Remember, to earn extra credit, you must do the following:
1. Analyze! Teach us something!
2. Support your conclusions with specific details from the movie.
3. Develop your post. Each post must be at least 7 sentences in length.
Feel free to respond to other posts, too--you don't always have to start a new thread!
In the PBS version of the play Macbeth, the witches being portrayed as nurses utilizes the "Fair is foul and foul is fair" motif. When the witches first appear on screen, they appear as nurses because nurses are meant to value life, and help preserve the lives of others. However, at the end of the first scene, they kill the wounded soldier. This can be a reference because in the motif, fair is mentioned before foul intentionally because the meaning is that fair turns foul. The witches are compared to the theme "Fair is foul and foul is fair" motif because the witches started out as kind life preservers and turned into evil murderers. They also appear trustworthy, because King Duncan asks them to heal the loyal soldier. This also leads to the fact that King Duncan does not have a keen sense of judgement. He trusts not only the evil witches, but Macdonwald, and Macbeth as well.
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ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a dramatic irony. She appears innocent and charming to the other characters, but the audience can tell that she is evil. Lady Macbeth is pale and thin. She has the characteristics of a dead body to show that she may be physically living but her soul is dead. Lady Macbeth's soul is dead from the beginning of the play. When she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan, Macbeth's soul is alive unlike hers. Lady Macbeth wants her husband to feel the same way she does, she wants his soul to be dead. She realizes the she can't get the crown herself and that she needs to murder Macbeth's soul in order to get the royalty that she wants. Lady Macbeth is selfish and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.
ReplyDeleteThe PBS version of Macbeth portrays many similarities between Lady Macbeth and the three witches. The women look alike physically; they all have dark hair, pale skin, and sharp/dramatic facial features. However, physical characteristics are not the only similarities these women share. Both the witches and Lady Macbeth desire to have complete control over situations. The sisters have supernatural control over humans; as viewers/readers we see their power especially over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth also has power over Macbeth throughout the plan of Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth even goes as far as to exclaim, "unsex me here", because she wants total control over the murder. These women would rather have all of the control, rather than trust another with a portion of the power.
ReplyDeleteThe PBS version of Macbeth show Macbeth making a sandwich for himself and the two murders as he attempts to convince them that Banquo is their enemy. He first opens the refrigerator, symbolizing how his words are opening their minds. He starts making the sandwiches and gives it to one murder. Macbeth is not only innocently feeding them a sandwich but secretly "feeding them lies". One lie Macbeth tells them is "know that it was he, in the times past, which held you so under fortune, which you thought had beenour innocent self." Banquo is innocent and does not deserve the blame of the murders misfortune. Macbeth uses lies to manipulate the people he comes into contact with.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth appears in her first scene in a white dress. After reading the letter from Macbeth, she has a costume change. For the rest of the play until Macbeth's feast, she is robed in black. Then she is wearing a red dress. She starts as an innocent soul, who wouldn't think of hurting anyone. After reading the letter, she changes to an evil soul, being represented by the black. This is showing that after reading the letter, she has changed her personality from innocent to evil. This could be suggesting that Lady Macbeth started out as a kind person instead of the evil witch she turns out to be.
ReplyDeleteRachel pointed out that as Lady Macbeth goes from a good person to an evil person, the color of her attire also changes from white to black. The black/white symbol also is shown in the PBS movie when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are riding horses. Macbeth's horse is black and Lady Macbeth's horse is white. This could symbolize that to everyone else in society that Macbeth is the evil person; however, in reality, Lady Macbeth is the cruel one. To Banquo, the first person to question Macbeth's honor, it seems that Macbeth is the ruthless one. However, Macbeth never would have thought about murdering Duncan if Lady Macbeth wouldn't have put the idea in his head. No one ever questions the integrity of Lady Macbeth, although she was the catalyst in Duncan's murder.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with LeeAnn, I think that Macbeth is luring the murders into killing Banquo. Macbeth is physically trying to get the men to take the offer. Macebth offers something to the two people just like the serpent in the garden of Eden. Instead of offering forbidden fruit he is offering them untruthful knowledge, a lie, which is also forbidden by God. He is physically giving them a sandwich, but mentally he is offering them information that is harmful to them. Macebeth knows that what he is doing is wrong and will only be harmful. He is evil and wants bad for others. Macbeth is the devil.
ReplyDeleteThe PBS version of Macbeth, Lady Macebth and Macbeth holds hands as they go down the lift. That suggest that they are taking a downfall together and leading themselves to hell together. Once Duncan is killed, they are doomed together. Even though Lady Macbeth does not commit the murder, she is just as guilty. They realize that they are damned but they only care about their life on earth because going to hell does not phase them. The thought of living eternally in hell doesn't bother them because they are emotionless. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's souls died with Duncan.
