Macduff and his family dominate Act 4, while Macbeth has all but disappeared from the play at this point. Consider the following:
Macbeth has 117 lines in each Act 1 and Act 2
He has 260 lines in Act 3 alone, yet he speaks a mere 73 lines in all of Act 4.
Why do you think Shakespeare is showing us action through the eyes and comments of characters other than Macbeth?
Why has Macbeth lost his privilege of delivering long soliloquies to the audience in which he ponders his dilemmas?
Who are we, the audience, supposed to be feeling sympathy for at this point?
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ReplyDeleteBy looking at different perspectives, we get to see all of puzzle pieces be put together so we can understand the novel. With only Macbeths perspective, we wouldn't know that Scotland was in mayhem since Macbeth would never admit to this. We also wouldn't know what the witches were up to or how Macduff feels about Macbeth being King. By showing different perspectives, it develops the novel so we can understand it completely without any questioning of what one character thinks.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his privileges on pondering to the audience simply because the audience already has a good idea on what hes feeling, while other characters need to be introduced. Macbeth also is not taking any action in the novel at the time so the audience must know what is going on in London. Right now in the novel, Macbeths perspective is not important. His character has changed and developed over the play, but now his personality of killing and what he wants to achieve is remaining the same. Shakespeare might have thought it necessary to pull away from Macbeths perspective or else the audience might get bored.
In my opinion I feel sympathy towards Macbeth as crazy as that sounds. Think about it! He has made so many huge mistakes which caused everyone to basically hate him, all of the thanes have ran away from him since they know hes behind all of the murders that have been going around, and now he found out that people are building up an army to overthrow him! The poor guy has gone through a lot, even though the deeds he has committed are terrible. Macbeth right now is alone in his fight if you don't count Lady Macbeth. You have to admit, he has made a lot of stress for himself.
I think that Shakespeare wanted the audience to see other characters and their viewpoints. I think that he wanted to switch it up a little bit and make it so that you weren't just seeing the story from the crazy killer Macbeth's point of view. He wanted to show how other characters were feeling towards Macbeth and what had happened since he had killed Duncan. I think that this also makes the story more interesting, so you can make your own opinions on what is going on and who is the good guy or the bad guy. I think that Macbeth has lost his privilege of delivering long monologues to the audience because he has become so crazy and confused. He has gone on a killing spree and you can't really trust what he is going to say. I think that Shakespeare wanted to portray a side of Macbeth that you can't trust, so therefore Macbeth can't say much because you can't trust him. I think that we, as an audience, should have sympathy for both sides of the story. We feel sympathetic towards Macduff, Banquo, Duncan, and their families, because they have died when they had no reason to. In the same sense though, we feel sympathetic for Macbeth because he has become so crazy and has gone on multiple killing sprees, causing him to slowly lose his sanity. Because he is so crazy, we feel sad for him and his family because of their misfortune. We feel sorry for everyone because it is a tragic tale and everyone has had misfortune done to them.
ReplyDeleteI think Shakespeare is keeping Macbeth pretty quiet because we already know what is going through Macbeth's head. We know that will kill to get power, and we know that he is crazy. I think Shakespeare uses other characters because we have not heard from them, and it is time to hear the effects of Macbeth's cause. We know the killings happened, and how Macbeth felt, but now we get to see how it is effecting the kingdom.
ReplyDeleteThe reason we have long the monologue's of Macbeth is because we know what he is going to say! He will talk about killing and basically crazily jabber on about it. We know about Macbeth, we need to hear the story from another point of view.
I really think we are supposed to be feeling sympathy for Macduff. I can see what Sarah meant by Macbeth, but we don't hear from Macbeth in this part. He is, in a way, in the background. I would feel sorry for Macduff, because his whole family was murdered! And although Macbeth is in a mess, he killed many people, including a child. (And he wants to kill Fleance, but he doesn't know where he is).
I think that Shakespeare wanted the audience to see the different perspectives pertaining to everything that has happened. By showing the different view points, the audience learns about the different charaters and how the murders have affected them individualy, allowing a better understanding about the writing. If the whole plot was just through Macbeths eyes, the story would be through his twisted perspective, leaving out important details about characters like MacDuff and the witches.
ReplyDeleteI think Macbeth lost the privalige of delivering long monologues to the audience because he has become crazy and doesn't think about anything other than his power. It is already clear from his previous monologes what his main goal is. Macbeth has told lies and committed murders and I don't think is anywhere close to stopping with this behavior.
Although Macbeth is not someone I would normally have sympathy for, I feel a little bit bad for him. At one point Lady Macbeth had to convince him to commit the murders and he still felt the guilt of his actions. He has been caught in a downward spiral and is really just losing his sanity. I also feel sympathy for Macduff, Banquo, Duncan because of how they suffered from Macbeths cruel actions. They were murdered out of Macbeth's greed.
I believe that Shakespeare, when he was showing action through others eyes than Macbeth, was trying to give us the chance to see how all the other characters were feeling about Macbeth's rule. He has lost his privilege to deliver soliloquies to the audience because he has, in essence, turned to the dark side and doesn't deserve it. Also probably because he already had the “spotlight”, and it is time for others to share their thoughts and their side of the story. The audience is supposed to feel sympathy towards Macduff because Macbeth killed his family, and Macduff's family was his world!
