lingue

MACBETH, SOLILOQUY

MACBETH.

ACT I - SCENE V

After a victorious battle Macbeth, a Scottish general, meets three witches which predict that he will become King.

Lady Macbeth is alone in her castle and she is reading a letter received from her husband, Macbeth. From her soliloquy we learn about the witches' fateful prediction. Lady Macbeth's words reveal some aspects of her own personality and of her husband's one. He seems humane, honest, noble-hearted, ambitious, while she seems to be determined, pitiless and strong-willed. She appears to be stronger and more cruel than Macbeth, and she'll be the person who will encourage him to commit several murders in order to become king. Macbeth has written to her because he loves her and wants to share the great news with his Lady. Lady Macbeth thinks that they must kill the King but she fears that her husband, although ambitious, will be difficult to persuade because he is noble-hearted and humane. The three witches that Macbeth meets represents evil and malign but also in Macbeth's and his wife's soul there's something evil.

Evil is a sort of supernatural power, force.

ACT II - SCENE II

Duncan, king of Scotland, arrives to Macbeth's castle and spends the night there. Now Lady Macbeth has the perfect opportunity to kill Duncan and she persuades her husband to commit the murder. She had drugged two guard at the king's bedroom: she has put in their drinks a lot of poison and has prepared their dagger for Macbeth to use them to kill Duncan. But, after the murder Macbeth has taken the dagger out of kings bedroom instead of leaving them there to put the blame on guards. Macbeth refuses to carry the daggers back, so Lady Macbeth takes them instead.

In the text there are some expressions referring to Macbeth's

hands that suggest feelings of horror and remorse. Many of these expressions are associated with the red colour of the blood and the repetitive use of these images reinforces the sense of horror caused by the murder. Other two colours are mentioned in the text: the green, referring to the natural colour of the seas and white, used metaphorically to indicate cowardice. In the first case, there may be an implication that the blood shed in the murder has subverted nature; in the second case Lady Macbeth is reproaching her husband for the weakness he shows after the murder.

In the text there is a famous sentence which express the effects of the murder on the nature and on Macbeth: Macbeth does murder sleep. In fact sleep is presented like part of nature with highly positive attributes, from "innocent" to "chief nourisher in life's feast"; therefore if the killing of Duncan is likened to the murdering of sleep, the horror for the murder increases at the thought of having destroyed so many good things. Moreover the statement "Macbeth shall sleep no more!"

implies a never ending remorse.

Hearing seems to be particularly sensitive both in Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. They hear the least noise and any sound around them. Also sight seems to condition their behaviour: Lady Macbeth doesn't kill Duncan because he looks like her father; Macbeth cannot bear the sight of blood on his hands. In the case of Macbeth, his reaction are often hypersensitive; he also has acoustic hallucinations; he hears a voice accusing him of the crime.

The two characters are very different: in fact Macbeth has hallucinations and feels remorse and fear while Lady Macbeth is determined and fearless, cool and controlled.

ACT V - SCENE I

After Duncan' s murder, Macbeth kills several people in order to hold on to power. Lady Macbeth is overcome by remorse and is driven mad by the thought of the crimes.

Madness is a recurrent theme in Shakespeare's tragedies. He is very clever and he often uses madness: for example in Hamlet, the girl Hamlet loves doesn't understand why Hamlet doesn't love her anymore and so becomes mad.

Macbeth cannot sleep because he has murdered sleep; but also Lady Macbeth can't sleep. Moreover she always washes her hands because she feels the blood on her hands is still there. Also Macbeth seems to be mad, in fact he sees in front of him the daggers dirty of blood (this make the scene more impressive).

In the text which comes from near the end of the tragedy, Lady Macbeth walks and talks in her sleep. From her words we learn about the crimes Macbeth and she have committed; in fact after Duncan's murder, they have killed other people.

On the scene we can find other two characters who are watching her: the doctor and a gentlewoman of the court. They discover the truth, but while the gentlewoman says harsh things about her, the doctor is too shocked to express any judgement. However before Lady Macbeth's involuntary confession, they show pity for her.

There is a connection between the behaviour of the two characters and the reaction of the audience: despite she represents evil and malign, her pain is so large that the audience is very close to her and shows pity like the doctor, but the reactions of the audience can be two ones: pity and indignation.