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ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, is acted out by an older man. The way he is manipulated throughout the play would lead the viewers to believe that he was a young, foolish man. People say that wisdom comes with age, yet Macbeth is clearly an older man that can’t think for himself. Right away, in the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan. After endless insults, he finally is persuaded to kill him. This act signifies that Macbeth is easy to give in under pressure. Macbeth still has growing up to do, he needs to learn to make the correct decisions for his self. Macbeth has the mind of a child and is trapped in an old man’s body.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, during the scene where Macbeth was imagining the dagger, the music in the back ground sounded like a heartbeat. This change in tempo intensifies the scene. This suggests that Macbeth was paranoid and as a result his heart rate sped up. This scene is peculiar because Macbeth is grasping the air in front of him, imagining a dagger. Because Macbeth is so paranoid, at this moment he feels more alive than ever. The resemblance of the music to a heartbeat signifies life. The music adds more suspicion to the scene, making the audience wonder what is going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteAs Rachel and Chappel pointed out, in the PBS version of Macbeth Lady Macbeth's appearance changes as she does. Not only do her clothes get darker but he skin becomes paler. She looks weak and worn out. Scene by scene after the murdering of Duncan, Lady Macbeth's appearance get worse and worse with every scene. This is the beginning of her becoming sick and killing herself.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Chappel, the horses can be seen as a symbol to what Banquo believes. He sees Macbeth on the black horse and Lady Macbeth on the white horse. The horses show that Banquo thinks that Macbeth is evil and Lady Macbeth is innocent. However, once Banquo leaves, both of the Macbeths dismount their horses. Seeing as the director could not change the color of the horses in the middle of a scene, this could represent that at this point both Macbeths contain the same amount of evil, because they are both at ground level, and about to go down the elevator shafts together (representing the process of being doomed to Hell). This could also represent the downfall of their sanity and the point of no return in the play- specifically to Lady Macbeth. One of the next scenes has Lady Macbeth in dark red robes. She could be dressed in the red robes because they have now not only killed Duncan, but also Macbeth's best friend- and supposedly his son. The dress represents dried blood. She has been permanently stained with the crimes she has committed. This downfall is signaled by the dismounting of her white horse.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version, there is a part of the dinner scene where MacBeth crushes a cigarette on top of a man’s head. Before this particular part MacBeth is walking around the table looking/watching everybody. This scene shows that MacBeth wants to be in control of everything that goes on around him. He always wants to make sure that everybody is doing things his way. This is ironic because while MacBeth thinks he is in control of other people, he cannot seem to get control of himself or his thoughts. MacBeth allows himself to be controlled by the witches and by Lady MacBeth. At the beginning of the play (and movie), MacBeth is convinced by the witches that he will take up many titles in the future. The witches, in many ways, start the evil mindset and thoughts of MacBeth. Lady MacBeth grows on these evil thoughts by finally convincing MacBeth to murder Duncan by questioning his manhood. The irony in this scene is shown throughout the play. MacBeth is always trying to control things around him but can never seem to control himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version, there is a part during Macbeth's big speech in the beginning of act two where instead of just saying "howl's," he actually howls. This symbolizes Macbeth being a wolf. Also, he is saying this at night and wolves go hunt their prey at this time. Duncan is Macbeth's prey. Macbeth is going to go "hunt" his prey in the night just like wolves. This is a small detail in the movie, but it made a big impact. It symbolized another side of Macbeth unseen by just reading the text.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the Rupert Goold version of Macbeth today, I noticed something interesting about the costumes and lighting. In what would be Act 3 Scene 2, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are getting dressed for their coronation feast that evening, Macbeth paces around their bedroom. At a few points in the scene he stands under a red light casting a very eerie tint of red onto his shirt and face. The director and lighting designers collaborated to create this look of “blood” on Macbeth. This is after Duncan’s death and the plot to kill Banquo and Fleance had been made. The fact that light- which is often a symbol of truth is used here to show the truth of Macbeth’s actions is interesting because it shows Macbeth’s actions and the blood that is on his hands because of the murders. The light makes him look “bloody” and both he and his wife later have issues with trying to “clean off the blood” later.
ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth enters out of breath and with wide eyes of course talking about Macbeth’s fragile mind and spirit, but the movie gives a visual glimpse into the mind and spirit of her through facial expressions and inflection her voice. “Hark!” when saying this line she was running in out of control and her voice is raspy with uncertainty. This portrays exactly how Lady Macbeth should be reacting sending her husband off to commit murder, but then she catches her breath and says, “Peace”. This is ironic because she should be anything but peaceful at this moment, but we can see her collecting her “Lady Macbeth” composure, which is unfazed by violence. This scene is contrasted to how she reacted to the letter Macbeth sent which was immediate thoughts of violence and did not take her time collecting herself before she reacted. This is showing the downhill progression of Lady Macbeth coming to terms with sanity.
