Lady Macbeth Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPZhIRewHE

Act 4 - Riddles and Images

"Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough."(IV.i.71-72)

When Macbeth comes to ask the witches about his prophecies, the witches tell him that “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough."(IV.i.71-72) The witches are trying to tell Macbeth to beware Macduff whom may come back to Scotland and overcome his throne. Since Macbeth knows that he cannot murder Macduff himself, he murders Macduff’s child and wife instead for his own feeling of security. When Macduff hears about the news that Macbeth has murdered his entire family, he strongly desires revenge on Macbeth. As a result, he allies himself with Malcolm to avenge his family and to take the throne back from Macbeth. The comic I drew shows two tigers with crowns on their heads fighting each other for the position of King of Scotland. One tiger is Macduff, the Thane of Fife, and the other one is Macbeth, King of Scotland. Macduff is trying to overthrow Macbeth for his power and status. As a result of the fight, Macduff is on top of Macbeth to illustrate that Macduff overthrows Macbeth’s position as a king. Macbeth has gone too far to fulfill his ambition – killing Macduff’s family being an example of that. Therefore, I think Macduff is someone who will challenge Macbeth’s ruthless actions, made for the sake of his over-ambition. The riddle, told by the witches, is trying to warn Macbeth that someone is coming after him and so he should be aware of it and stop it from going any further. 

"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.” (IV.i.79-81)

 Instead of giving Macbeth a direct prophecy, the witches give Macbeth this riddle by saying "Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth." (IV.i.79-81) Macbeth interprets this prophecy as being that no one can threaten his crown, since everyone is of woman born. This leads him to become more cold-blooded and ruthless, since no one can threaten him. He believes he can now do whatever he wants and nobody can do anything about it. However, the reality is that Macbeth bloody ways make him a tyrant. He eventually puts his crown in jeopardy due to the fact that after he murders Macduff’s family. Macduff ends up furious which fuels his aggressiveness against Macbeth and his kingship. I think the main point of this riddle is to trick Macbeth into exposing his ruthless self. As a result, he ends up as a tyrant, which gains him more hatred throughout Scotland. The comic that I drew is a lion with armor and a weapon. The weapon and armor can defend Macbeth from any harm. Moreover, I draw Macbeth as a lion because lion symbolizes the king of the animal kingdom; therefore, no other animal can harm the lion. It is the same with Macbeth’s because he has a lot of power, hence nobody can harm him.

"Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him." (IV.i.90-94)

 The witches tell Macbeth to “be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him." (IV.i.90-94) This riddle is telling Macbeth to be strong like a lion, and careless about citizens and nobles around him who conspire against him. He will never be defeated by anyone until Great Birnam come against him. Although the witches tell him that he will never be defeated by anyone until Great Birnam come against him, he still feels relieved since no one can harm him nor take way his crown. Due to his over self-confidence, he collapses gradually which puts his crown and power in danger. I think the riddle is attempting to make Macbeth aware that he should care more about the citizens in Scotland instead of focusing in protecting his crown. Also he should be cautious and thoughtful for everything he is doing instead of being proud and careless. Because of his pride, he gets defeated at the end. I drew two lions in my cartoon. The lion with the “I never vanquished” caption is Macbeth, and lion with the “Great Birnam Wood to Dunsinane Hill Come” caption is Macduff, who has to come to defeat Macbeth. In the comic, these lions are powerful and Great Birnam is approaching Macbeth’s palace to overthrow him.

Presentation

http://youtu.be/WKw1l0tz7uk

Act 2 - Twitter

https://twitter.com/macbethws

I have never used Twitter before because I have Facebook already. I think Twitter and Facebook are somewhat similar so I had not registered for a Twitter account. Creating an account is not that easy now because I have to think of a username that is not taken by somebody else while trying to be as creative as I can. Moreover, I have to start updating more statuses on Twitter to fill up my page with content. That will take a long time so I would rather focus on my Facebook account that I have already developed. However, this assignment requires Twitter for it, so I registered for an account. I had a great time using Twitter for the first time. Signing up changed my perception of Twitter completely, because it was so simple to register an account and upload content. Unlike many other social networking sites that require a lot of personal information, Twitter just requires an email address, password, and username. It was simple and fast. It has special layout and unique ways to communicate with others. I can find friends through my Hotmail account and other mail services. I think it would be a lot easier and more convenient if Twitter could actually connect to Facebook to find more friends who are on Twitter. It is my first time using Twitter so it took a few minutes of looking around to find specific functions, after which I found myself getting used to it. Twitter is so easy to use and play around with. I can follow many celebrities and see their latest update on Twitter. I can even change the background of my Twitter. I can personalize many things on Twitter to make it unique unlike Facebook, where many designs are already there for you and you cannot personalize it. Moreover, I can use various tags on my tweets or photos just like Instagram. I find these interesting to play with because I can actually click into these tags and many related tweets, photos, and videos will come up for me to look at. Despite with the problem of finding friends to follow through only a few accounts, I have found Twitter to be another great way of communicating with the world.

Act 1 - Character Profile

Macbeth is a powerful, loyal and brave man in Scotland. He has won a major battle for Scotland, which earns him the title of Thane of Cawdor as an honorable reward by King Duncan. This title gives him a high status in society. His ambition surfaces after the three witches tell him their prophecy that he will be king. He starts to believe in the prophecy when he becomes the Thane of Cawdor. Others easily lead his character, which is revealed when he is easily convinced by Lady Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Although he is a loyal and brave man, he is not a virtuous man. He kills Duncan, who trusted him and treated him well. Macbeth’s ambition makes him do whatever necessary to fulfill it.

I think Macbeth will play very important role in the play. He is the leading point of the play. His decisions can change Scotland easily since he will stop at nothing to fulfill his ambition. Because of his ambition, many people who used to support him will no longer support him. As a result, he can lose the throne to others easily. I think Macbeth had some honour, but ambition makes him blind to it. He will do just anything for his ambition. He lacks the ability to decide on a more virtuous path. He does not think through the consequence before he acts for the sake of his own glory. Because of his actions, it makes him a tyrant. I do not like him because of his actions. He could have had more of his own thought instead of listening to others, like the witches or Lady Macbeth, and just following what others tell him to do. If he had chosen another, more honest, path to the throne, he may have been a really powerful and great king. Macbeth’s characteristics teach us that the consequence of eagerness in fulfilling one’s own ambition can be powerful. It can lead us into the wrong path that can affect many innocent people. Therefore, we should think before we do.


Reference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shakespearebt/5780949092/