Author Archives: me101282

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Macbeth’s Downfall

Posted on November 29, 2011 by me101282

This last act of Macbeth is a particularly devastating one, considering the type of person he was at the very beginning of the play, and what kind of person he turns into after the pressures of being in power overtake him. One particular scene in this act I found to be quite striking was when in scene five, Macbeth seems to become immune to human feelings and emotions. At line 9, he states, “I have almost forgot the taste of fears: The time has been my senses would have cooled to hear a night-shriek and my fell of hair would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir.” He even cannot feel fear as he realizes they are about to be invaded.

He further shows how he is immune to human emotion in the following moment, when he is told that Lady Macbeth has died. Macbeth reacts coldly, by saying “She should have died hereafter,” and continues to say how life itself seems to have no meaning. This is especially seen when he says “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I think these brief, yet profound moments shows how Macbeth has been dehumanized. He no longer has any room to feel, and react to anything around him, and only holds disdain for life, a view that seems to be irreversible for him

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Katherine: What is she to Henry?

Posted on October 22, 2011 by me101282

What I found very curious about the exchange in Act V, scene II between Henry and Katherine (or some may argue, a monologue on Henry’s part) was the overdone and flowery language used by Henry to express his seemingly overwhelming love, although this was the very first time they had met. What I also found strange was that throughout this exchange, Henry had not bothered to speak in a way in which she would understand. Most of her answers throughout this scene were “I cannot tell,” meaning that she doesn’t understand him. Yet despite this, Henry continues on his raving about how much he loves her. On top of this, when he attempts to kiss her, and she tells him its against her customs, he immediately brushes it off, and seems to force her to kiss him. This is telling of not only Henry’s arrogance, but also disregard for Katherine’s feelings and his selfishness when it comes to making connections with other people. It is evident through this example, as well as through the strong language he uses when encouraging his soldiers to fight the French army, he views people as commodities, or resources. I wonder, what do you all think about Henry’s character when it comes to dealing with other people?

Posted in Henry V | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Disguised by perception

Posted on September 7, 2011 by me101282

Hello everyone!

As I was reading the play, deception and disguise are clearly prevalent – it almost becomes difficult to keep track of who is acting as who! However, something interesting I noticed was that the characters of this play not only seem to disguise themselves, but also they put their own “disguises” onto other characters through their prejudices of them. The one example that stuck out to me was Katherina’s reputation of being a “curst and shrewish” woman. In fact, so much so that Hortensio says she is “renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue,” and further along mentions that he wouldn’t “wed her for a mine of gold.”  At that point of the play, Kate only appears for a brief scene, and she speaks barely enough for her to prove that she is in fact a repulsive character. In addition, we don’t get any further insight on Kate since none of the characters thus far seem to know her well at all. These prejudiced views seem to disguise Kate. This perhaps puts, not just deception, but prejudice as one of the main themes to this play.

 

Posted in The Taming of the Shrew | Tagged | 4 Comments