Macbeth's castle is attacked by his enemies who want to bring him to justice him and restore Duncan's son to the throne.

In this text Macbeth, king of Scotland, receives the news of the queen's death from a messenger. His reaction is indifference: no sign of the love he showed for Lady Macbeth is left. His castle is surrounded by his enemies but Macbeth believes it is impregnable: in fact the three witches said to him that if Birnam wood had come up to Dunsinane, he would have died. The enemy army is led by Macduff born by Caesarean section. When the messenger announces that the wood is moving, Macbeth realises that Fate has cruelly mocked him trough the prophecies of the three witches. The experience of the crimes has changed him: he's now disillusioned with his ambitions and tired of life to which he doesn't attaches any value. He has not lost his pride and refuses to surrender. He wants to die honourably during the ht: this will expresses his determination. The initial and the final situation of the play are different: at the beginning Macbeth was a victorious general, honoured and respected; at the end he has achieved his ambition to become king, but he plays with his life for his crimes. The audience fells some pity for Macbeth who has got some signs of greatness in the way he confronts death. But he is a victim of Fate which deceived him into committing his crimes. Macbeth is still noble-hearted into determination to challenge Fate and enemies during the ht. Moreover at the beginning Macbeth appeared weaker then his wife, who was strong and determined, but at the end they have exchanged roles and Macbeth appears as determined as his wife.

It's typical in Shakespeare's works the use of iambic pentameter in which even syllables are stressed and odd syllables are unstressed. In this case there is not a rhyme scheme but we have blank verse. In "Romeo and Juliet" we can find both iambic pentameter and rhymes scheme. In "Macbeth" there is an influence Boccaccio's and Petrarca's works. The use of iambic pentameter is very important because it reproduces the normal rhythm of English language. In this way Shakespeare increases the vocabulary of English language so it becomes modern. The rhythm of iambic pentameter can be monotonous and in some part it can be melodious: it creates a sad atmosphere and can be interrupt by a pause of reflection. In this case there is an irregularity in which there are not five stressed and five unstressed syllables: "the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle". "Out, out" interrupts rhythm and creates something emotional, there is a variation of tones. Another example is "To be or not to be/that is/the question" in Hamlet.

SHAKESPEARE AND MACBETH.

Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet and King Lear, are the greatest tragedies Shakespeare wrote in his mature period. They represent a sort of literary myths. In these tragedies there is a particular fault; the characters present several kinds of vices. While in the other tragedies there is only a main character, in Macbeth there are two ones. In it ambition is the fault. In fact he kills King and guests in his castle helped by her wife.

The predominant colour is black in fact the scene is always dark. Moreover we can find the yellow colour of a little torch and the red of the blood, for example a blooded knife.

There is a sort of hallucination because we don't know if some things are real or imaginary. In fact there are continue passages between the reality and nightmares. The presence of witches expresses supernatural beings.

The characters are sublime that is they express simultaneously beauty and horror. They are round character because they have an evolution in the course of the tragedy: at the beginning Lady Macbeth is determined and Macbeth is driven by his wife. At the end she commits suicide and he is determinate to kill everyone to preserve his power but he dies during a battle against a legitimate army.

SOLILOQUY.

Soliloquy is a theatrical convention which means that a character speaks aloud to himself. But this doesn't imply that he is alone on the stage. Other characters may be present onto the stage, but they don't hear the words of the soliloquy.

Soliloquy is used in tragedy because tragic characters are complex and dialogue is not sufficient to convey different aspects of their personality.

FUNCTIONS OF SOLILOQUY.

1) it provides new information about story and plot;

2)shows the private side of the characters, his feeling and thoughts;

3)provides a commentary on other characters and events.

MACBETH.

ACT I - SCENE V

After a victorious battle Macbeth, a Scottish general, meets three witches which predict that he will become King.

Lady Macbeth is alone in her castle and she is reading a letter received from her husband, Macbeth. From her soliloquy we learn about the witches' fateful prediction.

ACT II - SCENE II

ACT V - SCENE I

After Duncan' s murder, Macbeth kills several people in order to hold on to power. Lady Macbeth is overcome by remorse and is driven mad by the thought of the crimes.

Macbeth's castle is attacked by his enemies who want to bring him to justice him and restore Duncan's son to the throne.

