Tragedies

The first scenario that I believe will conform the best to the 8 stages of tragedy would be the tragedy of the marathon runner. I created this tragedy and it is about a man who was training for a marathon but started to get these pains in his legs and being an ignorance and stupid person he continually ingested drugs from an illegal vendor, which eventually lead to his legs having to be amputated. This portrays that he is not bad because he was running in support for his family and a good cause but not good because he kept taking drugs that he knew wouldn’t result in a good outcome. His tragic flaw was ignorance and stupidity in decision-making. This characters peripety is when he realizes that he has to get his leg amputated but doesn’t accept his fate and waits even longer to have the infection get even worse. Any person may feel sorry for him because he is a regular guy involving himself with drugs to overcome an obstacle, and is very relatable to many people. A challenge would be to have his flaw be a continuous issue. Another challenge would be to show the effect these drugs had on his family.

The second scenario that would also conform to the 8 stages of tragedy would be the tragedy about a painter having trust issues and finally allowing himself to trust and have it all be a scam. The painter would be the tragic hero because he is not all good because he doesn’t trust people and doesn’t allow him to love but also isn’t all bad because he doesn’t harm anyone is very kind. His flaw is a lack of trust that leads to very serious repercussions. The catharsis would be when the customer who purchases all his merchandise is a scam. This influences the audience to feel pity because he was mistreated as a child, which led to his trust issues which lead to his demise. This makes the audience feel pity for this character because everyone can connect to this mistreatment. Some challenges to write this would be to include irony and to have a chorus. Another challenge would be to build up suspense and to create an image and personality of the character if he doesn’t show his emotions.

Proverbs

1.     The first proverb I wrote, “ Having sour milk can destroy the birds flight”, for the novel Things Fall Apart  represents Okonkwo’s lack of guidance and nurturing as a child.  The milk represents nurturing and support though childhood and sour depicting the lack of nurturing. This lack of support, when Okonkwo was young, affected all aspects of his life.  The disgrace from his family influenced him to be successful, yet it had many negative effects, like being concerned with image and being too ambitious.  This ambition fuelled him to do irrational things, which is why it can negatively influence the person’s path in life.

2.     Then next proverb I wrote, “When the lion wants nothing less than the lamb it becomes a mouse”, which was for the drama Macbeth. This proverb depicts the protagonist Macbeth’s ambition and drive to become king and shows how in the end he was insignificant.  I used a lion and a mouse to represent the change between being powerful and very insignificant.

3.     The last proverb that I wrote,  “A blind leader can’t lead his troops to a truthful victory”, to represent the drama Oedipus by Sophocles.  The protagonist in this drama is not literally blind, he is metaphorically blind to the truth and is expected to lead his country to greatness.  Oedipus is the king of Thebes, and in the drama, Thebes was in danger.  Oedipus is blind to the truth which prevents him from saving his country.

Close Reading Assignment 10

Macbeth’s soliloquy in act 5, scene 5 refers to Lady Macbeth’s premature death.  Although some take the first line, “She should have died hereafter” (Macbeth 5.5.20), to mean that she had to die sometime, I believe that the entire passage needs to be considered to understand Shakespeare’s intent here.  If Shakespeare intended it to mean ‘she had to die sometime’, that would depict Macbeth as an uncaring person.  I think that Shakespeare intended the passage to be read as Lady Macbeth dies prematurely, which saddened him.  In the line “There would have been a time for such a word” (5.5.21), Macbeth is saying that today is not the time to hear of her death, that tomorrow or tomorrow’s tomorrow would have been better.  It shows that Macbeth is truly saddened by the loss and does not want to accept her death. In one line in this passage Shakepspeare uses “dusty” to describe death that may be a reference to the “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” of the bible, that life is a circle and back to dust we will inevitably go.  There is a question as to whether he should have used the word “dusky”, which maybe he should have as the rest of the passage refers to murkiness and shadows.  In the next few lines Shakespeare describes life as short and meaningless and in the line “life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage” (5.5.27-28), he is disheartened that life is such an illusion as the shade that can be caused by a candle.  Poor player may refer to an insignificant person getting his 15 (or 60) minutes of fame by pretending to be something he is not.  The effect of these words is to illustrate Macbeth’s disgust at the lack of meaning to life, especially his life, which has been turned upside down by his greed.  In Macbeth’s line that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (5.5.30), Shakespeare suggests that humans are full of a lot of bluster with not a lot of substance. This is a pretty powerful blow as we all need to think we are significant in someway or to someone in order to have a fulfilling life.

Close Reading Assignment 9

Act 5, scene 1 of Macbeth depicts a doctor and a maid observing Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and talking.  Lady Macbeth is an iconic character who is known for her bad to the bone and ruthless attitude, and whose ambition fueled her to do irrational things. Until this point where she has finally felt true guilt, and this is seen when the doctor sees her about her sleepwalking. The maid tells the doctor about her recent strange behavior of getting up and washing her hands in the night while still asleep. The sleep walking represents the guilt taking over her being and making her go insane. She can’t function properly anymore, although she didn't physically kill Duncan she partook in it and its metaphorically and literally killing her from guilt. This sleep walking helps the audience get a better understanding of Lady Macbeth character because it shows us that as tough as she has acted she is deep down a very weak character that can not handle the power she sought to have. In the line, “It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands” (Macbeth 5.1.30), the maid reveals Lady Macbeth’s continuous mid-slumber ritual.  Hand washing was referenced in Act 2 immediately following the murder of Duncan, however, that action was described to illustrate Lady Macbeth’s desire to destroy any evidence of the murder which would lead to Macbeth or herself being suspected.  In this scene the hand washing is a sub-conscious action meant to show how Lady Macbeth’s heart is burdened and she is desperately trying to cleanse her soul. We can see through this scene that Lady Macbeth’s character has changed quite a bit since the early scenes where she was adamant about Macbeth doing anything he had to in order to be King.  Here, she appears to regret the deaths, especially the wife and children, and wonders if her hands will ever be clean, meaning her heart free of guilt. When a person washes their hands they do it to rid their hands from germs and other unwanted debris and that’s exactly what Shakespeare is implying here. Lady Macbeth is trying to rid herself from the guilt that she has and trying to get over what she did but she cannot.

Close Reading Assignment 6

Act 3 of Macbeth illustrates the preparations for the murder of Banquo.  Macbeth’s insidious plot is growing.   In Act 3, scene 1 Macbeth, in his soliloquy, relates his loathing and resentment of Banquo’s virtue and wisdom and how Banquo will be his downfall.  Since the Weird Sisters had prophesised that Banquo would be the father of many kings, Macbeth surmises that his murder is essential to the future of his kingship.  During this soliloquy Macbeth refers to fertility several times, which at first glance could be interpreted to mean Macbeth’s lack of offspring to carry on his royal lineage, however in the context of the passage, the words fruitless and barren, in the line “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren sceptre in my grip”, illustrate his meaningless and irrelevant reign (3.1.66-67).  The reader can sense that Macbeth is feeling regretful for his actions, yet unwilling to allow the future to play out as the witches had foretold. In regard to the possibility of Banquo’s descendants ascending the throne, if becomes quite obvious that Macbeth is appalled that he murdered Duncan for the benefit of Banquo’s children.  In the passage “For Banquo’s issue I have filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan murdered…to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo’s kings”, Shakespeare refers to fertility with the words issue and seeds (3.1.70-75).  Issue meaning the offspring of Banquo and seeds meaning future descendants.  These references to fertility show how Macbeth feels about potentially losing his descendant’s kingship to Banquo and he is incensed by the thought, which makes him decide to have Banquo and his son Fleance murdered.