Betrayal, Morality, Fate

Bring a sheet with quotes - include Act, scene, line #
Purpose of an 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."

Make sure you are discussing what The Scottish Play shows us about human nature and the topic of the essay.

Writing Improvements, class notes

Betrayal and Loyalty

-being too ambitious can make people betray others
- The Thane's loyalty for wife changes throughout the play [does hers?]
- First - "my dearest partner of greatness" - as the play goes on he does not share his plans - to kill Banquo, to kill Macduff's family - when she dies "she should have died hereafter" [although he then has a very poignant speech]
- Thane betrays Duncan [think of the 10 reasons he has not to kill him], wife, Banquo, country, [I vii = soliloquy about this]
- III vi - Thanes discuss that the country can't sleep and have nothing to eat
- First action - Macdonwald betrays Duncan, is hanged - Thane takes his place
- Duncan says (of Macdonwald) "he was a gentleman of whom I had an absolute trust" (I iv 12-15)
- "If you shall cleave to my consent" II i - The Thane promises Banquo that he will take care of him - then convinces murderers to murder him
- Once Thane kills Duncan - his soul is corrupt - there's no coming back - kills the person next to God (according to The Great Chain of Being)
- "I'm his host, his kinsman" - betrays his own values
- Overarching theme = ambition
- [is Macduff a traitor?]
- Lady Macduff is convinced Macduff is a traitor because she has no knowledge about why he's in England
- [is the Lady loyal to her husband?]
- Scottish army in V "move only in command, nothing in love"
- [how important is loyalty in our lives? To our friends? Family? Country? - Macduff chooses being loyal to his country over his family. The Thane acts out of self-interest]
- [The general of the king's army - priority of loyalty - should be - God, king, country before family even]
- ["The Prince of Cumberland! That's a step/ on which I must fall down, or else o'er-leap" (I iv 47-48)]
- Thane says he is a man III iv (banquet scene)
- Duncan is a good king
- Thane killing Macduff's family - Lady goes insane - realizes growing darkness - look at sleep walking scene V i - Lady doesn't know about the plan to murder Banquo or Macduff's family
- Lady convinces her husband to go against his morals [but does always support him - tries to comfort him at the end of III iv - starts off thinking of herself - ends up insane] - says she will murder Duncan then says "if he hadn't resembled my father as he slept, I'd have done it" (II ii) - is perfectly able to set up the guards)
- Banquo - supports the Thane and then is murdered

Moralty and Betrayal

- Would the Thane have still killed Duncan if his wife did not persuade him [see I iv when Malcolm becomes the Prince of Cumberland] "let not light see my deep and dark desires"
- Are the English resistance actually the "good guys" or are they power-hungry?
- The Thane is viewed as a "tyrant" and Scotland is called a "suffering country" - should a king make sure the country can "sleep" and have "meat for [their] tables" (III vi)
- Duncan is viewed as a good king and Malcolm has good intentions
- Killing people indiscriminately - killing a whole family - Macduff's whole family - Banquo (tries to kill Fleance) - the Thane kills because witches tell him he will be king
- Is it okay to kill people who threaten someone's power?
- Is it okay to kill people during a war?
- [What legitimizes killing (example - people are killed for the state - Canada doesn't have capital punishment - some countries do - America just killed leaders of Iran's military]
- Thane I vii - says he should "against his murderer shut the door" (15)
- III iv 167-171 - not thinking about his actions - becoming more insane
- [the Thane kills and then keeps killing - he thinks less and less about his actions - is it easier to commit bad deeds after doing it once?]
- Gandhi's quote "an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind" - are Macduff doing the same thing as the Thane? [when Malcolm rewards the Thanes with earldoms - showing a fair rule at the end V viii]
- Honour, pride, loyalty - Thane betrays everything about himself - his morality is shattered - he has no moral compass
- [back to lottery tickets - he didn't do anything to become Thane - why does he need to "stir" in I iii "If chance would have me king, chance will crown me king without my stir" (143) - what's the big hurry? ]
- Why is the Lady calm after killing Duncan? - she doesn't kill him herself - "a little water clears us of this deed" (II ii)
- [Shakespeare uses the Old Man in II iv and Lord in III vi to comment on the state of Scotland - this is a shortcut to give audience an idea of how the country is reacting to events]
- Fate vs. freewill - do the witches control the future or predict the future? [Fleance does not become king in the end]
- Does Lady kill herself out of guilt [we're not even sure she kills herself - Malcolm says "it is thought by self and violent hands" (V viii 70)

Fate and Supernatural

- We never see Fleance crowned - what does this tell us? - either witches don't know what was going to happen - using the Thane's nature - there is no time frame - we don't know if Fleance will become king
- [free will - what is it?]
- "Birnham Wood" does "come to Dunsinane" IV i
- Does fate exist?
- ["the weird sisters" = "wyrd" = "fate"]
- Banquo will "get" kings - could be many generations later - we don't know
- If the Thane never met the witches - would the prophecy still come true?
- [we have our own agency - is the Thane ultimately responsible for his own actions?]
- Would the Thane have become king without killing? - if his fate is to become king, then wouldn't he just become king? "without his stir"?
- Becoming the Thane of Cawdor is a "spur" to his "ambition"
- Witches = supernatural, also dagger, also Banquo's ghost - the Lady calls upon the "spirits" in I v
- Witches play on the Thane's ambition
- Ghost and daggers = Thane's morality (could be a manifestation of his guilt)
- Does the Thane have a "fruitless crown"? - he starts to lament that he will not have a line of kings - compares himself to Banquo (III i) - almost immediately after killing Duncan, the Thane feels threatened by the thought of Banquo's descendants becoming king
- Do the witches have control over the Thane, or is it ambition [why do we give into temptation - can we truly blame others - aside from torture or death threats]
- Witches a catalyst for the Thane to kill Duncan
- If the Thane had stronger morals - he made a conscious choice to kill the person next to God (and to betray everything he says in I vii
- Symbols for fate? "seeds of time" - Banquo says this I iii
- Banquo doesn't try to force fate to come true
- The Thane tries to make the second set of prophecies not come true: "Beware Macduff," "no one of woman born shall harm thee" "Macbeth will never vanquished be until Birnham Wood come up to Dusinane"
- He believes the "equivocation of a fiend" (V viii) - realizes he's been tricked
- The witches disappear when the Thane says "Stay, you imperfect speakers" (I iii)