--Wald der Kahlköpfig
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Beginning of Macbeth
Today in class we began our reading of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. So far in the play, the three witches have cast a spell, Macbeth has fended off some Irish invaders and won the title of Thane of Cawdor, and Macbeth has met the witches, where they told him that he would on day be king. Macbeth is rather apprehensive about receiving this information, faced with the ambivalence of the current king, Duncan, being a good friend of his and the implanted seed of desire for power. I am very glad that we are reading this work aloud in class. I find that it is nearly impossible to get anything out of Shakespeare with reading it aloud. I myself have the joy and honor of reading the part of Macbeth. So far into the story, it is not my favorite Shakespeare work, but it is not my least favorite either. It is difficult this early in the plot to detect the overall themes of the play, but so far, I see potential themes possibly including the dangers of greed, hunger for power, female domination, and/or corruption.
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I guess that my favorite is Hamlet, or, maybe The Tempest. I am glad that the reading is good for you. You do a great job with Macbeth's part. I don't think that Shakespeare develops the characters quite as well in this play as he does in others, but we still get a glimpse into two people's descent into a sort of madness. Macbeth has such good qualities, but seems victimized by his ambition. It does not take much to push him over the edge. Even so, when he sees that there is no way out, he makes some brave decisions. I wonder what you will think at the end.
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