So he goes out and faces his enemies. He feels invulnerable because the witches had told him that no man born of woman had power to harm him. But this prophesy does not apply to Macduff whose wife and children had been killed by order of Macbeth.

He was, he tells Macbeth, "from his mother womb Untimely ripped", born by Caesarean section. He kills Macbeth, and Malcolm, Duncan's son is hailed King of Scotland.

DIFFERENZE E ANALOGIE TRA "MACBETH" E "TRONO DI SANGUE" DI KUROSAWA.

The first difference is that the film is set in China, so the characters and the costumes are typical of that country.

Other differences regard plot and characters' personality and behaviour:

THE PLOT.

1) while Macbeth is a Scottish general, in the film he is the captain of the fortress I and his name is Ashira;

2) in the tragedy Macbeth meets the three witches alone and they tell him that he would become King of Scotland. In the film he meets the Spirit of the wood, who predicts him that he would become the commander of the castle, with his fellow soldier, Miki, the captain of the fortress II, that would become the captain of the fortress I and his child would become commander of the castle after Macbeth;

3) in the tragedy Lady Macbeth learns about the prediction through the letter received from her husband, while in the film through his words;

4) in the tragedy Macbeth and Lady Macbeth put the blame upon the guards leaving the daggers in Duncan's room. In the film Ashira's wife leaves the lance into a guard's hands, so that he could seems guilty; when everybody runs to the woman's screams, Ashira kills the guard;

5) in the tragedy, after the murder, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stay in their castle; in the film Ashira leaves the castle and goes to Miki's fortress;

6) both in the tragedy and in the film Lady Macbeth goes mad and Macbeth suffers from hallucinations; but while Macbeth sees the bloodied dagger into the dark, Ashira sees the Spirit and Miki who haunt him.

7) Ashira's wife always washes her hands because she thinks that the blood of the murder is still on her hands like in the tragedy. But while in the tragedy a doctor and a gentlewoman are present at a scene of madness, in the film there are not these characters.

8) in the film Ashira's wife has a dead child, symbol of the crime, the destiny and the ambition of the two characters, while in the tragedy Macbeth and his wife haven't any children;

both in the tragedy and in the film there are some sinister sounds and noises (for example the shriek of the owl) ;

10) at the beginning of the tragedy the three witches tell Macbeth that if the Birnam wood comes to his castle he will die and no man born of woman will have power to harm him. In the film, Ashira goes for the second time to the Spirit who tells him that only if the wood comes up to the castle he will die;

11) at the end, Macbeth is killed by Macduff, who is his enemy, while Ashira is killed by his own army which throws him a shower of arrows.

12) in the tragedy Lady Macbeth commits suicide, whereas in the film she disappears from the scene without she dies.

THE CHARACTERS.

Lady Macbeth:

1) in the tragedy she is especially presented through soliloquy and not only through the actions and the speeches, while in the film she shows her personality through her speeches with Ashira, and her behaviour through her actions;

2)Ashira's wife is more silent and quiet than Lady Macbeth in the tragedy, especially after the murder; in fact she shows all her madness through the movement of her hands, that she continues to scrub, without speaking. Instead Lady Macbeth is mad but she shows her condition speaking and talking during the sleep;

3) she seems more cruel and cynical in the film by virtue of her poor eloquence: it seems that she thinks that actions speak louder then words;

4) both for Lady Macbeth and Ashira's wife the murder and the obsession of blood cause a feeling of guilt which drives them mad.

Macbeth and Ashira.

1) Ashira seems to be more energetic and ambitious than Macbeth from the first moment. They both are human and honest and don't want to kill anyone in order to become king;

2) Ashira seems to be more reluctant and hesitant about killing the king and his friend, because he respects and trusts them;

3) in the tragedy there's a more strong remorse in Macbeth, than in the film;

4) the reaction to the murder is different for Macbeth and Ashira: immediately after the crime Macbeth is deeply distraught and refuses to go out of the room because is frightened, while Ashira, after a moment of disturbance, goes out of the room in order to kill the guard.

ADDITION.

1) The Spirit of the wood weaves the thread of living; this means that the Spirit decides of men's life and knows about they destiny;

2) in the film the king sleeps in Ashira's room, while Ashira and his wife must pass the night in another room, where a man has recently committed suicide. The walls are dirty of blood and two servants have to clean the room. This macabre scene brings forward the gloomy crime.

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