A2: This is one of the most interesting moments of the play especially now that I've watched Ian McKellen's analysis. I love the complexities and how meaning changes depending on your interpretation of certain words.
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A5: I'm going to agree with Marcus and put it closer to the bottom of my rankings. This may be because I've never taught it or studied it in depth, but it didn't measure up to the others I've read, taught, and/or studied.
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A4: I made the mistake of reading everyone else's answers before fully thinking through mine, but the first word that popped into my head was power. I think it can encompass hubris and ambition, which are also apt.
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A3: It adds to the suspense and creates a bit of chaos as Macbeth realizes that the prophecies are coming true and he's probably not going to make it out of this alive.
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A5: Macbeth is exciting because we can go along for the ride--the high of getting away w/ a crime, the power of living large and indulging our darker human instincts, and ultimately knowing that good will triumph in the end. #SundayMacbethChat
A4: Guilt. The play bears witness to what happens to the hearts and minds of those who knowing choose evil, who live under the unbearable weight of guilt over time, and who never confess their sins. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth implode through the course of the play. #SundayMacbethChat
A4: Monomania. Macbeth & Lady Macbeth are fixated on one thing: the throne. Their obsession destroys their relationship. Macbeth's zealous, single-minded actions lead to the violence and death of innocents as well as a country suffering their moral rot. #SundayMacbethChat
Roman Polanski's Macbeth ending, Donalbain is met by the witches suggesting that violence and ambition will continue, is an interesting addition to the original play. That same idea is played out in 2007 movie of Beowulf when Grendel's mother appears to tempt the new king. #SundayMacbethChat
A3: Speed intensifies the desperation of Macbeth to cling to the apparitions' prophecies making Macbeth's character flat emphasizing how he has cut himself off from his former self & values. When he slows down in thought after hearing about his wife's death... [1/2] #SundayMacbethChat
A2 cont.: and slower pace of his words in contrast to the speed of the rest of Act 5 demonstrate not only the devastation of that realization, but that he was never in control. He lied(s) to himself and is enslaved to the final fighting frenzied outcome. [2/2] #SundayMacbethChat
A2: W/out L Macbeth & God (he broke the Great Chain of Being by killing Duncan), Macbeth is "god" in his own world/mind, a hell he made himself. He passes judgment on his life realizing it is all for naught. The finality, gravity, and... [1/2] #SundayMacbethChat
A2: A compact poetic verbalization of a nihilistic existential crisis! Haven't we all been there at some moment of our lives especially as a teacher when the school year begins to be a hard slog and other elements out of our control make it seem so bleak. #SundayMacbethChat
A5: Arguably my favorite. The greatest introduction to Shakespeare, in my opinion. It is lean, extraordinarily dramatic, & races with a pace that borders on relentless. It contains some of the greatest soliloquies, a fantastic female role, & some of the best theatrical possibility #SundayMacbethChat
A4 cont’d: This is ambition that is synonymous with desire (lust), vanity (pride), and fueled by envy. It is a feast of sins that fills Macbeth with ambition and the choice that proves his complete undoing. It’s the cautionary tale; it is what awaits those who submit to do evil.
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A4: Don’t remember if i read it somewhere but the play is about ambition, in its purest, oldest form. Macbeth says as much, “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on the other.”
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A3: It is wonderfully in synch with the essential nature of the play. It is all downhill from Act I Scene iii accelerating at intervals, Act II Sc i, Act III, Sc iv, and Act IV Sc i. That means a racing, flash-bang disintegration in Act V toward a violent & immediate correction
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A1: My initial reaction was, "That's it?" Yes, everything is resolved, but I was expecting some sort of profound statement or a return of the witches to bring everything full circle.
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A2 4: There is no light left for him, only darkness, and he knows. He’s always known from the moment he slayed Duncan and can no longer sleep. It is a tragedy, that such a great warrior fell afoul. He could not resist temptation.
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A2 3: it is in this moment, this soliloquy, where he knows his choices give him no salvation, & he recognizes the endless emptiness of all he had once hoped to do, be. There is a culmination of sorts just later in, “I gin to be aweary of the sun.”
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A2 2+: And what he sees is nothing. Most of all I firmly believe it is the news that L Macbeth’s dying that tips him over the edge. Once she is gone, he is truly left with nothing. He is alone, completely. He knows hellhounds are hunting him. There is no reprieve, no recovery
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A2 1+: So much in this speech. In a number of ways, I believe this is the kind of climax/nadir of the whole play. It is the highest, most poetical moment of Macbeth’s journey & yet it is also his most bleak, nihilist sentiment. It is one man’s glimpse into the abyss & what he sees
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A1: Always felt like there is no other way to end the play. It has to be fast given the speed of the play. There also needs to be a swift remedy to counter the hastiness of Macbeth’s assassination & usurpation. The world must be righted, his decapitation is the first step. #SundayMacbethChat
Q5 - Stepping back, where do you place Macbeth alongside other Shakespeare plays? Why?
It's time for some rankings before we close! 📊 #SundayMacbethChat
Q5 - Stepping back, where do you place Macbeth alongside other Shakespeare plays? Why?
A1: Macbeth, the character, feels really modern to me in how he faces his demise. An anti-hero clinging to the apparitions' prophecies, recognizing what he has done ultimately means nothing, yet who still moves following the path he established come what may. A strange admiration. #SundayMacbethChat
Q4 - Ultimately, Macbeth is a play about _______ (pick a word, and explain what it’s saying about it, in your interpretation!)
I also want to include a question I almost always go to in our closing discussions in the classroom with any text:
Q4: Ultimately, Macbeth is a play about _______?
(pick a word, and explain what it’s saying about it, in your interpretation!) #SundayMacbethChat
Q3 - The final act is quite choppy with many short scenes—what do you make of this choice and its impact?
The final act of Macbeth has 8 scenes—or 9, or even more, depending on your edition! All quite brief, too.
Q3 - What do you make of this structural choice by Shakespeare to end so iteratively?
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Q2: Today we also must talk about “Tomorrow”—what are your thoughts on this famous speech in Act 5, Scene 5?
the text
"It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing."
Q2: Today we also must talk about “Tomorrow”—what are your thoughts on this famous speech in Act 5, Scene 5?
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Q1: Let’s begin with the end—how do you feel about Macbeth‘s ending, given all that led to it?
Let's not bury the lede of this discussion, given that we're talking about Act V today with #SundayMacbethChat
Q1: How did you feel about the ending? 🏁
(Does it work for you? Why or why not?)
Our last #SundayMacbethChat starts in 5 minutes!
5 questions for tomorrow's chat
For those wanting to consider the questions in advance, here are the five items for TOMORROW's (!!!) final #SundayMacbethChat
See you at 9am EST! (or really any time you want to jump in throughout the day)
