Betrayal, Fate, Morality - June 4

Loyalty, Fate, Morality

May 31, 2018
10:47 AM

Bring a quote sheet with no extra notes - make sure you know the Act, scene, and line number, the context, and who is speaking.


Goal of literary essay: "Looking at the text as a work of art, demonstrating clear critical judgment and explaining to the reader of your essay how the enjoyment of the text is assisted by literary devices, linguistic effects and psychological insights; showing how the text relates to the time when it was written and how it relates to our world today."

Betrayal and Loyalty

- Whom does the Thane betray? His Lady?
- He does not involve her in his plans after killing Duncan (although there is evidence she knows about his troubles - sleep walking)
- Does the Lady betray him? - she gets him to betray his own morals by convincing him to kill Duncan
-the Thane's betrayals start to bother him less and less - why?
-truth in life - things get easier - whether good or bad - we get inured to things "I am in blood stepped so far already" (III iv 137)
- In for a penny in for a pound
- Banquo - doesn't betray the Thane but (III i) it is because the prophecy might become true for him
- "I fear thou play'dst most foully for it" (III i 3-6)
- Macduff betrays the Thane to save Scotland - is he betraying Scotland? - he's committing treason (betraying the king), but he's saving Scotland from a tyrannical leader - betrays his family - picks Scotland over his family
- [what are any person's priorities? What is considered betrayal?]
- "there's daggers in men's smiles" (II iii)
- [could concentrate on just one character]
- [take a truth from life - when are you loyal? - whom are you loyal to? What tests your loyalty?]
- [king and country are synonymous -killing the king is like killing the country]
- "fair is foul and foul is fair" (I i) - the play starts with this parallel - foreshadowing
Self interest [what are some umbrella topics which would encapsulate all three topics]

Fate

-Takes the witches' prophecies too far
"If chance will have me king, why chance will crown me king without my stir" (I iii)
-then Malcolm is crowned Prince of Cumberland - the darkness comes - "stars hide your fires, let not light see my deep and dark desires" (I iv)
-Lady wants the prophecy to come true "Come dark spirits and fill me from crown to toe top full of direst cruelty"
-Banquo also doesn't act against the Thane because of his prophecies
-fate sets up the entire plot
-second meeting between the Thane and the witches sets up the ending
-is fate real? (destiny)
-can we change our fate? (free will)
-[Fleance does not become king - what does this show us about fate?]
-the Thane becomes Thane of Cawdor "without his stir"
-ambition + greed transforms the Thane's initial desire
-he says why he should not kill him (I vii) - he knows what he's doing is wrong - Lady "pricks his ambition"
-[the prophecy doesn't have a time limit - why does the Thane feel compelled to act so quickly?]
-"the instruments of darkness tell us truths" (I iii) - contemplating the witches' first prophecy coming true
-part of the prophecy comes true - so seems real
-"come fate and champion me to the utterance" - challenges fate when planning to kill Banquo - he's trying to change fate - (III i 74-75) - realizes he's killed so that the "seeds of Banquo" will become king
-"The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step I must overcome, or else overleap" (I iv)
[how does fate control or not control us? Do we have any preconceived notions about fate? Do you think there is any kind of employment or university you are destined to have/go to?
time

Moralty

- The principles concerning behaviour between right or wrong - people with morals know the difference
- [at the beginning of the play, the Thane has a set of morals - he betrays them}
-[what are our morals? What would make us betray them? Greed
- The Thane kills and betrays his morals - leads him to not sleep insomnia, insanity, guilt
- The Thane gives into his "deep and dark desires"
- "we'll not fail. Screw your courage to the sticking place" (I vii) - the Lady
- Does the Lady not have morals at the beginning? [she has to call on dark spirits]
- [listening to the witches - like listening to the bad side of our heads - do we have moral compasses? Look at politicians - do they betray any moral code?]
- "I have forgot the taste of fear" (V v) - shows us his degradation
- Killing Banquo - haunted my his ghost (III iv) - shows us the Thane's guilt
- Does the Thane saying "my way of life has fallen into the sear…" (V v) - is this him admitting his guilt and responsibility
- [does the Thane take responsibility from his actions]
- [REMEMBER, THEME AND MORALS ARE DIFFERENT - YOUR JOB ISN'T TO TELL US WHAT THE PLAY TELLS TO DO OR NOT TO DO; IT IS TO SHOW US HOW PEOPLE LIVE (NOT HOW TO LIVE]
- How is this play still relevant?
- Temptation - how often do we give into to it? What are the consequences?
- The Thane loses everything - his life, his status, his friends, his sense of self
- [how soon does the Thane realize it wasn't worth it? "Duncan is in his grave, after life's fitful fever, he sleeps well" (III ii 22-23)
- Pride
- Gets murderers to do his dirty work after killing Duncan - why? What does this tell us about the state of his soul?
- What about the witches' morality? - Hecate gets mad at them for "trading traffic with Macbeth" (III v)