example of compression of time- the present fears and …imagining- imagining
stands for the future. We see that what he sees in the future is even more upsetting. He is smothered so
much with the thought that he feels he won’t be able to act.

Pg. 31- the subjunctive implies that it is not so. If the act of the murder began and ended at the time at
the murder it would have been good if it were done quickly.

The be –all and the end-all- compression of time. Then he tells us why it can’t be the end-all. “even-
handed justice”- always personified as a woman with a sword. He describes the qualities of Duncan and
gives the reasons why he should not kill him. “trumpet-tongued”- the angels will announce to the world
what he has done so loudly. They will speak against the deep damnation of his soul. “pity” is
personified. Why like “a…babe”- babies are so innocent and pure. Pity will strike the blast- there would
be great turmoil. “cherubin”- an angel will ride on the wind and will blow the horrid deed in every eyes.
People will cry so much that the land would be flooded with tears. The image is like the biblical judgment
day. Dramatic irony- when we know sth that the character does not know. Нема малуз да го збодне
коњот кон намерата, but only vaulting ambition. The dramatic irony is that than Lady Macbeth enters.
She is his spur (and he says he has no spur).

Од дијалогот што следи

Universal feminine methods of persuading men- 1) you don’t love me; 2) you are afraid (she challenges
her manhood), 3) If I were am men I would do it 4)You said you would do it.

Pg. 23- The letter. Why doesn’t he wait but sends the letter beforehand. Why is he so impatient for her
to know. They love each other so much. If he tells her when he is coming before he arrives he will keep
her happier with this knowledge for a longer period of time. A unique relationship between the two of
them. At the beginning she is on top of things but there is a point at which Macbeth severs the umbilical
cord and moves without her (when he does not tell her about his plans to murder Banguo). Во тој миг
тој веќе не зависи од неа. Пред тоа се како паочна врска.

Very important speech, reveals to us her character.

“unsex me”. She is ready to have gall instead of milk to breast her child. She needs the cover of the night
because she is afraid God would see through the dark and cry stop. She fears her own self. She is not
one-sided character.

Also do the sleepwalking scene, the dagger speech, the tomorrow speech, and the porter speech
(important example of a comic relief. He is drunk. Macbeth како кројачот се надева да спечали на туѓа
несреќа и ја прави еквивокацијата, кажува нешто а прави друго. Навидум comic relief but it draws
your attention to deeper meaning.

The sleepwalking scene is also called the taper scene (во темница е)

The tomorrow scene. Macbeth is alive but dead inside. “she should have died hereafter”- чудна
реченица, many interpretations. It could sound completely indifferent, but there is a whole layer of
meaning. The world is compared to a stage but a different kind of stage than in Jacques. Human life is a
candle.