ReplyDeleteI believe Shakespeare is influencing our state of mind by showing us actin through other characters. Before act 4, the Macbeth couple dominated the plot, and we were made to feel sympathetic towards Macbeth. He merely wanted to be King, but his greed overcame his humanity. Now, we see characters such as Macduff and Malcolm coming into the picture, and the more we get to know them, the less we feel for Macbeth. Suddenly, we are in a scene where a revolt against Macbeth is being planned, and I think that the immediate flip of perspective is foreshadowing something bad happening to Macbeth soon.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth's ongoing dialogues filled with his laments have ceased, and this is because Shakespeare has played with Macbeth long enough for his audience to understand him, and is ready to insert more characters and their personalities into the play.
We, as the audience, are supposed to feel empathetic for Malcolm and Macduff because their families were brutally murdered, and there is no way we would feel sympathetic, let alone empathetic for the well known murderer of both families. Although Macbeth feels like a "real man" because of his actions, he really only proved he was not a man because he could not stand up to his wives temptations to sin against God, the one who anoints kings, as well as his friends. Although the audience may feel bad for Macbeth anyways, at this point in the story, we are meant to feel for the victims of Macbeth's cruelty.
In my opinion, the story isn't about neither Macbeth nor Macduff. This story is about trust and some evils of the world and how dramatically corruption can erupt from power. Macbeth is a character that causes chaos similar to the witches' primary goal. I think Shakespeare didn't have Macbeth have long speeches because he wanted to slowly draw the spotlight away from what we see as the 'star' of the book to the other not-so-popular characters. Throughout the first 3 acts, you don't know what Macduff or Malcolm are going through or who is in their family, etc. Starting in act four, Shakespeare begins to display how corruption of power can plague a whole country and quickly result in enemies and assassins. I also agree with Ruth. I believe that Macbeth has lost him privilege and honor to deliver long speeches. He is a character that has become dark and evil and is no longer worthy, similar to the witches. The witches only have small short sayings because they aren't worthy of having long opinions or large parts in the play. I think that Shakespeare wants to 'play with' the audience's emotions because in the beginning you sympathized Macbeth because he was in a sense being 'forced' to kill Duncan because of Lady Macbeth. Now, you no longer feel for Macbeth because he's too overconfident and thinks that he's invincible. Instead, you feel sorry for the victims of his corruption and ruling of power by fear. Macduff's family was targeted and now you feel sorry for him because he didn't do anything against Macbeth. I believe that Shakespeare doesn't think Macbeth deserves long speeches anymore and wants you to sympathize the victims of this tyrant.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare follows MacDuff instead of Macbeth because the drama in MacDuff’s life is far greater than the drama Macbeth has to deal with. Macbeth is on a killing spree, robbing his people, and overall being a terrible ruler. He’s king and doesn’t have to worry about killing or much of anything because he’s king. Since he’s king he gets whatever he wants. On the other hand; MacDuff, just lost his family, his castle, and is planning to dethrone Macbeth from the crown. The audience would much rather here this story than a guy who gets everything. Macbeth never gives anymore soliloquies because he doesn’t have anything to ponder about. If he wants someone dead, he doesn’t have to stress about the consequences, he can have one of his servants do this. The audience will of course feel sympathy for the man who just lost everything and is about to go to war, MacDuff. The audience will no longer feel sympathy for Macbeth even if he loses everything. He had his turn for power and he misused it. Macbeth deserves to be punished, where MacDuff should be the one who gets everything. MacDuff did nothing wrong, but ends up losing his family.
ReplyDeleteI think Shakespeare is showing us actions through the perspectives of the characters aside from Macbeth because all we see in previous scenes is Macbeth's opinion about his actions. Of course, because he is the one committing them, he doesn't always view them as he should. In the meantime, there are families in distress over the murder of their loved ones. Their counts are important as well, if not, just as important as Macbeth's.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has ceased delivering long soliloquies about his predicaments because by now we already know that he's conflicted about his actions. What should be focused on at this point is the plights of other characters being affected by Macbeth's actions. As said upon, their reactions are vital to the story as well.
I think that as the audience, we should be sympathizing with Macbeth. Because of the fact that he hasn't had any lengthy monologues or much dialogue as of late, we have no idea what he is up to. Why some people may think we should be feeling sympathy for the Macduffs and such, shouldn't we be feeling sympathy for their murder? Anyone that is troubled enough to descend low enough to multiple murders is obviously a pitiful person.
I think that Shakespeare wants us to see the consequences of Macbeth’s actions. I think that he also wants to give us a different point of view. Specifically that of those he has affected with his actions. I think that Shakespeare also wants to turn us against Macbeth and feel pity for those whose lives he has extinguished or destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI think that he has lost this privilege because we now know what he is thinking, but we haven’t really heard that much from the other characters in the play yet. I think that Shakespeare ants to give us more insight into the thoughts and actions of other characters in the play.
I think that we are still supposed to feel sympathy for Macbeth, but also for Macduff. I think that we are supposed to feel sympathy for Macbeth still because he is the tragic hero in this play. I also think that we should feel sympathy for Macduff because he has just lost his entire family and he can no longer go back to Scotland. All of this has happened to him, but he hasn’t done anything to deserve it.