ReplyDeleteWhile Macbeth is composing himself and cowering from finishing the deed Lady Macbeth comes storming in covered in Duncan’s blood from which had placed the bloody daggers next to the guards and the scene ends with Macbeth’s hands covered in blood and Lady Macbeth’s dress, chest, hands, and face covered in blood. The next scene Lady Macbeths appears in a completely red dress and Macbeth had just a trim of red around his sleeves. This symbolizes the guilt, which has taken over Lady Macbeth and is clearly displaying it and how Macbeth is only showing a little and his hiding it well beneath his sleeves. Lady Macbeth’s facial expressions change dramatically between these consecutive scenes. As she is going up in the elevator, she is composed holding her head up, as oppose it in the second she has her head down and can not face herself in the vanity mirror. However, Macbeth’s eyes give the change away for him. As he is riding up in the elevator his eyes are wide open and haunted, but then in the next scene they are small and hard to read because his composer masks them.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of the play, there are scenes that end with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth riding up the elevator in their house, holding hands. This picture symbolizes their power increasing together. As Macbeth kills every man who stands in his way of being king, they become higher than others in Scotland. This also represents them becoming more evil. After each murder, they are less innocent than before. Along with becoming less innocent, they’re feeling of guilt ascends. When they ride the elevator, they are riding to the top and reaching the height of evil.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth the witches are serving food at Macbeth's dinner party. It is ironic because normally servers serve something that the people want. This suggests that Macbeth does want the evil thoughts that the witches are serving to him. Then the witches sit in Macbeth's seat and he doesn't know what to do. Physically Macbeth is sitting on the throne, but mentally the witches are sitting on it. They are controlling what Macbeth is doing. With out the witches' guidance Macbeth doesn't know what to do. Macbeth is gullible and depends on the immortal's guide to his mortal life. Macbeth is the witches puppet.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth Lady Macbeth is hiding once Macbeth returns from killing Duncan. In act 1 scene 1 she summons the spirits asking to be "unsexed" suggesting that she could possibly be the more masculine figure. Moments before Duncan is murdered she says that she would have killed him if he hadn't resembled her father. This suggests that she says things that might be more masculine than Macbeth but her actions are not. The movie supports this idea by making her hide when she hears someone. The more masculine thing to do, in this situation, would be to stand there. She shows fear and this suggests that she will never take any major actions.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, Macbeth makes a sandwich for himself and the murderers. As Macbeth describes the actual murder he is cutting the bread. This could be a Biblical reference; in the Bible Jesus says "I am the bread of life". In general the bread represents life. Cutting the bread and talking about the murders is representing life ending. Also that a the murder will take place. This was added to create a stronger Christian influence and that murder was near.
ReplyDeleteIn the train scene where Banquo is murdered the number six appears a considerably large amount of times. The devils number is known as 666. Banquo was located in cabin 6. The shots that the camera took were taken at an angle to show at least three of the sixes at a time. This was done purposefully to show the devilish thing that was going to occur. There is the reoccurring idea that Macbeth could represent the devil. The sixes suggest that Macbeth, the devil, is the real one behind this murder he is just using the murderers to help remove the guilt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel on the aspect that fair turns foul, but what about foul turning fair? This has to do with the fall of Macbeth. Starting with the slaughter of Duncan at the beginning of the play, we get the sense that he has been an unfair player in order to attain more power. He continues this by killing Banquo, who stated previously that Macbeth had not played fairly for this power and later, Macduff’s family to become more powerful. At the end of the play, the witches’ prophecies came true about a man not born of woman killing Macbeth when Macduff kills him. This is when the foul starts to turn fair, because Macduff gets revenge on him for killing his family. The final act of fairness is when Malcolm, who we think will make a good leader, will take over Scotland, getting rid of the foul tyrant, Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteDuring the scene where Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to continue on with his act of killing Duncan, we see when they return to meet Duncan that Macbeth carries a jug of red wine and Lady Macbeth carries what looks like chocolate cake. Before this point in the play, it seems that Lady Macbeth is the evil one, because she wants Macbeth to kill Duncan, while he can’t make up his mind. When we see Lady Macbeth and Macbeth carrying these objects, it all changes. The red wine symbolizes the new bitterness that Lady Macbeth has passed onto Macbeth. He will carry this bitterness inside him for the rest of the play as he continues to kill more people in the search for power. The chocolate cake Lady Macbeth has is a symbol for the innocence and sweetness she has inside of her that allows her to not be the person who kills these blameless people. We could assume that Macbeth had this sweetness inside him at first while Lady Macbeth was bitter, but the roles switch, and these symbols represent that.
ReplyDeleteThe scene where Banquo and Fleance are in the kitchen is very symbolic to the ending of the play. We acted the part in this scene out where Fleance is playing with his father’s sword, while his father gives a speech about the lights all being out in heaven, and then a continuation of dialogue between him and Macbeth. We wondered if Fleance would be paying attention to them or not, and in this movie, it shows Fleance not paying any attention at all. This is a symbol that Fleance should not pay attention anyways, because the death of his father will cause him to have to flee; therefore, never gaining the thrown like the witches said was going to happen. We never see any interaction between Fleance and Macbeth during the movie and it’s because they will soon have nothing to do with each other. Macbeth knows in his mind that he will later kill Banquo and at least try to kill Fleance, too. Fleance doesn’t realize this but it gives us a clue when we see that he doesn’t pay any attention to when Macbeth talks to his father that there is no future for Fleance to inherit the throne after him.
