Macbeth and the presence of Daemonolgie by King James

There wasn’t necessarily a date that was mentioned in class for my topic, however, there was a term given, and it was Daemonolgie by King James 1st. His book was about witchcraft and how it can corrupt power and about what the consequences are for following/using witchcraft are. Shakespeare plays with the idea of witchcraft interfering with mankind in one of his tragedy plays, Macbeth. In the play Macbeth is approached by three witches and is told his fate. Because of this encounter Macbeth takes a turn that he otherwise would not have taken. The acts that Macbeth commits changes who he is and what he would have become. Once Macbeth attains the throne he begins to believe that he has mythical/mystical qualities and that he belongs to the supernatural world. It is because of these thoughts that causes Macbeths downfall. He believes himself to be mightier than all and that no one can bring him down. He is specifically referring to one of the statements made by the witches, the statement implying that he shall not be killed by anyone born by women. It is because of this statement that Macbeth doesn’t worry about anything, and I guess you could say doesn’t try to fix any of the problem going on in the kingdom. Close to the end of the play is when Macbeth comes to the realization that he had misunderstood the words spoken to him, that he didn’t think about it thoroughly. It is later found out that MacDonald was not born of women but was ripped from a woman. This made Macbeth realize that he had thought too much of himself and didn’t take care in seeing what was going on around him. Macbeth was to have been written between 1603 and 1606, after Daemonolgie was published in 1597. So, Shakespeare used may have used what King James 1st wrote in order to show how following witchcraft leads to nothing but evil, that witchcraft will only lead to your downfall, like it did for Macbeth. The only thing that can be relied upon is fate and yourself.

Spencer Sohler; Aaron Sec. 1F

"Chiasmus" in Macbeth

The term "chiasmus" applies to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth near the climax of the play. Chiasmus is an inversion of sorts, in this case the reversal of roles that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth play. Professor Little described it as one character moving away from "conscienceness" while the other moves toward it. He drew a diagram of an "X," using the middle to signify the conscience, and had Macbeth start at the top and descend while Lady Macbeth started at the bottom and ascended toward "conscienceness." This symbolizes the way Macbeth was initially a moral character in that he had no thirst for the crown, and was the innocent Thane of Glamis. His conscience eventually declines, however, when Lady Macbeth convinces him to usurp the throne. On the other hand, we first see Lady Macbeth with intentions to make her husband King. The point where her conscience kicks in is in Act II Scene iii when there is a knock at her and Macbeth's door after Macbeth has just killed Duncan. This knocking freezes the play and gives Lady Macbeth an opportunity to stop and think about what they've done. Her moral questions/conscience are ignited, and she begins to climb the ladder of "conscienceness."

-Vanessa Labi (Aaron Gorelik 1F)

Women and Extramarital Affairs-Othello 5.1.82-101 : But I do think it is their husband's faults.."

Emilia is speaking to Desdemona in this passage about the double standard imposed on women in the arena of extramarital affairs. Desdemona has been discussing how no earthly temptation could ever lead her to cheat on her husband and Emilia is claiming that though adultery is not the ideal, if it brings a certain benefit to you, how can it be completely wrong? To prove her point she uses men as the primary example, explaining how it is the husband's fault when a woman cheats. Emilia argues that when a woman commits adultery, there must be a problem with the husband which would compel the wife to seek another man’s company.
Emilia also brings up the double standard of how men are allowed to cheat on their wives with no fear of punishment, while women must simply bear this treatment and suffer should they cheat. Emilia states “though we have some grace,/Yet have we some revenge” (90-91). Women are not merely senseless beings who should and will put up with their husband’s poor behavior, but feeling humans who will desire to seek out the same pleasures as men.
This passage brings up a surprisingly feminist standpoint in a play as well as a society dominated by the wills and actions of men. We cannot necessarily infer from this passage that Shakespeare would have agreed with Emilia’s belief that a woman has as much right as a man to indulge in extramarital relationships should her husband neglect or mistreat her, but he does set up an extremely viable and modernist argument concerning women’s rights and gender boundaries.

Taylor Price

Theater, Daily Entertainment and Formal Entertainment during 1600's.

- Entertainment -

Popular culture = In general was more secular. You would go to church several times
per week if you did not attend you were fined. (Side note- Shakespeare was fined for not going to church).

Most harmless form of entertainment consisted of:

1. Parades concerning religion, holidays, military and showing off captured Indian or black people (slaves).

2. Picnic at the insane asylum= Watching mad people run around while you have a lovely picnic.

3. Bear Baiting- tie bears to sticks and let dogs attack them.

4. Public Confessions- people would confess their sins

5. Hanging - hangings would take place

6. Beheading - some protesters felt this form of entertainment was too quick therefore wedged the blade of axe in order to last longer.

7. London Bridge - See heads on sticks as you passed through and see all heads which came back to villagers as a deadly plague.

-Formal Form of Entertainment-

THEATERS - out door spaces in court spaces
Earlier forms of Theater

You could also attend plays, two types of plays: morality play and miracle plays.

Morality Play
Every man "To help teach them lessons"

Miracle Play
Taught life of Jesus, as you learned a lot from the bible.

Christina Salinas / Section 1B Ian Hoch

The Tragedy of Lady Macbeth

As Prof. Little said in lecture, these tragedies do not belong to simply one character, or just to the character the title of the play takes. The Tragedy of Lady Macbeth – act 5 sc 1 – sleepwalking scene. 'So much blood' – this line underscores femininity (bc Duncan is old and he’s a man) – blood she can’t wash out of her hands underscored by gendered world – tragedy and disillusionment of lady MB herself. Her tragedy isn’t the murder/guilt, but instead guilt about Lady Macbeth and her own body (in her first speech, she vows to cast away her femininity, claiming it makes her weak and she will gain strength by being rid of it. She controls her sex drive and stops herself from having an orgasm to prove her strength.) She realizes the unsexed moment hasn’t worked, no one has that kind of power, what she thought she was doing hasn’t happened – the blood on her hand is female blood/blood of femininity. Discovers she is a woman – THIS is her tragedy. Only masculinity survives,there is no place for a woman and being female fails. No way to lay claim to supernatural realm/universalist authority – only a pharmakos or a pawn.

Ashley Smith - Aaron Gorelick

Technical Question about the Midterm

In class, Professor Little said that the reason people get Cs instead of As in the midterm is because instead of staying on topic, people stray away from it and try to talk about the entire play. Does anybody know if we're allowed to write about Metatheatre (one example would be Lady Macbeth's speech about unsexing herself while she is played by a young boy)?

Yes, Waldo was saying that metatheatre stuff is fine as long as it applies to the explication of that particular passage.

Claiming Spanish Armada 1588, hehe

Previous post done by Whitney Starks, Gorelik, Section 1C