Reading Journal - Act I.

Act I – Scene I:

·         Witches planning – what about?

·         Who is Macbeth? Why are the witches interested in him?

·         Enigmatic opening.

·         “Thunder and Lightening” = Gothic weather – pathetic fallacy

·         Begins with a question.

·         Stichomythia

·         “Fair if foul, and foul is fair” – alliteration – good and bad

·         Foreshadowing the rest of the play?

·         Allows interpretation.

Act I – Scene II:

·         Stage directions “Bleeding Captain” – the audience is drawn to this, blood = Gothic.

·         “What bloody man is that?” – Another reference to blood.

·         “Brave Macbeth” – the reader/audience learn more about Macbeth, he has to earn his respect (he won the battle). Glorifying him by describing how he killed others – “Brandished steel”

·         “Execution” – makes it appear that the opposition in the war did not bother to fight back.

·         “unseamed him” Macbeth does not stop at just killing him, he decapitates him – “fixing his head upon our battlements”

·         The captain is dying – is he a reliable source? Not seeing things straight? Distorted vision?

·         It’s not about the winning, it’s how you win.

·         Macbeth is seen as a great warrior.

·         “Cannons overcharged” = the soldiers are eager.

·         “Doubly redoubled” = mimics the sounds of the swords striking, and the amount of times they strike – a lot.

·         Macbeth gains the title, showing he is honourable and had valour.

Act I – Scene III:

·         The witches’ prophesy, over Macbeth’s future.

·         When the witches meet Macbeth, they know and use his name – he is confused and shocked by this, as well as them calling him Thane of Cawdor.

·         This can be interpreted differently – AO3 – alternate views.

·         Ross makes Macbeth and Thane – by suggesting it.

·         Macbeth struggles with temptation – Banquo argues not to.

·         Macbeth – fear, self-doubt, confused.

·         Puzzled Macbeth thinks through the possibilities, and hopefully plots.

·         “cannot be ill, cannot be good”

·         Whose murder yet is but fantastical”

·         ‘Fantastical’ is it real or imaginary?

·         Comical interpretation?

·         Rhythmic.

·         The three witches are always together – one entity – chanting together

·         Multiple personality disorder?

·         Not people but a force.

·         3 witches represent the past, present and future.

·         1^st witch – uses nursery rhyme – which can be scary.

·         Macbeth has fast speaking patterns

·         No set pace but it is deemed as a quick scene – a lot of rhetorical questions.

·         Stichomythia – fast moving conversation.

·         It’s not what he says, it’s how he says it.

Act I – Scene IV:

·         What is Gothic about Macbeth in Act I?

·         The king has no reason not to trust Macbeth – Ironic.

·         “Our duties are to your throne...”

·         “let not light see my black and deep desires”

·         Do or die situation – leave, accept or go for it opportunity.

·         Poetic rhythm, Shakespeare changes the tone of the play – similar to the chanting of the witches.

·         Prose to poetry.

·         Prolepsis.

·         Macbeth is associated with trust; however his planned speech reveals how he really feels.

Act I – Scene V:

·         Lady Macbeth – we question her motives and sanity.

·         Lady Macbeth plants the seed of thought/train of thought into Macbeth – on the murder of the king – shows her dominance over him.

·         The king is coming – kill the king.

·         Gothic language – “Raven”, “blood”, and “Croaks” - the language reflects her evil.

·         Does she have or oppose a moral dilemma?

·         “Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark” – doesn’t want God to see/ know of what her plans entail – sense of guilt?

·         “Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t” – reference to religion (Adam and Eve) they’re hiding their true identity.

·         The letter are the beginning of the scene, symbolises secrecy.

·         Lady Macbeth and Macbeth – two sides of the same person – Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? “Doppelganger”?

·         No build up to greatness like Macbeth – the first time we see her she is true and evil.

·         No ambiguity when reading or seeing Lady Macbeth.

·         Lady Macbeth has dominance over this scene because she has the most lines – “leave the rest to me”

·         She is his catalyst?

·         Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have the same ideas – however he is not as open about it – “deep desires”

·         Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to feel remorse?

·         She’s determined to follow through

·         Masculine lines – ‘battlements’ – Gothic

·         “Innocent flower” society’s rules, links to Lamia, Femme Fatal - women lead men astray?

·         Links to Adam and Eve – Eve eats fruit and gets them both chucked out.

·         Empowering or manipulative?

·         Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are the same entity – same name, same personality, same lifestyle?

·         Repressed feminism?

·         The scene consists of Lady Macbeth’s opinion and personality.

·         The letter pre-plans the kings death, shows Lady Macbeth's true nature, as she becomes arrogant.

·         “metaphysical aid” and “fate” oxymoron

·         Megalomania behaviour?  

·         Parent and child behaviour, Lady Macbeth looks down upon Macbeth.

·         Sexual death and erotic seduction.

·         Lady Macbeth is Gothic; it shows us the side of human nature that we don’t want to accept.

·         She is the brains over his brawn.

·         Her tongue is her weapon.

·         Duality?

Act I – Scene VI/VII:

·         Macbeth discusses intent of murder – justifies killing the king.

·         “Ambitious” soliloquy shows that he is just as outgoing as Lady Macbeth; it makes her look less evil.

·         He’s not weak, he just has a conscience.  

·         Lady Macbeth questions his masculinity.

·         She twists innocence into a framework for evil. “His boneless gums. And dashed his brains out”

·         Dark Irony?

·         Macbeth enters alone – means that he does not have to hide how he feels – he can express everything freely.

·         Double meanings – “Bloody” can be a literal, or cursing.

·         Plague – incessant and painful.

·         “New-born babe” – implies innocence.

·         “Falls on the other” – he predicts his own end.

·         “Horrid deed” knows what he is doing/planning.

·         Lady Macbeth = passionate  -‘thy love’

·         He begins to retreat from the idea of murder, showing that he has a conscience  -“No Further in this business”

·         Lady Macbeth is manipulative – blackmail – “Valour” twists the idea of bravery, similar to the twisting of innocence.

·         “be so much more the man” – she questions his masculinity, which he has already proved – insulting his manhood.

·         “I have given suck” – post traumatic stress disorder? Dead children.

·         “Boneless gums” again twisting the idea of purity.

·         Lady Macbeth: “swinish sleep” – she shows the pure essence of evil, as the king has done nothing to wrong her in any way.

·         Macbeth – revitalized “men-children only!” – The punctuation shows this – fear of his wife?

·         “False face must hide what the false heart doth know” – links to Dorian Gray – hiding personality, aesthetics.  

End of Act notes/review:

·         Prophecy = an aspect of the Gothic, foundation of the Gothic and the characters build on it.

·         Scheming of the murder is Gothic by Lady Macbeth

·         Not romantic, it is a strong bond between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

·         Moral dilemma, character indecision?

·         Summoning of evil – Lady Macbeth and the witches call to a higher power

·         Lady Macbeth and Macbeth – have a strong bond – which alienates them from society.

·         The letters have a Gothic influence on the audience; it strikes a fear of the unknown as it is not coming directly from one person.

·         The twisting of innocence “dashed his brains out”

·         Subverting gender roles of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.

·         Rhyme – it is spell like, witches and Lady Macbeth