ReplyDeleteAs I addressed in a previous blog post, the chocolate cake that Lady Macbeth carries from the kitchen represents innocence. Not much longer after that does Fleance take a piece of that same cake from the refrigerator. This shows Fleance’s innocence, and that he will never be bold enough to have any power, or bitterness from the wine. He could have just as easily gotten something else from the fridge, but the cake symbolizes what Fleance’s future will be like. The innocence that the cake stands for can take on two perspectives for the future. One, being that Fleance will not be killed by the Murderers because of his innocence. The second perspective is that Fleance will never hold the position of power that is expected for him according to the witches.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel when she says that going down the elevator shaft is representing the process of being doomed to Hell. In the PBS version of MacBeth, good, though very little of it, and evil are depicted very well through this elevator. One example of this is when MacBeth and Lady MacBeth are talking after Duncan’s murder. They are in a long dark underground hallway where MacBeth recalls the murder while Lady MacBeth takes the daggers back to Duncan’s chamber. MacBeth and Lady MacBeth exit the scene in the elevator shaft. The elevator represents the transportation from earth to hell or from good to evil. Therefore, their ascension in the elevator represents the MacBeths going up to the earth after being in hell. They both have blood on their hands and evil in their hearts. The blood that is still on their hands symbolizes the evil that they are stuck with as they ascend to good (earth). Another example of this metaphor is Lady MacBeth’s sleepwalking scene. She walks into the scene from the elevator shaft, talking to herself and trying to wash the “blood” off of her hands. Her habit of sleepwalking is the consequence of her evil words and actions and the stains of blood on her hands symbolize the evil that will always be with her. At the end of this powerful scene, she leaves “hell” and rides in the elevator up to earth, up to reality where she will always live with her cruel deeds on her hands.
ReplyDeleteThe scene where MacBeth and Seyton are fighting against Malcolm and all of his soldiers is another representation of MacBeth’s evil. It shows how nobody supports MacBeth because of how cruel and devilish he is. In this scene, the name “Seyton” is a play on words for the name “Satan.” Therefore, this scene is saying that the only person who supports MacBeth is the devil. While Malcolm has many soldiers fighting beside him, MacBeth only has one companion fighting alongside of him. This scene also gives the impression that MacBeth is always surrounded by evil. Wherever MacBeth goes, he is always followed by his cruel murderous deeds.
ReplyDeleteAfter Lady Macbeth returns from placing the daggers in the servant's bed chamber, she is covered in blood. Lady Macbeth then declares that, "A little water clears us of this deed" (2.2.86). Essentially she is saying that water, a natural substance, has the capability of setting them free from their sinful actions. However, both she and Macbeth have chosen to believe the witches prophecy that Macbeth will become king. One cannot believe in both the natural and supernatural. By believing the supernatural, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are choosing to give up their afterlife for a life filled with power on Earth. She realizes that the natural can set her free, but despite this Lady Macbeth chooses the supernatural in order to be granted "immediate happiness." This is a decision Lady Macbeth will regret and will cause her to commit suicide.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Macbeth, physical attraction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is not really mentioned. However in PBS's movie version, the attraction Macbeth feels towards his wife is made obvious. He often hugs, touches, and seems to want to kiss her. Because of this attraction towards her, he is unable to say no to her. He can't even deny her wish for him to murder Banquo, although that is one of his closest friends. She is his main inspiration, and he will do practically anything to please her. When he finds out that she has killed herself, the lights flicker. This signifies that his "light" and spark has been removed from his life. Without her, he loses hope and the small portion of his remaining sanity.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of the play, there are scenes that end with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth riding up the elevator in their house, holding hands. This picture symbolizes their power increasing together. As Macbeth kills every man who stands in his way of being king, they become higher than others in Scotland. This also represents them becoming more evil. After each murder, they are less innocent than before. Along with becoming less innocent, they’re feeling of guilt ascends. When they ride the elevator, they are riding to the top and reaching the height of evil. At the end of the movie, the last scene is them riding up the elevator together. This represents them riding to Hell. They are in ghost form because both are dead. They ride the elevator to hell as they rode the elevator to power.
