Final Impression of Macbeth

Macbeth : Act V

What is your reaction to the death of Lady Macbeth? How has she changed since the beginning of the play?

The death of Lady Macbeth. I was kind of surprised! I was looking for more of a sickness and didn't really put two and two together with the whole insane sleep walking thing. Malcolm says that rumor has it she committed suicide. I can believe that. Knowing about all of those murders and feeling like you can't get your hands clean would make me want to commit suicide too! What I really couldn't believe was Macbeth's response to her death! "Oh, it was bound to happen sooner or later." , is pretty much what he said. No sympathy or mourning anywhere to be found! But, I guess when you are wishing death on yourself you can't really expect anything else from him!

Lady Macbeth was very hard hearted in the beginning of this play. It seemed she had the confidence that took Macbeth needed but took a long time to accomplish. In the end, she was just playing tough, holding it all in until she couldn't take it anymore. The doubt and worry in her sleep talk proved this. It finally got the best of her and she put an end to it by taking her life!

What does the speech, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow..." mean to you?

I think this speech is cool. To me, it means that we just keep living our lives day by day, and each day we live brings us closer to your death. I did it funny that like in Once and a Future King, a candle is used as a representation of life. In this sense, some people have taller candles than others, some, have better wicks. In the end, unless you can stop time, each day we live brings us closer to the time of our death.

What was your reaction to the fulfillment of the witches prophecies? To Macbeth's death?

Who would ever think all of the witches prophecies would come true? Macbeth didn't, that's for sure! Banquo told him, "The agents of evil often tell us part of the truth in order to lead us to our destruction." Macbeth thought certain that the forest could not move and that everyone must be born from a woman.

In once sense I felt bad for Macbeth. He had finally got up the courage and confidence to take the kingdom he wanted and got it all taken away! On the other hand, I was glad when Macduff cut his head off. Macbeth was so cocky! and look at all the people he killed just to get the kingdom that he knew was going to Banquo's descendants! I feel Macbeth deserved to die!

Macbeth : Act IV

What additional information does Macbeth learn from the Witches?

The Witches give Macbeth much additional information. They tell him to beware of Macduff and the Thane of Fife. They also boost his self confidence tremendously. They tell him that no one born of a woman can hurt him and that he won't be defeated until the forest moves. When Macbeth asks if Banquo's descendants will really be kings he gets disturbed by the answer that they all will be!

Do you see any change in Macbeth in his murder of Lady Macduff?

Macbeth seems to be getting more careless with his murders. At first he was very cautious, second guessing all of his moves and having everything planned out. With Banquo he almost gave himself away when he saw Banquo's ghost. Now its like he kills everything in sight and has not explanation or motive besides the Witches who are just tricking him to get him into trouble.

What is your reaction or thoughts about the Witches cauldron scene?

This Page Coming Soon!!

Macbeth : Act III

What changes do you see in the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are totally different people to me now. They have turned into a two headed killing machine! Macbeth will now kill anyone that he feels threatened by; having three murderers lined up to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Lady Macbeth has also changed. Although I think she has been pretty hard hearted since the killing of Kind Duncan, she realizes now that he is dead that she's not happy. The Witches really did a good job at getting Macbeth in trouble because the murder of Kind Duncan seems like ti was only the beginning to a big circle of murder!

What is your reaction to the death of Banquo and his appearance at the banquet?

I was really surprised when Macbeth had Banquo killed. I thought they were like best of buds! But, everything Macbeth had worked for was just going to go to Banquo's descendants so I can see why we would want him and his kid dead. The things people will do for power!

I enjoyed Banquo's appearance at the banquet. I once like Macbeth, but I don't anymore! I think it's funny how close Macbeth came to telling all of his guests tat he had Banquo killed. And then Lady Macbeth pretty much calling Macbeth crazy to cover their tail ends! It seems to me that there is to much information out, that somebody is going to figure all of these murders out and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are going to be in deep do-do!

Macbeth : Act II

What are your thoughts on the "bloody dagger" scene?

This Page Coming Soon!!

Why is Lady Macbeth unable to kill the king? Is this surprising, given what we have seen of her character?

Lady Macbeth is unable to kill the kind because he remided her of her father. This suprises me because she seems like a heartless woman!

What do you think Macbeth will do next?

Macbeth will go be crowned king. After that I think he will go soft again and say to much and someone will find out. Lady Macbeth will be pleading innocent and deffending them the whole time. {Even though the part about Lady Macbeth sounds pretty much like how it happened, I really did write this before I read on!}

Macbeth : Act I

What role do the Witches and Lady Macbeth play in Macbeth's decision to kill Malcolm?

The witches give just enough information to confuse someone. They tell Macbeth that he is Than of Cawdor and future kind and then they vanish. Both the Thane of Cawdor and Kind Duncan are still alive; so how can he have those titles? When Macbeth does become the Thane of Cawdor his mind is set that he must be the future king and he gets thoughts of killing Kind Duncan!

