Act II begins with Banquo and his son Fleance roaming Macbeth's castle because they can't sleep. Banquo basically tells his son to take his sword because he will not need it because the castle is calm and safe. Then Macbeth walks in with his servant and greets Banquo and his son. Banquo, wondering why Macbeth is up so late, asks him and Macbeth simply replies that he can't sleep as well, however as the reader we know that he is not asleep because he needs to kill Duncan. After Banquo goes off to bed Macbeth begins to walk towards the King's room. As he's walking Macbeth sees a floating dagger before him and the closer he gets to Duncan's room, the more the dagger bleeds. The play does not show Macbeth killing Duncan but it is implied. Next we see Lady Macbeth dumping out the wine that she drugged to stop the guards from catching Macbeth. Macbeth startles her by coming out of the shadows to let her know the deed is done. At first she seems happy but as soon as she sees him still holding the murder weapon she becomes outraged and tells Macbeth to take it back and cover the guards with the blood and put the weapon beside them. When Macbeth tells her he cannot go back she decides she will have to be the "brave" one, and go back and do it herself. They wash the blood from their hands but Macbeth cannot wash it from his conscience. In the morning the king's nobleman, Macduff, arrives at Macbeth's castle and goes to wake the King. When he realizes what has happened he runs out to tell everyone. Macduff tells Macbeth to go in and see for himself what has been done. Macbeth already knowing goes in and decides to kill the guards as well so that they cannot deny that they killed Duncan. Macbeth comes out of the room and tells the others that he killed the guards in a moment of rage against them for killing the beloved king. Lady Macbeth pretends to not be able to bear the scene and flees away with the help of one of the men.
I predict Malcolm will become king, and when Lady Macbeth sees this she will seduce Malcolm in order to kill him so that Macbeth may become king. Also, Banquo will witness one of the murders and Lady Macbeth will be forced to kill him as well.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Curse of Macbeth.
As many people already know, the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare has always had some supernatural effect on the players. It is said that there is a curse put on the play that if you utter any quotes or especially the name when not practicing you shall be destined to a bloody stage death. Rather than using the name Macbeth, the play is often referred to as "the Scottish play" or simply "the play". This is by far Shakespeare's bloodiest play of all time and the curse does not help that fact.
The Legend of the Curse
Throughout the play Shakespeare writes of three witches and some of their rituals, giving step by step instructions. It is said the the real witches, angry at him for sharing their secrets, put a curse on the play, making it one of the most dangerous plays of all time.
The Curse In Action
The many examples of the curse began with the very first performance of the play in 1606 when Shakespeare himself was forced to play Lady Macbeth due to the fact that the boy cast to play her had come down with fever and died. Another example is of a 1942 production of Macbeth where three actors- King Duncan and two witches- died and the costume and set designer committed suicide.
Getting rid of the Curse
Many people believe there are ways to get rid of the curse but to many they seem outrageous. One example is that upon muttering the word Macbeth you must immediately leave the building, walk around it three times, spit over your left shoulder, say an obscenity and then wait to be invited back in. All of the methods to dispel the curse are more or less the same with just a few changes.
Many people often wonder if the play is too dangerous to perform but the crowd always wins out and the play goes on.
The Most Famous Example of The Curse
The most famous and well known example of the curse on the play is a riot breaking out at Astor Place Theatre in New York in 1849. The National Guard was called in and began shooting into the crowd killing at least 25 and injuring around 120 others. Many say this was due to two of the players cast as Macbeth from two rival theatre groups' rival support but later was said to be just social class issues in New York at the time.
There is no hard evidence whether the play is cursed or not but there are definitely many examples that would lead to that conclusion.
The Legend of the Curse
Throughout the play Shakespeare writes of three witches and some of their rituals, giving step by step instructions. It is said the the real witches, angry at him for sharing their secrets, put a curse on the play, making it one of the most dangerous plays of all time.