ReplyDeleteDuring the banquet, the witches mess with Macbeth’s mind. They are the servers at the dinner, but they are really there to serve Banquo’s ghost to Macbeth. They think it is entertaining to watch Macbeth freak out when he sees Banquo’s ghost walking across the table. The witches use their powers to mess with Macbeth and his life. They know Macbeth feels guilt over killing Banquo, so they summon Banquo’s ghost to haunt Macbeth during a banquet with important leaders in Scotland. The witches are capable of talking to the dead, as we see in the next scene. The witches want to mess with Macbeth’s mind for their own entertainment.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, Ross is good man. He is shown sitting on the floor crying after the Macduff family is murdered. He tried to warn them that Macbeth was coming to kill them, but they did not leave on time. When Ross goes to London to see Malcolm and Macduff, he tries his best to avoid telling Macduff that his family was murdered. He avoids eye contact with Macduff the entire conversation. Ross tells Macduff eventually, and when he does, his face looks pained and sad. He loved the Macduff family. Also, Ross wants Malcolm to lead Scotland. He loves his country and wants a good leader, unlike Macbeth. Ross has an innocent image in the movie. He wears glasses and looks like a nerd. Ross is a kind, innocent man in the movie and his image supports his innocence.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of the play, Macbeth is a dictator. He murders every man that gets in his way of leading Scotland, and takes control of Scotland. The Scottish do not like him, most are scared of him and too afraid to stand up to him. He has a giant poster of the side of his face in his dining room. The poster is similar to the one of Stalin, a dictator during the time period the movie is set. Macbeth murderers Macduff’s family. This represents the Holocaust because they are killed with gas. Hitler put Jews in gas chambers to kill them during the Holocaust. Macbeth also hangs people in Scotland. Macduff shows Malcolm a picture of people being hanged when he visits him in England. In the end, Macbeth is overthrown and killed, just like all dictators have been in the past.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, in act 5 when Lady Macbeth is going down the lift she is clinching the flashlight. She knows that she has lead herself to the dark, and now she is trying to grasp the light. Lady Macbeth realizes that she has lead herself to a point of no return. She is finally letting her emotions and guilt get to her. She is also wearing a white gown with a gray robe. Signifying that she is trying to make herself pure but the evil, darkness still remains in her. Lady Macbeth is trying to make herself pure and go to the light, but she has already led herself to the dark.
ReplyDeleteIn the scene transition before the dinner party, it flashes between two images- very different, but very much the same. It shows the servants setting the tables for the coronation dinner party and then it flashes to a television with images of armies in perfect lines marching. The silverware is also laid out in perfect lines waiting to be set out. The fact that the lines are used here is showing that they are precise. In order. And the fact that it flashes between soldiers and silverware multiple times, two things that don’t normally go together establishes that they are equally dangerous. While it is just a dinner knife, it is still strong enough to cut meat, thus it is perceived as a weapon, forks can also be used as weapons; they be used for stabbing. Soldiers often carry knives and bayonets in addition to guns and both of those objects can be used similarly, slicing, cutting, and stabbing. Establishing this parallel between a deadly army and dining ware at a dinner party makes the viewer question, who can we trust? They could hurt us with this fork if they wanted. Are we ever safe? The nervous feelings that are established throughout the movie are definitely supported here by simply flashing between an image on TV and a table setting.
ReplyDeleteIn the final scene, Malcolm hands over the head of Macbeth to Macduff and then the picture is directed towards Macduff for the remainder of the scene. However, the angle of the camera is posed in such a way that it is like looking through the eyes of Malcolm. This shows the hidden longing in Malcolm to want to participate in his government and resentment towards Macduff, because after all he is the one that killed Macbeth. Malcolm watches as all the people bow down to Macduff and when Macduff practically crowns himself with the head of the man they sought to destroy. This represents that Malcolm is "watching" this new empire be born and yet it seems to already be corrupt from where he is observing.
ReplyDeleteFlashes of all the crucial settings in the movie appear and then suddenly Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are seen riding the elevator upwards holding hands. This builds off the idea that evil never dies. They have marked those places with an irremovable "spot" and their spirit will always haunt over them and the people who reside in them. They ascend from beneath the castle suggesting that beneath the castle is hell, also showing that this whole time Macbeth's castle is a gate way to hell physically and figuratively. They are covered in blood in the same exact places as when they killed Duncan, Macbeth's hands and Lady Macbeth's Chest and hands. This is showing that the blood still remains "on" them and they can never fully wash it off or hide it forever.
ReplyDeleteIn act 3, when Banquo said “no more”, he faced Macbeth’s picture. This action let me think that maybe Banquo already knew it was Macbeth who killed the king. “No more” was Banquo tried to stop himself from thinking bad things of Macbeth, it also means Banquo decided to stop Macbeth from doing wrong things, he decided to let the bad things not happen anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhen Macbeth was fighting with Macduff in the movie, Macbeth could kill Macduff but he didn’t. When he was about to kill Macduff, he saw the witches. He thought of what he had done before and friendship and family, what an old man should have, he won’t able to have. He has lived long enough. At the end, he said “enough”. Macbeth lost interest of his life, he said enough because he thought of all the evil things he had done, he didn’t want to do anymore and he thought he has lived long enough.
ReplyDeleteIn the final scene, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth appeared again with their hands holding together. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth did a lot of bad things during the play and they were the symbol of evil in the play. At the end, the director tried to tell people that although the evil Macbeth and Lady Macbeth died, the evil of the world would never die.
ReplyDeleteDuring the banquet scene of the PBS version of Macbeth, the 3 weird sisters are standing in the background watching Macbeth talk to Banquo’s ghost. This is suggesting that the witches were setting Macbeth up to fail. They led him to his own self destruction. Telling him that he was bound to have the highest power damned him for the rest of the play. The 3 witches are deceiving women that will tell people the positive sides of the story and never the consequences. They sit back and laugh as people create a mess that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for them. Being evil is their job, a job in which they do very well.