I think that Shakespeare may be giving different view points so the reader can understand what is happening better. He seems to also be putting the spotlight on the most exciting and dramatic part of the play. Before it was Macbeth, but now MacDuff is the one with the idea of revenge and the one who know holds the power to carry it out.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth also stopped his long speeches because all the readers know what he would say and how he would deliver it as well. He hasn't really changed what he is saying or thinking and it was getting to be repetitive with all the kill, kill, kill! Shakespeare may be trying to have new less mentioned characters step up and tell the story from the way they see it. To let the audience feel the characters from both points of view.
I believe that we are supposed to feel empathetic towards MacDuff and Macbeth at the same time. Poor Macbeth who can't think straight and is beginning to ruin Scotland! And same for MacDuff who's family was just brutally murdered. Although there may be the chance that Shakespeare may just have moved on from Macbeth at the moment as he has abused all his power and doesn't deserve sympathy and we are just supposed to be moved by the terror he has begun to inflict upon others.
I think that Shakespeare is showing what he is with Macbeth for a couple of reasons. In Act 1 and in Act 2, it was almost the “rise of Macbeth” to the throne there fore he had plenty of lines. Then in Act 3, he has a TON of lines there because at this point in the story, it is the height of Macbeth’s glory as king. However in Act 4, he barely had any lines because it is the downfall of his glory. In Act 4 we start to see the stirring of a revolt against Macbeth and that is where we get the other lines that are not Macbeth’s from. The reason that we are not hearing any more of Macbeth’s long, crazy rants is probably because Shakespeare thought that the audience had heard enough about Macbeth and he also probably thought that his character was established enough. The reader had learned about the other characters; however they were not introduced to the other players into his story personally and one to one. At this point in the story, I personally am getting the feeling that I am supposed to be feeling sorry for Macduff. He has just lost his wife, children, servants, all to malicious slaughter ordered by Macbeth. But then because of that I am also feeling a tad of pity for Macbeth. This whole situation would have never happened for the witches. He fell a victim to their little game. Now, he has a lot of angry people coming after him. One of those people is a widowed father and husband. Those kind of people don’t tend to solve problems the diplomatic way.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the beginning of the story, Shakespeare made Macbeth actually sound like the tragic hero. It seemed like he was a chivalrous man and his wife was using him like a puppet. Now that we have delved deeper into the story, we can see that he is truly insane and bestial. The first kill of Duncan caused his blood lust to break free causing many brutal murders including Duncan’s chamberlains, Banquo, and Macduff’s family. Shakespeare is now making the transition of the hero from Macbeth to Macduff it seems. We saw the progression of Macbeth from loyal servant to sadistic king, now we will see Macduff’s change from suspicious thane to rebel leader.
ReplyDeleteIn all of the acts, Macbeth’s monologues have shown the insanity that he has progressed into. I feel like now that we already know how far he has fallen, Shakespeare must have thought it unnecessary to place page long dialogues for Macbeth anymore. Looking from the writer’s point of view, the audience would become bored with the play.
Sympathy at this point should definitely be directed at Macduff. This is the character that I think the audience should be cheering for at this point also. The man’s wife, children, and servants were all savagely murdered by Macbeth’s assassins. Originally, Macbeth was the character who needed sympathy, the audience saw him as the corrupted being, but now we see that he is actually evil.
Much like my classmates above me I think that Shakespeare was giving the supporting characters a chance to take a step forward to hear their thoughts and opinions about the story. When Macbeth is the hero at the beginning of the play (and the anti-hero in the middle) we hear what he thinks through his asides and we see most of the story through his eyes. Macbeth does take a turn for the worse and at this point in the story no one is rooting for him and there is a long line of people wanting to cut him down. Macbeth's friends even want to have him out of power so it is crucial to hear their ideas and motivations. Macbeth doesn't do his asides where he talks about his problems because he has no problems. He has everything that he wants: power, money, and complete control. He doesn't realize his terrible rule. The audience should be feeling sympathy for the supporting characters, such as Macduff, Ross, Malcolm, Fleance, and the people who live in Scotland because Macbeth has made their lives horrible for no reason.
ReplyDeleteI think Shakespeare is showing us action through characters other than Macbeth so that he could make the reader sympathize with someone other than Macbeth and give them background information on what is happening in other places. By showing Macduff’s point of view Shakespeare is portraying Macbeth as an evil tyrant and killer who massacres families. Also, he is giving you insight on what Malcom and Macduff are planning to do so that even as Macbeth is cocky and unaware, you know of his doom.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his sanity and humane side; therefore he has also lost the privilege of long soliloquies to the audience. He now has an insane, bloodthirsty mentality and doesn’t deserve to contemplate or explain his logic to the reader. Shakespeare wants to shift the reader’s sympathy from Macbeth to someone else, like Malcom and Macduff.
By this point in the story the audience is supposed to feel sympathy for the people around Macbeth. Macbeth has transformed into an insane murderer, who has turned first from the murder of his King to the murder of his best friend to the murder of women and children. We are supposed to sympathize with Macduff, who has lost his home and family, and Malcom, who has lost his kingdom and father. Shakespeare helped to shift our feelings by shifting from Macbeth’s side of the story to Macduff and Malcom’s side.
