Close Reading Assignment 4

In Macbeth’s second soliloquy he is hallucinating. Shakespeare uses this as a tool to further depict the detrimental physiological effect that the Weird Sisters and their prophecy have had on Macbeth.  The references to sight and touch characterize his thoughts as visions rather than reality. When Macbeth says “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still, art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art though but a dagger of the mind” (2.1.46-50), Shakespeare helps the reader to understand that Macbeth is hallucinating about the murder and how his conscience is having such a difficult time with the witches fateful prediction.  He speaks directly to the ‘fatal vision’ and questions why it cannot be felt. This inability is see his reality is altering his perception of morally correct thing to do.   Another reference to sight and touch is made in the lines,  “Mine eyes are made the fools o th’ other senses or else worth all the rest, I see the still, and, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood” (2.1.56-58).  Macbeth’s ‘fool’ eyes see blood on the blade of the dagger that doesn’t exist.  He realizes that his eyes are deceiving him as a direct result of his doubts and fears.  Macbeth is losing control and he seems to realize it.  In the line, “Now o’re the one-half world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep” ( 2.1.61-63), he suggests that his life has become meaningless and sleep impossible, filled with bad dreams.  The use of ‘curtained sleep’ could have a double meaning; the curtained 4-poster bed from Elizabethan times and also Shakespeare could possibly have used the word curtained to refer to covering up the truth, supressing Macbeth’s thoughts about the hideous deed that he is planning.  The nightmares wake him up from the lie he is trying to sell himself.  Macbeth is falling apart. 

Close Reading Assignment 3

Shakespeare has deliberately used personification in Macbeth’s soliloquy in act 1 scene 7, to further portray the effect that the witches fortune has had on him, and how it presents itself through his actions. During this entire soliloquy, Macbeth is contemplating his desires to become King, due to the morality concerns of the actions necessary to get there. During Macbeth’s soliloquy he proclaims that, “This even-handed justice Commends th’ ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips” (1.7.9-11).  Shakespeare personifies his reference to justice, by suggesting that ‘justice’ will deliver their fate. He implies that Justice is alive and will recognize any immoral behavior and sinners will be punished accordingly.  Justice is defined as morally correct behaviour or treatment, which is the focus of the entire passage, yet the personification makes it more dramatic. Throughout this soliloquy it is evident that Macbeth is questioning the plan to murder Duncan.  Macbeth’s ambition is becoming more evident and in this passage he is trying to justify the murder saying that Duncan will enjoy heaven and that he will be welcomed.  In the line “that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued” [1.7.19]. Shakespeare uses the simile ‘like angels’ to show just how virtuous Duncan is, almost trying to convince himself that the King should be murdered so that Heaven will benefit.   He uses another simile in the line “like a newborn babe striding the blast” to compare the King to a child without any sins, depicting Duncan as innocent [1.7.21-22].  Macbeth’s dilemma becomes very obvious in this passage because he talks about the Kings innocence and goodness and yet still cannot seem to tame his ambition to be King himself, regardless of the morality issues.

Close Reading Assignment 2

In Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth is finally introduced, and here in these short passages she delivers a few soliloquys that help the audience and readers understand her character and motives. In her second soliloquy she implies that her ambition is taking over her decisions and is influencing her to sacrifice her civility and humanity to achieve her deepest desires. This is shown through “Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (1.5.51). The remorse in this context means compassion, thus implying that she is giving up her compassion to get what she wants, which is power. A soliloquy can effectively portray a character’s true personality, because they are alone, which allows the character to express their deepest private yearnings.  This helps the reader better understand her character because it shows that she is very ambitious, and will do anything to get what she wants, even control her husband. When she says “Hie thee hither that I pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valour of my tongued” (1.5.27-30). The word spirits in this context, refers to her power over Macbeth, which shows her character because it implies that she will influence Macbeth to do things to get the crown through her manipulation. Also, the word chastise in this context means inflict punishment, which further depicts how she will use forceful means of punishment to ensure that she achieves her goals, with the help of her husband. This contributes to the understanding of the character Macbeth through showing that he is easily persuaded by the woman he loves.  Otherwise he is a very courageous and noble man. This passage shows that Macbeth does not desire the fate of becoming King as much as his wife, and that she is power driven. Overall, these passages depict Lady Macbeth as a ruthless, manipulating, power hungry woman and Macbeth as an easily influenced, kind-hearted sole, with his only ambition implanted in his mind by his controlling, greedy, malevolent wife.