ReplyDeleteAs we know, Macbeth is led by a bloody dagger to the bed chambers of Duncan. It is as if the dagger pulls him against his own will. The dagger is a figment of his imagination, and it is yet another supernatural element in the play. However, after the murder, Lady Macbeth returns the daggers. In the movie, it seemed as if Lady Macbeth pulled the daggers with her. She walked with intent, carrying the daggers out to the side, rather than in front of her. The roles between these two instances are reversed. The director was trying to suggest that perhaps when Lady Macbeth is returning the dagger, she is supernatural element, not the daggers.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, a sink is repeatedly shown throughout the movie a sink is shown. Lady Macbeth is seen a number of times at this sink. She is either washing the daggers or washing her hands which could symbolize her trying to wash her sins away. Lady Macbeth may fear that she is going to become just as evil as her husband. As Macbeth is talking to Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth seems very ashamed of him. It is clear that Lady Macbeth’s guilt is really getting to her. She doesn’t want to think about what she had done.
ReplyDeleteThe scene in the play where Macbeth imagines a dagger before him is what we acted out in class, but just before that scene Banquo hands him a diamond. It isn’t clear who it is for, but we assume it’s for Lady Macbeth. When we acted this out, we forgot about the diamond, and only focused on the dagger in front of us, but the diamond plays a certain role in the movie. Instead of just putting it in his pocket like we did, he holds it out in front of him as if the diamond and dagger are one. At first, only the diamond is held in front of him, and this symbolizes the innocent light that is still there inside of him that is holding him back from killing Duncan. Suddenly, the setting becomes darker and the diamond disappears. There is now a dagger in front of Macbeth which shows us that he will kill Duncan sooner or later. The diamond completely disappears, so all hope is lost for the life of Duncan, because Macbeth sees the dagger before him.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth acts out waving the dagger in the same scene where he imagines it. It makes a “light saber” sound when he waves it, like in star wars. This is ironic, because the light sabers cannot kill someone forever, but the dagger Macbeth uses kills Duncan permanently. Macbeth howls like a wolf, too; this is reinforcing the unnatural theme, because it isn’t a wolf that howls. It is Macbeth, showing that he is doing this task for and by himself. During this same scene, all you can see is Macbeth, but if you look closely, there are iron prison bars in the background. As Macbeth stands in front of them, thinking that his plan to kill Duncan is a good idea at that point, those iron bars will haunt him later when he is killed by Macduff. The iron bars show that although Macbeth is sneaky now, he will be found out and will be trapped in the bars with no power, dead.
ReplyDeleteThe image of hell or death is repeatedly seen in the play. There are hints in the movie that happen to each character throughout. After Macbeth’s speech where he sees the dagger, he says “That summons thee to heaven or to hell” (2.1.77). It makes it clear that he will go to hell because there is darkness surrounding Macbeth’s face, and the viewer can’t see his eyes. Also, when the Porter talks about the castle going to hell, the scene is blurry, but whenever he says the word “hell” the picture becomes clear. The image of death is shown where Macbeth says “Hear not my steps” when he is talking to himself about Duncan, but ironically, there are sounds of loud footsteps made by Macbeth as he says this walking down the hall (2.1.70). This means that although Duncan won’t necessarily know it is coming, it is clear to us that he will kill him, and the noise will echo on through the castle as Macbeth continues to kill others as he wants more power.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn’t Macbeth kill Banquo himself? He had killed Duncan recently, so it wasn’t the fear of murder that was stopping him. Maybe it was the fact that they were good friends, which makes Macbeth not able to kill Banquo. The play, however, has the murderers physically resemble Macbeth and Banquo. This shows that Macbeth and Banquo used to be a team, whatever the task was. Now as the downfall of Macbeth comes, it leads these friends to not be on good terms and do things they normally wouldn’t. The murderers that look like the characters of Macbeth and Banquo show the once loyalty among these friends, but the fact that they kill the actual Banquo means that there will be many more instances where Macbeth turns on acquaintances throughout the rest of the play.
ReplyDeleteIn the written play, Lady Macduff has only one child; however, in the movie, she has three. This could just show that it is more emotional to Macduff as he sees three of his children slaughtered, but there is a deeper meaning to this. The three apparitions that the witches show Macbeth all somewhat revolve around Macduff. The first one is beware of Macduff, and the second is to beware of the man not born from woman which is also Macduff. Macduff’s army leads to the Birnam Wood that comes to Dunsinane in the third apparition. The fact that there are three apparitions revolving around Macduff leads there to be three children in the movie, which signify these ghosts. They represent the ghosts because there death leads Macduff to killing Macbeth, making the apparitions prove true.
ReplyDeleteThe movie, Macbeth, shows a full circle. The beginning scene is in the white hallway of the hospital, where the captain is killed, and the ending scene of Malcolm holding up Macbeth’s head takes place here, too. Death is feared at the beginning when the captain dies, but death is praised when Malcolm holds up Macbeth’s head. It is weird how Macduff doesn’t hold up the head, because he was the one who killed him. Also, Malcolm acts as if he is talking to the head in the last lines of the play when he says, “Whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone” (5.8.88). Malcolm could be talking to the head of Macbeth sarcastically by holding it up as a joke to represent the new beginning of Scotland. It could also mean that Malcolm is going to be just as bad of a tyrant as Macbeth came to be, and he is not praising Macbeth in this scene but hinting that he will become just like him.