At first I thought Lady Macbeth was a soft, sweet, "I won't let you do such a cruel thing" kind of wife. I was wrong! She doesn't think that Macbeth has what it takes to be king. He is to much of a softy and doesn't have a mean streak. But then she figures that both fate and witchcraft say that he is going to be kind so they must act upon this. She wants to know what is holding him back. Lady Macbeth makes plans of killing King Duncan and hints to Macbeth about her plans. When the time has come Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit the crime and has the plan all ready!

OFK: The Candle In The Wind

Plot Synopsis

• This book was very dramatic. It starts out with Mordred and Agravaine planning to overthrow King Arthur. They plan to use Lancelot and Guenever's affair to split Arthur and Lancelot apart. Mordred knows that Arthur is nothing without Lancelot there to defend him.
• Then we go back to Lancelot and Guenever. Lancelot wants to start things up again with Guenever but she is shy to the idea. While they were discussing it Arthur comes in to tell them a story.
• The story was of how he and Morgause came to have Mordred and how he dried to drown him in hopes of forgetting he was ever born. That plan worked against Arthur as Morgause found Mordred alive and raised him to despise his father.
• Mordred and Agravaine tell Arthur to his face about Lancelot and Guenever. They do no want a trial by combat because they know they would lose. Instead they want a trial by jury where they can prove the affair.
• Gareth warns Lancelot about Agravaine and Mordred but Lancelot blows him off. He had beated bigger and better men before why worry now, right?!? Agravaine, Mordred and some other knights came like Gareth had warned and Lancelot proceeded to kill all of them but Mordred.
• Guenever was proven guilty and was sentenced to be burned to death. King Arthur sad at the state of his wife did what he did in state of justice. How could he expect his people to follow justice if he couldn't?
• Just in the nick of time as Arthur had hoped Lancelot came and whisped Guenever off to the Joyous Gard castle. While rescuing Guenever, Lancelot had killed Gaheris and Gareth on accident, a move that would haunt him till his death.
• With Guenever feeling bad about the stir that she caused in Englad she applies to the Pope for a peace treaty. Arthur is allowed to take Guenever back and Lancelot is banished from England. Before he leaves Lancelot says that if Guenever is ever in trouble he will come back to rescue her.
• Gawaine was all Arthur had left and Lancelot had killed his brother so they set out to fight Lancelot. Arthur left Mordred in charge of Camelot while he was gone. Nobody really liked Mordred and Guenever was affraid of him. He threatened her and then told her of his plan to announce the kings death so that he could be the king of England and marry her.
• Guenever escapes and sends word to Arthur who gathers up his knights, including Lancelot to come back to England and fight against Mordred.
• Gawaine had been badly hurt from previous battles and from fighting with Lancelot. Before he died he wrote to Lancelot forgiving him for the death of his brothers and asking for his prayers.
• Arthur during the battle with Mordred relays all of his ideas onto a little page boy of 13 named Tom. He told Tom that he was counting on him to grown up and tell everyone of his plans in hopes someone would go and run with them again.
• Before Arthur died he thought back on his childhood when Merlyn had taught him through animals. He thought about when the round table would once again come about and the world would be at peace with no boundaries worth fighting for!

Reactions/Reflection

• I found this book very dramatic. There was alot of killing and betrayal. It kept my attention though and I liked that!
• One story that I had to find more information about was the Countess of Henneberg and her 365 children. I could not beleive that story when I read about it! 365 childred in 365 minutes. That is just insane!
• Throughout all four of these books I have learned that your actions effect everyone around you and down the road too. You start out with one man killing another for his wife and three or four generations down the road you still have people fighting about something that they don't even know happened. If you can hear me out on this one it is sort of a form of stereotyping. Because, for instance, you are a child of Lot's you must hate the Pellinore's beacause King Pellinore killed Lot accidentally in a tournament one time. Stuff like that, that could be forgiven and forgoten and that would be the end of it. But no! the grudge must go on.
• I have to wonder what happened in England? I know that Arthur died but what happened to Lancelot and Mordred and Guenever? Did Lancelot suceed in killing Mordred and saving Guenever once again?
• I liked how T.H. White named the chapters after something that you didn't get until the end of the book. I found myself constantly thinking what does the title have to do with anything. Then I would get it at the end of the book and it would make perfect sence.
• I was surprised at how much I enjoyed The Once and Future King. There were some boring times when the changes in the table were being described and things of that sort but overall I found this a very interesting story and I may seek into reading the whole of Le Morte d' Arthur.

Vocabulary

Interesting Words

• Fylfot - device used to fill the lower part of a painted glass window.
• Rheumaticky - come to suffer from an illness.
• Acolytes - one who attends or assists.
• Crosier - a staff resembling a shepherd's crook carried by bishops and abbots as a symbol of office.
• Indefatigable - incapable of being fatigued.
• Inextricable - forming a maze or tangle from which it is impossible to get free.

Words I Did Not Understand Or Know

• Bourgeois - marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity.
• Muscovite - a native or resident of the ancient principality of Moscow or of the city of Moscow.
• Elation - to fill with joy or pride.
• Trousseau - the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares.