question-oodle four

ZE Future :)
I'm not sure if I've ever experienced a predicted dream or had weird witches telling me to drink weird concoctions from their cauldron (but :) I don't think that's what you're asking). I think the idea of having a predicted future is pretty fundamental though. As Macbeth's future is portrayed to him, there is a much deeper premise behind it. In other cases though, I think you can tell someone something and if it sounds logical enough they will believe you. For instance if someone told me that I would fall down the stairs on my way to my next block..I would believe them because I'm inclined to be extremely clumsy. On the other hand if someone came up to me and told me I would ace my biology exam I would laugh and walk away. :D haha...that would never happen! As you can see, the more realistic "prophesies" are the ones that would have the most influence on me. In fact, if I heard I might possibly fall down the stairs I might intentionally be more clumsy just to make the prediction come true. In the same way Macbeth, though at first he doesn't believe the witches, chooses to follow the fate they've put out for him and go beyond natural boundaries to murder men in order to achieve it.

question-oodle three

Lady Munson
I feel like I can really relate to Lady Macbeth in this scene as I am really good at making myself feel guilty about even the smallest things. In this way I can't imagine how I would possibly react if I were to actually take part in killing a man. Aside from that I love the imagery of Lady Macbeth feeling so helpless as she trys to remove the "damned spot" from her hands. Her character becomes so engulfed by this guilt that it even haunts her dreams. In the same way I have felt extreme guilt for things I have done and I haven't been able to sleep becauase I can't stop thinking about it. Yes, Lady Macbeth's instance is much more symbolic as all of the blood from one man still cannot be removed no matter how hard she scrubs. Though she may have forgiven herself for the deed and though no one else may know of what she's done..she still can't get it out of her head. I can feel the passion of this scene and the remorse she is feeling, I believe Shakespeare protrays Lady Macbeth's response distinctly well. It might be hard to imagine how you might react in a situation such as Lady Macbeth's but in a situation of complete guilt I believe punishing yourself is a true image of what might happen. The irony of this scene is that Lady Macbeth didn't murder anyone. It is merely that she helps contribute to one man's death therefore she feels she is the cause of all other deaths too. By holding all of the regret, guilt, and passion inside she is building up more and more for herself. In her speech she talks about the Thane of Fife and his wife as if she was somehow part of that death as well. In the end of the scene though she concludes by telling herself "off to bed", as if to say "enough of this". She wants herself to put on a false face for the world by day and move on, but she knows that the guilt will still consume her by night.

question-oodle two

Mr. Macbeth
I believe, though the character of Macbeth is fictional, no one is really able to point a finger as we are all capable of being just as evil as he became. We are all just as able to be presented with instances of power, yet we are all also able to stand down from this power; thus preventing it from consuming us to the extent to which Macbeth did. You can see this through what he says to Lady Macbeth when she is trying to re-convince him to kill Duncan. He says, "I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none." He realizes that by initially refraining from killing Duncan he is the true man. Therefore it's hard to know at what point he transforms into the murdering heartless Macbeth at the end of the novel. It seems as if there is a mixture of events that lead up to it. Both Lady Macbeth and the witches add to his downfall as the witches "plant the seed" of an altered fate in his mind while Lady Macbeth continues to water it. After they no longer coax him, his mind continues to lead him astray. His dagger soliloquy is a key example of his change. He states in it that, "...wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep." As a more prosperous future disrupted the peaceful one he led before meeting the witches. Yet now that he has seen what is beyond the life he had before he can never be satisfied.