ReplyDeleteLike Hallie Belle and Ellie stated, I believe Macbeth's castle is Hell and the devil helps him make choices. In the PBS version of Macbeth, the audience hears Seyton's name as Satan, so it's as if he is talking to the devil to assist him in the battle. Seyton was shot before Macbeth was so in order to kill Macbeth, the devil must be slain first, meaning Macbeth is worse than the devil. Another example of how the devil assists him is that the messenger in the movie has a lisp, much like a snake. Snakes are said to have a "lisp" with the sounds their tongues make when warning a predator. His lisp is revealed when he is telling Macbeth about Birnam Wood "moving," signifying that there are predators approaching. The snake is also the symbol of the devil in the Bible. Also, the same actor that played the drunken porter, plays Seyton. Macbeth's closest helpers are representations of the devil and Charon, the gatekeeper that carries souls to Hell. The witches can be portrayed as demons by how that can make death speak and how they are always lurking in the background of scenes. Demons are everywhere, creating fear and terror, but they originate in Hell before coming to earth. Macbeth is surrounded by all aspects of Hell, rulers and servants, helping support that Macbeth's castle is Hell.
ReplyDeleteIn Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hold a banquet in their home. This banquet is a battle in and of itself. For a few short seconds, the camera catches a glimpse of the dinner table as it is being set up. This shows the preparations that take place before a battle. As the dinner proceeds, everything is fine until the ghost of Banquo shows up. Banquo walks across the table, crushing glasses, breaking plates, and smashing food with his footsteps. This section represents the actual battle. Macbeth is being defeated; his battlements have fallen. Finally, he leaves, the room, surrendering to Banquo and taking yet another loss.
ReplyDeleteIn Macbeth's famous speech about the substance of life, he uses multiple metaphors to describe life. One of those metaphors is "life's but a walking shadow" (5.5.27). As discussed in class, Macbeth is talking about how life has no meaning. However, we also discussed how Shakespeare uses these metaphors to describe the real, existing substance in life. In the movie, there is a still shadow behind Macbeth. This is used to show that Macbeth really is wrong. Life is not a walking shadow, it is stillness, is has a substance.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of darkness, death, and grief are strong throughout the entire PBS version of Macbeth. In the end of the actual play Malcolm is king and it is understood that Scotland might be in good hands. In the end it shows important sets of the different scenes in the movie and then Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in their normal elevator. This sets the tone of the end of the movie to be dark and scary. It also suggests that Inverness itself is actual hell. It is eluded that it could represent hell, but through showing this dreary ending it is definite that Inverness is hell.
ReplyDeleteIn the scene that Lady Macbeth sleep walks, light and darkness are shown multiple times. When Lady Macbeth enters and starts talking she is standing in the light, and the gentlewoman and doctor are standing in the darkness. As said by the gentlewoman, Lady Macbeth cannot sleep without a light and in the movie it is a flashlight. The play directly says that Lady Macbeth can't live without light, but in reality she cant escape the light. When she is talking the light is shining directly on her and this light is not coming from her flashlight. She has a dark nature and personality so she is attempting to escape the light, but it keeps following her.
ReplyDeleteThe evolution of Macbeth is shown through his actions and his clothing. The Porter is the first one to show devilish characteristics like when he acts like the gatekeeper to hell. In the beginning Macbeth has a clam personality and is always cleanly dressed. By the end of the movie Macbeth is yelling orders at everyone in front of a picture that resembles Hitler and has on a raggedy tank top. Seyton (who also plays the part of the Porter) enters at that point and they look similar in their clothing and actions. This shows that they are echoes of each other and how Macbeth has changed.
ReplyDeleteLike Rachel said, Lady Macbeth is first seen in a white dress. White is the purest of colors and as far as we know, Lady Macbeth was a pure soul in the beginning. But after a few scenes , Lady Macbeth shows her true colors. She transitions from white into darker colors. Lady Macbeth's clothing gradually becoming more dark and revealing - corresponding with her morality decaying. As she shows the audience that she is evil, we see her in dark clothing. Her revealing clothing represents her revealing her true evil side.
ReplyDeleteIn the first Scene of the movie, the nurses, who are also known as the witches/weird sisters goal. They are nurses, which like Rachel said are supposed to value life. The pretend to help and be on your side and then they turn against you. They ripped out the heart of the captain. They do the same thing to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, only in a figurative sense. The witches are the reason behind Macbeth's downfall and all of his heartless behavior, therefore, the witches have ripped out Macbeth's heart. Lady Macbeth showed from the beginning that she wanted to be like the witches, which are heartless creatures themselves.
