Okay so we just finished Act I and began Act II in class. My students have been doing a great job onstage reading out loud and figuring out this complicated language.
For homework: Make a thematic connection between the following quotations, all from Act 1. THEN: create a THEME STATEMENT that illustrates your belief about a main idea/lesson from this act.
Duncan: "There's no art/to find the mind's construction in the face./He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust" (I, iv, 13-15).
Macbeth: "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" (I, iv, 57-60).
Lady Macbeth: "Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell/that my keen knife see not the wound it makes,/nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark/ to cry "Hold, hold!" (I, v, 57-61).
The thematic connection to these quotes is that they are ironic because Duncan talks about how he put all of his trust into the old Thane of Cawdor and he betrays Duncan and in Macbeth's quote he talks about he has to play it like he can be trusted but in reality he is just like the old Thane of Cawdor and is going to attempt to betray Duncan. In Lady Macbeth's quote it connects to both of the other quotes and how they want to make it look like someone else killed the king and hide the evidence.
ReplyDeleteTheme Statement: Never fully trust anybody because some people stay true to their word and some don't.
Part One: The connection between the quotes by Duncan, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth is all in the connotation of each of them. Duncan is talking about hiding emotions behind a different face other than the emotion itself. For example, if someone was sad or upset about something, they might not seem it by the smile on their face. This concept is important because often times people hide their true feelings behind a curtain.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth is talking about picking the battles to fight, and to choosing them wisely. He doesn't want Duncan or anyone else to find out about the master plan so he recognizes that he will have to be calm, cool, and collected to avoid arousing suspicion.
Lady Macbeth is talking about someone committing and following through with the plan to assassinate Duncan. She knows that she and Macbeth must follow through with their end of the plan by being surprised, angry, and upset when the murder is discovered. She knows that whoever commits the murder must follow through with it in order for it to be successful and believable. All of the quotes have one common aspect: hiding something. All three demonstrate that people have to hide/ set aside their emotions to complete a task.
Theme Statement: Hiding emotions is beneficial to those who set them aside and in some cases, harmful to those around them.
Great comments! Sarah. Nice start with the theme statement too. Well done,
DeleteAll of these quotes involve someones actions being shrouded in secrecy. If I had to come up with a theme statement for this act it would be, a persons behavior does not always mimic their action or intentions.
ReplyDeleteThe Connection that can be made here from all three of the quotes from Duncan the king of Scotland, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth all revolve around Macbeth's struggle inside to decide whether he should kill Duncan and become king or not. The first quote by Duncan tells about all of the trust and dependence he has put on Macbeth as a nobleman and also a friend he has known very closely. Next, Macbeth's quote talks about his desires of becoming king as he always wanted, but again struggles to decide is this right? Should I really kill the one man who has stood up for me, and called me a true hero? Lastly, Lady Macbeth's quote has a sense of greediness or that her desire is for Macbeth to acclaim the throne and carry out the murder in secrecy, so that no one suspect that Duncan's right hand man betrayed him in such a cowardly way.A theme statement that can be attributed to this act is "The corruption of power is heavily influenced upon other's desires."
ReplyDeleteNice job, Sean! Great connections, and very nice theme statement- the sentiment is very true. Well done!
Deleteconnection: all about trust and hiding true intentions
ReplyDeletethe lesson that can be learned from these quotes is that when planning a murder, hiding your true intentions from the future victim is almost always a good idea.
The connection between the three quotes can be found by examining Macbeth's internal struggle. Macbeth considered trust when making his decision and it clearly had an effect on his decision which is what Duncan was talking about.Macbeth also hopes that his plan will not be revealed through his eyes while his body disguised the plan so well. I agree with Sean that Lady Macbeth's quote shows some greediness and hopes that nobody outside of her trust circle(herself, the dagger, and Macbeth.)
ReplyDeleteThe connection between these three quotes is Macbeths stuggle to decide whether or not to kill Duncan or not. Macbeth is stuggling with this decision because he does not want people to know that he wants to kill Duncan.He wants to keep his plan discret from other people. A theme statement for these quotes would be people look different on the inside than they do on the outside
ReplyDeleteThe connection between all three of the quotes is how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth try to hide their emotions and avoid the truth of his plans to kill King Duncan to be noticed by the wrong person. Duncan has a lot of trust in Macbeth, but is still capable of noticing Macbeth's true intentions based on his facial expressions and actions.
ReplyDeleteTheme Statement: Trust is decided by the future and not the past
All these quotes are about hiding your real intentions from everyone around you. Blind ambition requires lies and causes people to do crazy things.
ReplyDeleteAll these quotes are connected by one theme, hiding your real intentions. The King trusted in someone who planned to over throw him so he planned to put someone else in for his place. Macbeth was trusted to rule but wanted more power so he could be king. Lady Macbeth is trying to get power in order to kill the king.
ReplyDeleteYou can't trust anyone once you're at the top.
A connection that can be drawn between these three quotes is Macbeth's inner conflict to kill the king (Duncan) or not. Macbeth is having a hard time with making the decision because he doesn't want anyone other than his wife to know that it was he who killed Duncan, he wants to keep it a secret and pin the murder on someone else. A theme statement that would fit these quotes well are "People are not always what they appear"
ReplyDelete