The Curse In Action
The many examples of the curse began with the very first performance of the play in 1606 when Shakespeare himself was forced to play Lady Macbeth due to the fact that the boy cast to play her had come down with fever and died. Another example is of a 1942 production of Macbeth where three actors- King Duncan and two witches- died and the costume and set designer committed suicide.
Getting rid of the Curse
Many people believe there are ways to get rid of the curse but to many they seem outrageous. One example is that upon muttering the word Macbeth you must immediately leave the building, walk around it three times, spit over your left shoulder, say an obscenity and then wait to be invited back in. All of the methods to dispel the curse are more or less the same with just a few changes.
Many people often wonder if the play is too dangerous to perform but the crowd always wins out and the play goes on.
The Most Famous Example of The Curse
The most famous and well known example of the curse on the play is a riot breaking out at Astor Place Theatre in New York in 1849. The National Guard was called in and began shooting into the crowd killing at least 25 and injuring around 120 others. Many say this was due to two of the players cast as Macbeth from two rival theatre groups' rival support but later was said to be just social class issues in New York at the time.
There is no hard evidence whether the play is cursed or not but there are definitely many examples that would lead to that conclusion.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
3 reasons to turn down a marriage proposal.
There are many reasons a person may have for turning down a marriage proposal but some stand out among the rest.
The First and perhaps most obvious one is that you may not even like this person. They aren't "the one" or the "perfect man". Obviously you have some sort of attraction to them to be dating them but that's as far as it goes. You can't quite put your finger on it but there's juts something about him that throws you off. Whether it's his style, personality, or outlook on life there's just no connection there.
Second would be that you two don't get along, AT ALL. He gets up too early, she never cleans up after herself, he never puts the seat down, she leaves her clothes all over the bedroom. What's the point of getting married if you can't get along when you aren't. Nearly half of all marriages, in Canada, end in divorce before the 30th anniversary. Why waste time and money on lawyers and court dates that you don't need. Just don't get married in the first place.
The Third reason, and my favorite, is that they don't have enough money. Many people marry for money and often if you can't support her lifestyle you're kicked to the curb. It's not his fault that he doesn't have the money to fulfill her "needs". Face it, women can be very high maintenance, me included, and we just want someone who can take care of the check and bill and anything else that's thrown at us. Face it, if you have money then your chances of getting the girl are much higher than if you were broke. Of course there are the old movies of the poor guy winning over the rich girls heart but in reality that's not very likely. However, you can always keep your hopes up that if they married a much older rich man then he may die soon and you can snag the girl before another man gets to her; but that's also not likely.
The reasons for turning down a marriage proposal are infinite and these are just my top 3. You're reasons may be different and everyones opinion is unique to them.
The First and perhaps most obvious one is that you may not even like this person. They aren't "the one" or the "perfect man". Obviously you have some sort of attraction to them to be dating them but that's as far as it goes. You can't quite put your finger on it but there's juts something about him that throws you off. Whether it's his style, personality, or outlook on life there's just no connection there.
Second would be that you two don't get along, AT ALL. He gets up too early, she never cleans up after herself, he never puts the seat down, she leaves her clothes all over the bedroom. What's the point of getting married if you can't get along when you aren't. Nearly half of all marriages, in Canada, end in divorce before the 30th anniversary. Why waste time and money on lawyers and court dates that you don't need. Just don't get married in the first place.
The Third reason, and my favorite, is that they don't have enough money. Many people marry for money and often if you can't support her lifestyle you're kicked to the curb. It's not his fault that he doesn't have the money to fulfill her "needs". Face it, women can be very high maintenance, me included, and we just want someone who can take care of the check and bill and anything else that's thrown at us. Face it, if you have money then your chances of getting the girl are much higher than if you were broke. Of course there are the old movies of the poor guy winning over the rich girls heart but in reality that's not very likely. However, you can always keep your hopes up that if they married a much older rich man then he may die soon and you can snag the girl before another man gets to her; but that's also not likely.
The reasons for turning down a marriage proposal are infinite and these are just my top 3. You're reasons may be different and everyones opinion is unique to them.
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