I think Shakespeare is showing us the story through different eyes because it lets us understand other sides of the story and exposes us to a new perspective. Through Macbeth's eyes we only see what he believes is important and he doesn't explain how his actions may be effecting all those around him. It also lets us see what else is happening in the story that Macbeth is unaware of. The feelings and thoughts of smaller chharacters of the book are very important because they will ultimately affect Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteI think Macbeth has lost his privilages of giving long soliloquies to the audience because we know him so well we can probably guess what he is thinking anyway. Macbeth has also gone a bit crazy and sees and says things that don't make sense. We need to see the other side of the story and understand what is going on apart from Macbeth.
I think we are supposed to be feeling sympathy for Macduff because he has just lost his wife adn children and all the servants of his house at the hand of Macbeth. Macduff feels responsible for all of their deaths and is enraged and saddened by the shocking news. I think we should also be feeling sympathy for Malcolm because he lost his father and now is going to wage war against the man who murdered King Duncan. Malcolm seems a little lost and cinfused and needs to know who he can trust since there is obviously someone who wants to kil him. I also feel a little sympathy for Macbeth. He used to be a loyal, brave thane to the King and then he turned horrible. Macbeth has commited crimes that can never been forgiven and the rage and guilt is driving him insane. It all started because of three witches who just wanted to play a little game of chaos and confusin, but it has turned into more than just a game.
For the first three Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the featured characters. (At least the ones that live until act 5) These acts show what became of Macbeth when Duncan was murdered and Malcom and Donalbain fled. It shows his glory, his friends, and the trusts he established. When it switches to Malcom and Macduff's point of view, it reveals all the tyranny Macbeth is holding over Scotland, and why it is imperative that he must be taken off the Scottish throne. It also shows the morals each secondary holds, as in Malcom's insecurities, Macduff's sense of belief in others, and the pain they each feel when they lose something or someone.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth lost his privilege of delivering long soliloquies because, for starters, all the internal conflict about murdering Duncan and Banquo is gone, so therefore he doesn't need to ponder over a murder. However, in the case of Macduff's family, Macbeth is so corrupted he doesn't even question killing a lady and several children. We already know Macbeth is corrupt and insane, so a soliloquy would prove what Shakespeare has already conveyed in his previous acts.
Based on the recent testimonies of Malcom and Macduff, we're supposed to feel sympathy for Malcom, Macduff, and everyone else Macbeth is hurting. As of act four, Macbeth is a tyrant. Since the apparitions told him "for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" (Shakespeare 4.1.80-81) he feels he has a divine power. By showing the dark side of that power by murdering the family of Macduff, we are assured that the non sequitur of a prophecy the witches game Macbeth has made him a horrible man. Therefore, sympathy goes to Macduff and everyone on his side of the fight.
Shakespeare is giving us a different perspective. If we were told the story just from Macbeth’s view, then we would side with him. I think Shakespeare wants us to read about two sides of the story and then for us to use our judgement on whose view is correct. He is giving different ideas from each character and they all come together and form the story. He is trying to be neutral and not have Macbeth be the good or bad guy. Same with Macduff.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth does not appear as much because now someone has to do something about Macbeth’s actions. In the beginning, Macbeth murdered Duncan and Banquo as a result of his desire for power. No one suspected it was Macbeth except Macduff. Now that Macduff is more confident that it was Macbeth, he comes out because he has plans for Macbeth’s death, so that leads Macbeth into going into hiding. The main focus is on Macduff because he has pland to kill the tragic heroes.
I think Shakespeare want us to sympathize for Macbeth because of the guilt and wariness he has. Shakespeare wants us to see that Macbeth is so overcome by the want for power that he makes decisions that are uncharacteristic to him so it is not the true Macbeth that does all the killing therefore not completely his fault. he wants us to feel sympathetic towards Macbeth’s unstable state of mind.
I think that Shakespeare makes a point to give perspective from other characters, but he also enlightens us on the idea that the other characters in the story do not completely trust Macbeth at this point. Suspicions are high, and Macbeth is not so easily trusted.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare is almost giving the audience a break from Macbeth's madness. In act's 1-3, we find that Macbeth has long monologues when pondering his decisions. In a sense, Macbeth seems whiny, and it seems as though Shakespeare is trying to give a new perspectives on the situations that Macbeth created.
I believe that the audience should be sympathetic towards Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. At this point in the story, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have gradually grown mad, and I think that Shakespeare is trying to convey that we should be sympathetic to him.
I think Shakespeare is showing us the perspectives of the other characters because Macbeth has been the star of every act up until now. He wanted the audience to have the opportunity to experience scenes without the influence of Macbeth, so that we can have sympathy for other characters.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his privilege of delivering long soliloquies to the audience in which he ponders his dilemmas because we have heard his side of the story. It’s helpful to be able to get the other characters’ views of what has been happening in the story.
I think, as an audience, that we are supposed to feel sympathy for Macduff because his family was just murdered due to Macbeth. This event also contributes to the story because it causes Macduff to feel enraged and yearn for revenge against Macbeth, which makes the play all the more interesting.
