Blog 16: Story Time Macbeth Style

Once upon a time, in a far off land called Scotland, there lived Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. One day, three weird ladies visited Macbeth and told him of all the dreams they had about him and what he would become. They said that he would one day become King of Scotland and be so famous that he'd be able to wear a crown all the time. Macbeth felt invincible! He walked back home and waited and waited for a knock at his door saying he was now King, but it never came. He decided that he was going to make this happen himself, so he and Lady Macbeth made up a plan. They were going to make a potion for King Duncan, who was King at the time, and make him sleep for a very long time, so that Macbeth could take the title. They were successful! Macbeth became King and Lady Macbeth queen. Everything was good and happy until one day, Macbeth's best friend Banquo got suspicious of his wrongdoings. By this time, Macbeth's fame had gone to his head and he did the same thing to Banquo that he did to King Duncan. By the end, he had pushed away everyone who he loved and was sad and lonely. A good man Macduff who knew that Macbeth had become bad took care of him and Scotland lived happily ever after.

Blog 18: Female Roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth

What exactly is the difference between masculinity and femininity? Shakespeare includes only men in Macbeth but I don't think this has as much to do with the time period as the article suggests. "At that time, a woman’s role would be as home-maker and child-bearer," Thacker states, but if you're able to look deeper into Shakespeare's creative mind, you will see that Macbeth is not about whether you are man or woman. This is revealed the most when Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to "unsex her" in order for her to be able to kill King Duncan without feeling. Throughout the play, characters go from men or women to demonic figures who will do anything for a position of power. As the play goes on, the more and more each character is stripped of their humility for other human beings. Immediately at the beginning, anyone who is sane is immediately killed off, leaving only the men and women who have become savages to live and cause more destruction.

Blog 15: New Year's Premonitions

Banquo states that even though the premonitions may be true, that he and Macbeth must take precautions. As much as they would like to believe that their future holds good fortune such as high positions of power, nothing is guaranteed. His main argument is the fact that they are witches; therefore, they are not to be trusted. The "instruments of darkness" that he speaks of are probably a figurative way of saying "the three witches." He declares his warning in a dark sense, making it clear that although they spoke of Macbeth attaining the titles of Thane of Cawdor and King, they never tell how Macbeth will come to acquire these high positions. If the witches had never filled Macbeth's head with these unrealistic premonitions, he and his wife would have never been driven to kill for the position of power, and King Duncan would probably still be alive and well.

To be honest, I never really make new years resolutions. This is mostly because I don't believe in premonitions, but instead believe that the future is subjective and depends on what happens in the present. For the sake of this blog, I will state my goals for the year of 2010, these of which I hope to make a habit of.

First, I would like to apply myself more in school. In the past years, I have been discouraged by hard work and immediately find myself giving up when I don't understand something. I put this first because although my teachers and Mom may not believe it, I want to do well in school and this is my biggest goal. My personal goal would be to just be nicer to everyone in general, even if they don't deserve it because if everyone stopped hating and was just nicer and stopped accusing and judging than the world would be a better place. But I think that's pretty much everyone's personal goal, it's just that not enough people put it into action. My resolution involving my family would definitely be to be nicer to my Mom. It's unrealistic to think that I can be the perfect child who is pleasant at all times but I can try to come close. Finally, my goal within the outside world is to continue to be nice to strangers at work and in general. What made me came to this decision was an elderly woman who wrote me a letter just because I smiled at her and asked her how she was, apparently I made her day. I think that all my goals are definitely within reach and I hope to achieve them.