Close Reading Assignment 1; 1.4.55-60

In this short passage from Macbeth, Shakespeare uses various types of figurative language and motifs to portray the theme. The motifs of darkness and light and blindness and sight contribute deep meaning to this passage.  The light represents truth and sight knowledge, darkness dishonesty and blindness ignorance.  Shakespeare uses this language to illustrate Macbeth’s moral struggle. Ever since the three witches told Macbeth of his prophecy of becoming King and the Thane of Cawdor, he has shown that he does not like his fate, until now, when he realizes deep down that he truly desires the power.  This is shown through the passage “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down or else o’erleap; for in my way it lies” (1.4.55-57). This is the turning point in Macbeth’s ambition where he starts to consider how his fate will play out in his favor.  Shakespeare uses the motif of darkness and light to demonstrate the effect of this prophecy, “ 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” (1.4.57-60). Shakespeare uses light in this passage to represent the truth in humanity and uses the black to cover up what is the truth. So Macbeth is hiding important things in his life to achieve his deepest desire, which is to become King.  He implies that appearances and images are not always as they seem or appear. This connects to Macbeth’s prophecy inferring that he will cheat the truth and lie to achieve these deepest desires. Also the eye represents that one can physically see, but is metaphorically blind to the truth, which also connects to Macbeth’s attempt to disguise his ambition. This passage reminds me of the influential politician during the Renaissance era, Machiavelli. He is famous for this quote, “The end justifies the means” meaning that anything you must do to achieve your goal is justifiable. Although this may be a stretch for the position that Macbeth is in currently, I believe the two connect because in this passage he proclaims that he will do anything to get the Prince of Cumberland out of his path to the throne.     

Invictus Poem

The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley, reveals Ayn Rand’s philosophy of individualism. Her philosophy, declared by “it regards man- everyman- as an independent who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of rights- and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members” (The Ayn Rand Lexicon, p.218). This philosophy connects to the quote “My head is bloody but unbowed” (Henley 8), in the poem. This shows the power of ‘self’, because even though negative circumstances have been suppressing him, he has found the power within himself to keep his head up and keep going. Another quote that portrays Rand’s philosophy is, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul” (Henley 15-16).  This anaphora exemplifies individualism by telling the reader that no matter how hard his life is, he is the only person that has control over his actions and thoughts.

Lord of the Flies: chp 11-12 post

Prompt 10

Chapters eleven and twelve of “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, were gruesome and present the falling action and resolution.  The falling action begins when Piggy, blinded by the theft of his glasses, summons the courage to confront the ‘Tribe’ and convinces Ralph and the twins that it is their option.  Of course, for Piggy this was a fateful decision.  When Piggy, who represented knowledge, is crushed by the bolder, and the conch, which represented civility, destroyed, the last fragment of the society fell with them. 

I think my favorite part in the book, though, is when the naval officer asks “Who’s boss here?” (201) and Ralph responds, “I am”.  Jack hides himself in the background, realizing that the boys will not speak highly of his leadership role.The very final paragraph of the novel where Golding describes the naval officer turning away “to give them time to pull themselves together” (202). It is evident that Ralph will realize civil decency once more.

In regard to the prompt, I believe Golding sums up the theme of the novel in the last few sentences when he writes, “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding 202). The drastic change in the young boys becoming ruthless savages was rather chilling and it does make me think of my own life and future.  I remember days when my family would be playing in the yard, or going to the beach or something very ordinary, but and I would come home at night and squeal that that was the ‘best day ever!’ I haven’t felt that innocence for sometime and fear that losing it has made me a more serious person.  Of course, we all must grow up and innocence is lost, but if we have family and good friends and memories, our heart will not grow dark.

Lord of the Flies: Chp 9 and 10

Prompt 7

Chapters nine and ten of the “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, were very intriguing, and thrilling. I believe the climax of the novel is described, although somewhat disguised, in chapter nine. I realize now that the climax began to unfold when Simon is gleaning knowledge about the Beast from the Lord of the Flies at the end of chapter eight.  When the Lord if the Flies said, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could kill!” (Golding 143) I was perplexed, but now it is now evident to me that Golding is trying to demonstrate that the Beast is the savagery that exists in human nature.  As chapter nine unfolds we see the savagery at its worst.  The description of Simon discovering that the Beast was not the dead man covered by the parachute was also difficult to decipher, but upon looking back over this section I realized that this Beast was not what the boys should fear, but the Beast within themselves.  Once Simon realizes this he rushes to tell the others of his breakthrough but his news is lost in the din of thunder and the chant  “Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood”(Golding 152).   This is certainly the climax, the thunder cracks and the boys are in a turbulent frenzy when Simon stumbles into the melee and is savagely beaten to death.  The death of Simon affects the remainder of the novel because the boys are changed forever knowing that they have killed a friend. It confused me how they could not have realized it was Simon, however, the boys seemed to be feeding off each others thirst for blood and were caught up in the moment.  I believe this could be described as a ‘mob mentality’, where one person in the group initiated the act and everyone else followed. The significance of killing Simon is that he was the symbol of purity, a figure of Christ and nature, and when they kill him they are killing off all that is good in their society.

 Another part of the novel that intrigued me was “Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape“ (Golding 150). This perplexed me because at the beginning of the novel, it was Ralph who everyone wanted as leader and now they have shifted their allegiance to Jack.  It may be that the savagery has led to this power change as they realize that Ralph will likely try to tame the barbarism and bring back the civility.  The civilization rapidly went down hill when Jack assumed power, and now we see that Jack is intent on keeping the power as he has taken to beating and punishing Wilfred for no reason.  This would instil fear in the others assuring him control by domination.