Shakespeare is giving us the perspectives of characters other than Macbeth because for three straight scenes. So act four gives the reader a new look on the whole situation. Up to this point Macbeth has us convince that his way was the right way, but now we see the other side of the story, where the majority of the people stand. It also makes the reader stop and think about what is really right. It makes Macbeth's bad reputation come out whrn you couldnt see it before.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Macbeth has lost his right to speak because like Macy said above that we can't really trust what Macbeth says now that we have heard two sides to the same story. When we hear the second side it makes Macbeth look worse and worse. Also we have had three scenes of Macbeth talking about how awesome he is, we just want a break, hear about some new people to make the book more interesting.
The person we have sympathy for at this moment is Malcolm. We never really knew more than that he just ran away to England, but during his conversation with Ross we have discovered the real Malcolm. We may have had respect for Macbeth before but now Malcolm make Macbeth look like the villain he is.
Shakespeare begins to tell the story through the other characters because he wants us to get a perspective of someone other than Macbeth, specifically those opposed to him. Up to this point, we have primarily only observed the thought process of Macbeth, giving us a biased opinion to what is the "right" or sensible decision. Starting in Act 4, Shakespeare exposes the opposite take as well.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Macbeth is has fewer and fewer monologues symbolizes the loss of his ability to make wise decisions and be rational in his thinking. Now that he no longer ponders over the validity of his actions, it shows the toll his brutality has taken on his personality. The evil that has taken over has caused him to become less human, and instead behave impulsive and paranoid.
As stated before, attention is taken away from Macbeth because Shakespeare intends for the audience to lose the connection with him, and instead feel for the other side. When we begin to understand more of Macduff and Malcolm, we can see why they would resent Macbeth. Also, since Macbeth's intentions have not been discussed for a while, the readers start to forget his emotions. Slowly, the previous, compassionate view toward Macbeth fades into the sadistic picture painted by the descriptions of Macduff and Malcolm.
Shakespeare is showing us actions through other people because we can see what other people are dong, thinking, and feeling. It is another point of view that helps us better understand what is going to happen. This is an insight on what is happening outside of Macbeth’s mind. We now know what others truly think of him. What Shakespeare is doing is the same as when the main character in a TV show is not in the room and we see her friends talking about stuff that they would never say in front of the main character. This is the same thing, but in literature. Macbeth doesn’t rant anymore because Act 4 wasn’t about his dilemmas and thoughts, its about other peoples thoughts and dilemmas about Macbeth. Macbeth’s dilemmas have already been ranted to us and any more contemplating about what has already has happened would be too much. This is a scene to make the readers think twice about whose side to take. Currently I am feeling sympathetic for Macduff because his wife and son where killed by his own king‘s orders, and overall life isn’t going so well. Also I feel sympathy for everyone else who had been negatively affected by Macbeth (which is practically everyone in the play).
ReplyDeleteI think that Shakespeare is showing us the action of the play through the eyes and comments of characters other than Macbeth because it is important to see the other side of the story. Through Macbeth’s eyes we see that he is constantly killing and is being overcome by evil, yet still contains some good and remorse. However, through others’ eyes we view Macbeth as a monstrous tyrant who is destroying Scotland. By doing this, Shakespeare has literally altered our viewpoint of the story so that we now see the good side as we did before, when Macbeth wasn’t on a killing spree.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Macbeth has lost his privilege of delivering long soliloquies to the audience in which he ponders his dilemmas because he is now a nearly completely corrupted ruler who (answering question three also) is not supposed to receive our sympathy. Shakespeare has crafted this play so that we begin to hate Macbeth and do not pity him and his dilemmas that he goes through. As Macbeth stated before, “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” (Shakespeare 3.4.136-138). Macbeth is beyond the point of return and is turning evil, so we now pity those on which he has inflicted pain such as Macduff, whose family was slaughtered by Macbeth’s doing, and Fleance whose father was also murdered by Macbeth’s doing. Macduff, Fleance, and everybody else against Macbeth should now be viewed by us as the “good guys”.
I think that Shakespeare is leaving Macbeth absent from this scene because without hearing the whole story from Macbeth’s point of view we finally get to hear how Macbeth’s ruling as king is affecting the people. When Macbeth is the person mostly dominating the scene we don’t hear much from others. In Act 4 we hear how Macbeth’s reign is affecting Macduff and families back in Scotland. We hear from Macduff that Scotland is in complete mayhem with Macbeth as king. If this was another act where Macbeth had a big part we would never here about how much the country and its people are really suffering because Macbeth would never admit that what he is doing is bad.
ReplyDeleteI think Macbeth lost his privilege of giving long monologues because they were always just about killing people and how he could work around the witches’ prophecies and stay king. His monologues were always about me, me, me. Macbeth never cared about anyone’s well-being but his. I think that this is why Macbeth didn’t get the privilege of a monologue in this act.
As the audience I think that we should feel sorry for Macduff. His family was just slaughtered by their country’s king whom is supposed to help, defend, and protect the people not hire murders to kill them.