ReplyDeleteAfter Duncan acknowledges Malcolm the upcoming King and not Macbeth, Macbeth shows true disappointment. In the scene everyone is blurred but Macbeth. Macbeth's reaction is most important. He drops his head after he hears the news. The witches prophecy about being Thane of Cawdor came so quickly to Macbeth. Macbeth assumed that kingsmanship would come just easily and quickly. In his disappointment , Macbeth realizes that he must work in order to get want he wants. He realizes that he needs to do something immoral, yet he is ok with it. He can either "step down" and be humble or "leap over" his obstacle, which is Malcolm. Macbeth chose to lower himself morally and leapt over Malcolm. He wants to do this dirty deed yet he says "let no light see my black and deep desires". He doesn’t want anyone to know that he is becoming evil.
ReplyDeleteAs Lady Macbeth reads the letter from her husband she is in the elevator. The elevator is descending. The elevator continues to descend until she is finished reading the letter. This symbolizes Lady Macbeth descending into evilness. She becomes more greedy, power hungry, and ruthless as she reads the rest of the letter. The elevator ride is her ride down to hell. When the elevator stops, she is most evil and most hell bound.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version of Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth appear to be close. They seem to be much closer than they were in the book. In all of the dark scenes, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be seen holding hands and walking off together. They hold hands, still bloody, in the elevator after Duncan's murder and as they descend into a dark hallway. Them holding hands represents that they are in this together. They will either succeed together or fall together. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are catalyst of each other's evilness. Without each other , they may have kept their morality .
ReplyDeleteI agree with Regan. The scene in which Macbeth is walking and talking to himself, there is a heartbeat in the background, and that heartbeat is Macbeth's. The heartbeat gets louder and louder as his speech gets more intense. As he reaches the end of the hallway , the beating stops. Macbeth's heart has stopped beating and he has died. His face and his surroundings are darkened as the beating stops. Macbeth is no longer alive. He has given his soul up to darkness and evilness
ReplyDeleteDuring Duncan's murder scene, Lady Macbeth gives a speech in which the camera is focused closely on her face. The light is so that half of Lady Macbeth's face is shadowed and the other is very bright. This represents that Lady Macbeth is becoming evil. She is halfway to evilness. But the lighted half of her face represents the hope and the chance for her to redeem herself and be good again. At this point in the movie, Lady Macbeth could go either way. She has not gone past the point of redemption but she will more than likely stay on the path of darkness.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth begins to fell guilty after he murders Duncan. He knows that what he has done is wrong but he is also happy that now he can have what he wants. He says not even all of Neptune's oceans could wash the blood from his hands. He doesn’t mean the literal blood. He is referring to the pain of guilt that he now feels. Nothing can take away or take back what he did. Macbeth's guilt will stay with him forever and continue to eat at him for a long time.
ReplyDeleteAs Macbeth rides the elevator for the first time he is unknowingly on his way to meet the witches for the first time. The elevator is going down and it is dark. This represents Macbeth's fall from morality. Macbeth is metaphorically following the witches into the darkness. After the witches speak to him they leave. Macbeth chases them and request more information. They leave him in the darkness. The witches have drug Macbeth to hell and left him there to fend for himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the PBS version, Malcolm talks directly to Macbeth's slain head. While he is talking to Macbeth's head, he holds it up above his head. Malcolm says, "to see us crowned at Scone" (5.8.88). This symbolizes that he is crowning both himself and Macbeth. Therefore, they will work as one since Macbeth's ghost is around. Scotland will have one king, legally, but another as a ghost. By working as one, that means that Scotland will never get better because a part of it will always have Macbeth reigning as king.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first scene, the witches create a figure of a man using a blood bag, a coat, and glasses. The were creating a man who is lifeless. The witches are sort of creating Macbeth. After all of their prophecies, Macbeth because lifeless like the creation the witches made. The witches created a monster in Macbeth. The significance of Macbeth giving speeches next to this man creation is that the fake man is Macbeth's future. At the end of the movie, Macbeth is nothing more that the man creation that the witches put together.
ReplyDeleteThere is a very large poster of Macbeth hanging in the dinning room of his castle. The greatness in size represents the great power that Macbeth has achieved. The background of the poster is red. The red background symbolizes the blood Macbeth has shed to obtain power,. It also symbolizes the blood that he will shed in the future. Macbeth got to the king spot in a bloody manner. Macbeth "played'st most foully for't."
ReplyDeleteDuring the movie there is a lot of guilt between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At the beginning Macbeth has more guilt and Lady Macbeth feels less guilty.At the end the roles switch Lady Macbeth had more guilt and Macbeth has less guilt.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the PBS movie, it goes through all of the rooms in the house that were important to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They were important because in all of those rooms, something happened. Such as, it showed the sink where they were after they killed Duncan, and again where Lady Macbeth was while she sleep walks. By going back through these rooms, it shows that those are the rooms where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's ghosts will haunt. Also, it could show the rooms where something big in Malcolm's life will happen. It could either be something good or something bad, but no one is sure. Then, the movie ends by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth going up the elevator. This could represent that their ghost are coming up from hell to stay around and haunt Malcolm and his reigning at king.
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