Macbeth cinematic/thematic essay
1A. (1.3.53) “Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear things that do sound so fair? - Banqou
B. This quote fits the section “superstition effects human behavior” for a couple of reasons. Banqou says this to Macbeth after the three witch's tell him his first three prophecy's, about coming king. This startles Macbeth and he doesn’t know what to think about it. He knows that there is a king and he doesn’t want to overthrow him. At this point in the play he is loyal to the king and would never think of treason and that's why he doesn’t like to hear these first three prophecy's. This makes you think that Macbeth is a loyal guy who would never do anything bad. Banqou doesn’t understand why he takes it the wrong way, but later in the play he will understand why Macbeth feared these first prophecy's.
C. In the movie this is an important scene where they spend a descant amount of time on. The setting takes place in Macbeth's castle, in a big empty room. The room is Dark with little lighting, most of the light is on the witches and Macbeth, the rest is dark. I think that Goold chose to do this to had a kind of dramatic effect to get your attention solely on the characters. When the witch's start talking to Macbeth there is dialogue between the four of them and it switches back and forth from eye level to eye level. This is to show the emotion or feeling from the person. You can really tell how the person is feeling about a situation. Lastly there is a lot of echos in the room which is the reiterate the importance of what is going on.
D. After seeing this quote expressed in the film rather in the book I still understand the importance of the scene. This was a important passage in the book and we spent some time going over it. When I saw it in the movie it just gave me a new way to look at it. I think that the movie though did a good job portraying this scene because it was an important one.
2A. (2.3.115.) “ O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them. - Macbeth
B. This quote falls under the “power corrupts” section because it’s Macbeth’s first time where he gets his hands dirty so to speak. He says this right after Lenox finds the king dead and the guards. Macbeth is saying that he killed the guards in fury because they supposedly killed the king. Macbeth is pretending to be very angry during this scene so it looks like he didn’t set up the assassination of the king. Also it makes him feel a little less guilty about it if he can get away with it and blame it on the guards. Macbeth seems very self conscious during this scene because he wants to make sure everyone believes his story.
C. This scene in the movie takes place at Macbeth's castle in his kitchen with a lot of people around. It is late at night and people seemed to just woken up by all the commotion. Everyone that talks in this scene is talking in a very serious stern voice to get there point across about the situation. Goold uses the camera to follow Macbeth around to highlight all of his body movements and actions. He is the center piece of this scene and they show how the killings are effecting his behavior.
D. This scene in the movie was very tense scene and it seemed more tense than the book. In the movie I really felt the reality of the situation rather in the book it didn’t seem that important. You could really see how it was effecting Macbeth, he was pacing around and rambling on in sentences. So much that Lady Macbeth had to intervene and make a distraction. This scene in the movie gave me a deeper understanding of this quote.
3A. (4.2.5.) “ when our actions do not, our fears make us traitors” - Lady Macduff
B. This quote fits under the “things are not what they seem” section in our notes. Lady Macduff says this when she is talking to Ross about how Macduff fled to England. She knows that her husband isn't a traitor but to the rest of the world fleeing away right after the king dies seems to make you look like a traitor. She seems upset that he had left and left her and his children behind. Which then led to there assassination because there was no one to protect them.
C. This scene in the movie takes place at changing room for a pool with Ross and Lady Macduff and kids there. There is a lot of white and natural light in the room. Which could symbolize the innocents of Lady Macduff and the kids who are about to get assassinated. There is a lot of dialogue back and forth between Ross and Lady Macduff. But almost every time that they showed lady Macduff the kids where in the background. This could be showing the ties between the mother and her children.
D. This scene in the movie gave me a totally different perspective than I had originally from the reading. I was not expecting the seen to be where it was in the movie and it was kind of strange to me at first. Then there was dialogue between Ross and Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff seem to be more powerful and strong willed than I intentionally expected and the complete opposite for Ross I didn’t know he was such a wuss.
4A. (5.8.19) “Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripped.”- MacDuff
B. This quote is a perfect example of the section “ things are not what they seem”. This scene is at the end of the play when MacDuff tells Macbeth that he is not born of women but he was born in a cesarean birth. This Makes MacDuff eligible to kill Macbeth. Before this Macbeth thought that he was invincible. When he hears MacDuff say that he doesn't know how to react to it.
C. This scene in the movie might be the most important in the whole movie and I think that director Robert Goold does a great job portray it. MacDuff and Macbeth are alone in a big room with just lights on them for dramatic effect and to highlight each individual character. When MacDuff tells Macbeth that he is not born of women he has this shock on his face and they really zoom into his face and capture it really well. Both actors where talking very loudly to build up the suspense of what was going on.
D. This scene really gave me a deeper understanding of what happened in the book. I know that this was an important scene in the book but I couldn’t really imagine it and where it would be taking place and I think that movie did a great job for this final battle between Macbeth and MacDuff.