Shakespeare, I believe, is keeping Macbeth quite for a little while because he wants to show all of the damage that one simple man has caused. He hasn't just taken away lives, he has ruined the ones still living, such as Macduff losing his whole family. Through eyes other than Macbeth we, as readers, get to see the evil and highly certifiable Macbeth that is now ruling and as Grant said, destroying Scotland all together.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare has taken away Macbeth's privileges to long soliloquies because he has convinced our brains of who Macbeth actually is. Then after hearing his side of the story, we get to see the effects and responses other's have towards him.
Obviously we should be feeling a deep sympathy for Macduff right now. After just finding out that, not just some, but all of his family has been brutally murdered; how could you not feel absolutely terrible for him? I have no sympathy towards Macbeth on the other hand, because he has gone completely savage: the extremity of killing women and children.
I believe Shakespeare is showing us action through the eyes and comments of characters other than Macbeth to allow us readers to gain many different viewpoints. In the beginning, Macbeth mainly did all the talking, he was the Main Character. Now, we are getting to see the other sides of things. It gives everyone different perspectives, which allows us to understand the play better and analyze from many different angles as well. Initially, I think everyone was Pro-Macbeth, Anti-Macduff. The roles have shifted dramatically.
ReplyDeleteMy theory for the reason that Shakespeare has decided to stop letting Macbeth drone on and on about his issues that are brought upon by himself, and beckon other characters for their input is the same that a teacher does not let one student comment about something the entire class period. After a little while, everyone understands or at the very least gets the gist of what the person is saying. It’s time for a new perspective, a fresh idea.
I feel that the audience is expected to feel sympathy for Macbeth right now. He recently has experienced a shift in power. Before, he was the hero everyone favored and admired; now he is a villain who everyone feels leery about.
I think that Macbeth is left out of this scene because he wants us to see the other side of the story. Macbeth is a tyrant, and so far we have mostly seen the story from his point of view. We know see the other side of the story from the vies point of people that are against Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteI think that Macbeth has lost his privilege of giving long soliloquies he has cone mostly crazy. Many things that he says don't make sense, so the reader might get confused.
I think that we as the readers are supposed to feel sympathy for all the people that Macbeth has hurt. Macbeth is a tyrant, and if we can feel sympathy for the characters that Macbeth has hurt, especially Macduff who had his wife and children killed, then we can see connections that we couldn't see before.
I think that Shakespeare tells hero stories just like any other author. In other hero stories we mainly focus on the heroes. We watch how batman uses his technology to beat the bad guys, and we watch how the fantastic four come up with different ideas to use their powers to beat their enemies. Now I think we are watching how the real heroes, Macduff and Malcolm, come up with a plan to beat the bad guy who is now Macbeth. I think he has lost his privilege to speak about his problems because I think almost all of his problems are just about gone because the apparitions have given him so much over confidence. I think we are supposed to feel sympathy for Macduff because he is trying to do the right thing and his whole family just got murdered and now he has no children and no wife, I feel bad for him.
ReplyDeleteI think that Shakespeare is showing us action through other characters eyes so that we can better understand their perspectives. We get to see the situation through their eyes instead of watching the story go by through Macbeth. I also think that when Shakespeare does this we can better understand how vicious Macbeth really is. We get to see how he directly affects people and their grief and sorrow over his terrible deeds.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Shakespeare stopped giving Macbeth long monologues was because he started to become more predictable and we also needed a perspective change. It can be very boring to see the same character talking over and over again about their same issues. It is nice to get a different point of view.
I think that no one is supposed to feel sympathy for Macbeth now. He has become a bloodthirsty creep. He even has gone so far as to kill women and children! It would be the equivalent of someone today feeling bad for a murderer because they were mentally unstable. It rarely happens. Macbeth is not supposed to be someone who others feel bad for; he is the one receiving all the negativity.
Shakespeare is showing us others perspectives because the audience needs to know how others feel about Macbeth being king. I think Shakespeare is also trying to show the characters conversations, because all of them are about Macbeth, and how terrible of a ruler he is, and why it's so strange that all these people are dying.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Macbeth hasn't been delivering long soliloquies is because he has gone mad, he is caught up in ruling Scotland, and Macbeth is planning out the murderers of important people who are in the way of his leadership.
I think that we as the audience are supposed to feel sympathy for Macbeth because everyone hates him, and they are leaving Scotland to flee from his ruling. People may feel bad that nobody wants him as a ruler, but at the same time Shakespeare doesn't put him in scene 4 a lot because he wants others to also show sympathy for Malcolm and Macduff because they would be better kings then Macbeth.
Since the author is giving us, the readers, more than one perspective of the story, it allows us to get all of the story and understand it better. If the entire story was written from Macbeth's point of view, we would never have the opportunity to see what is happening behind the scenes with Malcom and Macduff in England and how they are building an army. In some ways, Shakespeare is purposely not showing anything about what is going on with Macbeth, so that we don't know how Macbeth is preparing for war and how he is handling the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteI hypothesize that the reason for the loss of Macbeth's privilege to many lines is because the reader doesn't really care what Macbeth has to say anymore. I know I personally, just want Macduff to finally get his revenge on Macbeth. He has lost his his big part because he's not where the action is. Macduff and Malcom are where all of the action is taking place. The reader doesn't care what Macbeth is thinking, we just want him gone because all he has done is pure evil.
