Performance Reflection
Tori and I were assigned Act 3 Scene 5 for interpretation and performance which resulted in some difficulties. The scene is between the three witches and Hecate. I was assigned Hecate, the Goddess of Sorcery. We had trouble trying to find a way to portray the scene because Hecate was a new character and she had most of the dialogue. Furthermore, the scene’s set is a heath so there weren't many props that could be used. We wanted to display there is question as to whether or not Shakespeare even wrote this scene. The performance was also hindered by the absence of Tori and it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. The purpose of the scene which we tried to portray was that it was a continuation of the theme of prophecy versus
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The scene is meant to portray Hecate’s anger at the witches for prophesizing and meeting with Macbeth behind her back. Hecate’s words make it seem that it is Macbeth’s is responsible for his actions and not the sisters. This is seen when Hecate is yelling, “Hath been but for a wayward son /Spiteful and wrathful; who, as others do / Loves for his own ends, not you” (III, v, 11-14). This displays that Hecate believes that the witches meddling was useless on Macbeth because he acts as he wants without a car for the witches. We thought it would best if Hecate was yelling at the sisters and they reacting with fear. We also thought we should brief the audience about the scene’s theme and tell them about the question of whether Shakespeare wrote this scene. This scene was written in rhyming couplets which are unlike Shakespeare as he wrote Macbeth predominately in iambic meter. The quality of the writing of this scene has also been criticized. This has led to the removal from movies, plays, and even readings. This meant we didn’t have many sources to get ideas from and had to rely on mostly our own interpretation. We also wanted to create scenery that resembled a heath. We had planned to use a clip of thunderstorm but we felt that it wouldn’t be heard. Once we had the scene planned out it was only a matter of …show more content…
I wanted to make sure that I portrayed this theme and address the question of whether Shakespeare even wrote this scene. While I did address the question I felt as if I didn’t portray Hecate’s anger as well as I wanted too. I also would have liked to have utilized more props. The performance overall didn’t go as well as I had hoped it would but I still feel as if I learnt a lot from it. I felt that researching and acting the scene out gave me a deeper understanding of the scene than I would have got if I had just read the scene. While the performance didn’t go as well as I would have liked, I still got a deeper understanding of the scene, its context, and its
Hecate accurately predicts and sets in motion future events to her liking. After the battle in Act I, the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!...” (Doc A), using their prophecies to awaken Macbeth’s bloodthirsty and greedy nature. Throughout the play, Hecate uses her witches to cultivate Macbeth’s ambition, inciting him to “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth” (Doc D). A literary analysis aptly states that “The witches bring dark thoughts into being and give flesh to the forbidden and unacknowledged demons of the unconscious from which no one is free” (Cohen 7). Guiding the plot without consequence, Hecate is granted the ultimate
In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of Macbeth the main character Macbeth is driven from his status as a well respected warrior and lord of not one, but two Scottish regions to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth gets caught in a web of lies and vile acts of murder in which he brings about his own demise. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life. ‘ They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bearlike I must fight the course.’ His great ambition and gullibility of the witches predictions are two of the biggest factors of his downfall;however, Lady Macbeth was probably the biggest influence in the whole tragedy.
However, as the witches plant the vision in Macbeth’s mind and suggest he would be successful in his pursuit of the throne, he is manipulated to follow a path for which he was not previously destined to go down. Hecate, the higher power the witches answer to, further demonstrates that the witches were deliberately manipulating Macbeth in order to cause his downfall. “As, by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion: /He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear /His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear:” (III.v.28-31) In this quotation, Hecate is instructing the witches to confuse Macbeth and give him a false sense of confidence by using three apparitions or illusions to trick him. This illustrates that the witches, who are able to see into the future, are in fact abusing the trust Macbeth has in them to further lead to his downfall. Instead of allowing the future to unfold as foreseen, they are directly interfering and collectively planning how best to achieve Macbeth’s tragic end. When Macbeth encounters the witches for the final time seeking answers, they choose to show him visions set to mislead and give false confidence in his future.