I think that the way the story is set up now, that we are supposed to feel sympathy for Macduff because his children and wife have been killed by people hired by Macbeth and we are supposed to take his side and want Macbeth killed for all he has done. In that case, I think that Shakespeare is being very effective with his writing because I feel sympathy for MAcduff and want to get rid of Macbeth.
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ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Shakespeare is showing us action through the eyes and comments of characters other than Macbeth?
ReplyDeleteI think that Shakespeare is letting us see what’s going on through the eyes of other characters. This way we can understand how the other characters such as Macduff and Malcom feel about what’s going on and what they plan to do about it. This is also an example of one of my points from my essay which is: Literature lets us see through other perspectives.
Why has Macbeth lost his privilege of delivering long soliloquies to the audience in which he ponders his dilemmas?
I believe that Macbeth’s long monologs have begun to shorten because he is simply going bonkers. He must be insanely stressed out and is becoming a little sadistic as well with this ceaseless murdering, which I think causes him to get into a mood of killing but then once that his over he regains his composure and feels the immense guilt of what his done.
Who are we, the audience, supposed to be feeling sympathy for at this point?
This is a tough one, I really think it’s a debatable subject. Macbeth has been the main character throughout the story line and I’ll feel like most of us have come to know him well which may cause us to root for him. This is countered by his murdering which makes us want to root against him. I personally still feel sympathy for Macbeth, not because he’s the main character, but because he has become so insane and crazed by the thought of the witches that he doesn’t have true happiness.
I believe that Shakespeare is showing us different perspectives through other characters' eyes for just that reason; to show us a new perspective! If the audience is getting one-sided opinions and thoughts, they cannot be exposed to how others feel about the one character's actions. The audience should take in what Macbeth is feeling and his own reasoning behind what he does, and also how Macduff,Malcolm, Ross, and others are feeling and maybe even how they justify things such as running from Macbeth to make war against him.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Macbeth has lost his "privilege" of delivering long soliloquies to the audience because the whole entire play has shifted in it's viewpoint. At first, the play was about a young brave man- tragic, misguided, deluded, and confused. This young man has rapidly evolved and now has a few more alarming traits: he's bloodthirsty, wildly ambitious, brutal, suspicious, jealous, ruthless, and power-hungry. Now that Macbeth has turned somewhat mad, the focus is on taking down that which the beginning of the play had built up.
At this point in the play, I believe that we are meant to feel much more sympathy towards Macduff. One thing after another hit this poor guy: he had to flee a tyrant to save his country, the man that he thought was to be a great leader "confesses" to multiple sins and awful faults and then admits that it was just a test, and his whole entire family has just been brutally slaughtered through Macbeth's orders! Who wouldn't feel bad for him? Now he is even beginning to take on the role of tortured, grief-stricken man who is still somehow determined and full of bravery, committed to his noble cause. He's almost swoon-worthy.
By seeing different perspectives we can get a better handle on the book and what is happening. Also by letting us see Macbeth through other peoples eyes it gives us a better understanding on how ruthless of a leader Macbeth really is. We get to see what the common men and women of Scotland think about their leader and the things he is doing to stay in his position.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth lost his privileges to ponder his thoughts to the audience simply because he has been doing that the whole book. The audience already knows what and how Macbeth is thinking. Now new characters need to be introduced so we can see how they are feeling about Macbeth and the way he chooses to rule his country.
I think as the audience we should be feeling sympathy towards the people of Scotland. They are under a new vicious rule before they can even comprehend what is going on with their country. We also need to feel sympathy for MacDuff and Malcom, because they have been effected deeply by Macbeth's rule. They have lost their loved ones and they don't know how to get their homeland out of turmoil.
I believe that Shakespeare is showing the movement of the story through characters other than Macbeth because he is trying to show a shift in the feeling of the story. It went from him focusing on the fact that we should feel sympathy for Macbeth to us having to that we should see a different point of view and that we should feel sympathetic to Macduff and Malcolm. It might also be the fact that he is foreshadowing something happening to Macbeth. When a writer is writing around the whole perspective of one character, the audience will be more on the side of that character. Such as when Macbeth goes on his rants about his troubles and when he is thinking about himself and maintaining power, we feel that since he is expressing his beliefs about something we know little about, we will believe it and take his side. By eliminating those rants, we don't have that connection or sharing of beliefs. Instead, we hold the ideals of Macduff and Malcolm. So by shifting our connection to Macduff, he may be shifting away from the sympathy for Macbeth therefore when and if he kills him off, we will see why and think it just, thus delivering the entire message of the story. If we still shared the beliefs of Macbeth, then if he killed him off, then we would think it in another way, and thus twisting the entire message of the story.
ReplyDeleteThrough the first three acts the audience gets to know how Macbeth thinks, feels and acts. We discovered that Macbeth would not stop at anything so he can be king at any price, even murder. In Act four, we are seeing the other side of the story, the people Macbeth has hurt. We are starting to see that Macbeth may be in danger of losing his throne. This is an important piece of the story and helps us understand the play better as a whole.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has murdered King Duncan and his two guards, as well as hiring the murderers to kill Lady Macduff, Macduff’s children, and Banquo. These are some of the most horrible deeds possible. Shakespeare is no longer letting Macbeth be as involved in the story because of what he has done. He wants to make a point by showing the audience how it has affected others and what they will do to get back at Macbeth.