"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.
at this exact point as in the previous scene Macbeth is on his way to
The “Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare tells a tale of deceit, murder, and ambition, beginning with a cutthroat rise to power, followed by calamitous downfall. At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave and loyal captain in King Duncan’s army, but after three witches prophesize that he himself will become the king of Scotland, and that those born of a friend, Banquo, will be king after him, Macbeth is overtaken by ambition and gluttony. Instigated by his wife and his own lust for power, he murders Duncan, assumes the throne, and subsequently sends mercenaries to kill Banquo’s sons. While awaiting battle, Macbeth addresses the death of his wife in Act V, scene 5. Throughout the
According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?
Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.
The scene is an introduction to the sleeping problems that soon will be plaguing Macbeth. Three witches in the “Macbeth” seem to be connected with spiritual world, prophecies and the knowledge far beyond humans and indicate darkness, chaos and confusion. Thus, the tension and suspense is created; moreover it shows the impact the witches with their supernatural gifts will have on the protagonist later in the play.
Up until this scene, everything was being planned by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, but no actions were taken yet. Adding tension to this scene advanced the plot because Lady Macbeth must signal Macbeth about the right time to enter the king’s
Macbeth is Shakespeare 's briefest disaster and among the briefest of his plays. Researchers by and large concur that the show was composed around 1606 in light of the fact that different references in the play compare to occasions which happened in that year. Numerous likewise accept that it was created for an execution before King James I, who had a profound enthusiasm for witchcraft. Perhaps the play was one of the court stimulations offered to King Christian IV of Denmark amid his visit to London in 1606. Moreover, Researchers propose that Shakespeare may have composed Macbeth to laud King James ' heritage by partner him, through the recorded Banquo, to the first Scottish lord, Kenneth MacAlpin. The foremost scholarly hotspot for Macbeth is Raphael Holinshed 's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577). Nonetheless, Shakespeare brought incredible freedoms with this source, adjusting different verifiable occasions to expand the sensational impact of his disaster. Extensive open deliberation exists with respect to the heartbreaking setting of Macbeth 's defeat. In show, a disaster convention associate relates the critical occasions or activities in a hero 's life which, taken together, realize the calamity. Established standards of catastrophe likewise oblige that the saint 's ruin inspires pity and apprehension in the group of onlookers. A few commentators attest that since Macbeth 's activities all through the play are inher ently detestable, he
Marvin Carlson’s article argues about whether plays are better experienced purely through text or through performance. He discusses the conflict theorists dealt with when they wanted to perform Shakespeare’s plays. Some theorists believed that Shakespeare’s texts were a magnificent work on their own and that any performance needed to be as close to the text as possible. This caused theorists to regard performance as unnecessary since it had the potential to ruin the text. This type of theory carried on past the romantic period and some theorist continue to believe that plays should keep to the original script as much as possible. Carlson cites Charles Lamb commenting on how performances of Hamlet diminish the quality of Shakespeare’s work. Marvin then explains how
The piece of literature that I performed in class, was Act 2, Scene 5 from the play the Twelfth Night, and the character in this scene is Malvolio. After giving this performance, I have a clearer idea of what I did well, and what can be done in order for it to be improved. Based on the in class student evaluations, teacher evaluation, and my self-evaluation. Some of my verbal delivery strengths include articulation, pronunciation, and volume. Some of my verbal weaknesses include speed rate, and phrasing. In physical delivery, poise and posture, were my strengths. The areas that need work include; eye contact and expression. The amount of practice, I spend preparing for this performance, reflects to a considerable extent the in class presentation. Looking back, I now know what I can do to prepare better and what changes I need in order to give a better literature performance.
Lady Macbeth is the most interesting and complex character in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. She is, in fact, the point on which the action pivots: without her there is no play.
In the beginning of the play Macbeth and Macduff are very similar in many aspects including rank, leadership, belief, and loyalty. But as the play unfolds, Shakespeare reveals these two characters are as different as night from day. In this essay I will compare and contrast the characters of the murderous Macbeth, and the forthright Macduff. I will consider their status within the Scottish society and the depth of their intelligence. I will also evaluate their actions and their relationships with other characters, including their families and I will discuss their degrees of ambition.