Currently we should be sympathetic toward the people who Macbeth has hurt such as Macduff, and Fleance. We need to see how it is affecting them because Macbeth has hurt them and their families just so he can be king.
I believe that Shakespeare is showing us the story from the perspective of other characters because they are becoming the new heroes. To me, the beginning half of the book was about Macbeth's descent from being a hero, to becoming a phsycopathic, power-obssessed human being. Macbeth started out as an incredibly brave and noble character, but now that he has become the pure evil in the story, Shakespeare focuses on a new good. In general, any story will typically show the plot from the perspective of the good character. Now that Macbeth is the pure enemy, we must focus on a good character that must attempt to save the day. In this case, the hero is Macduff. An audience will almost always stick to the side of the hero, so hearing long speeches from Macbeth would not be very appealing to them.
ReplyDeleteWe are supposed to be feeling sorry for Macduff at this point because he is made out to be a very pure and heroic character. After his family got murdered by Macbeth, we build our hatred toward Macbeth and our sympathy towards Macduff.
I believe that Shakespeare is showing us the perspective of the story from other characters other that Macbeth because Shakespeare has shifted the perspective of the entire story from Macbeth wanting more and more power to a gathering of fleeing men to fight back the ruthless Macbeth. He wants to expose a different side of Macbeth that he couldn't do through Macbeth himself.
ReplyDeleteLike Madison said, Macbeth's gruesome actions are not the focal point to shape the entire story around; however the idea the effects of the actions Macbeth's sadistic ways have on the other characters is now the focus of the story. The dilemnas that Macbeth has brought upon himself are now not of interest to the play and now the weight of the resurgence of the fleeing men has increased the need for explaination of the planning of the retaking over of Scotland. Because we know already of Macbeth's frustrations, we don't need to keep being reminded by him of the known situation.
I feel that we were supposed to display sympathy towards Macbeth within the first 3 acts, but the sympathy has shifted to Macduff and Fleance's family because their families have been killed off by Macbeth's lust for unchallenged power. They are being directly placed on the frontline for the slaughterhouse and they are still trying to retake the kingdom for the good of the Scottish people. Therefore, we, as the audience, should be showing sympathy towards Macduff and Fleance.
I believe that Shakespeare is letting us see the perspective of other characters eyes because it gives the reader a better understanding of what's going on. Before in the previous acts we were only able to see Macbeth's point of view. We saw what he was feeling and thinking before and after murdering Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's family. With these switches of who's perspective we are looking at weather it's Ross, Malcom, Macduff or any other characters we get to see what they think of all the things that are going on in Scotland and what they think of Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his privileges of delivering soliloquies because first of all most of the internal conflict in the play is gone. Macbeth has already killed Banquo, and Duncan so he no longer needs to ponder about his feelings and thoughts about the murders. Also after seeing that Macbeth is ruthless enough to kill Macduff's family without filling any guilt or remorse, we already know that he's lost his sanity and is just becoming more and more sadistic. So a soliloquy is not needed to tell us his feelings any more.
After hearing Malcom and Macduff's testimonies in act 4 I feel like we the audience are supposed to be feeling sympathy for Macduff, Malcom and everyone else Macbeth has hurt. As of act 4 a lot of people are beginning to think that Macbeth Is a tyrant. We can see that the witches and Hecate's plans have worked out for they have made Macbeth over confident, ruthless and over all a horrible person. After seeing him kill his kin, a very good friend and children the audiences sympathy is defiantly leaning toward Macduff, Malcom and the people against Macbeth.
Shakespeare shifts his point of view from Macbeth to Macduff, probably because it shows both sides of the story. We know up to this point how Macbeth feels about life and his situation. To make it a true and complete story, we need both points of view. This helps comprehension and understanding of the play. We also see how both sides are preparing to go to war with each other. Macbeth is the murderer, and we do not want to see him very much anymore.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his privilege to deliver long monologues to the audience because of all his evil deeds. Humans do not tend to want to listen to the violent, murderous individuals, but to the kind, virtuous ones that have had a great tragedy. Macduff, in this case, is that person, with his family killed and his country in wreckage and his world shattered.
At this point in the story, we feel sorry for Macduff and Malcolm for surviving through Macbeth’s brutal attacks to their lives. As I said above, we as humans do not like to listen to evil things, but to good things and people. We also feel that with Macbeth’s murders, he has lost the right to be felt sorry for. Therefore, we feel sorry for Macduff and not Macbeth.
*(Sorry this was so late- I had band)*
At first, Macbeth appears to be the protagonist- the good guy that everyone roots for. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that he is not such a good guy, and readers are less inclined to stay on his side. As the allegiances of the readers change, so does the perspective of the story. Readers (and viewers) of the play would not stay engaged if the focus stayed on Macbeth, who is widely disliked by now. He has stooped down to the level of betrayal, deceit, and murder, and doesn't deserve the role of protagonist. The new heroes of the story are Malcolm and Macduff.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare is showing the true faults of Macbeth by presenting the play from the perspectives of those around him, rather than his own perspective. This allows the audience to better see and understand Macbeth as a tragic hero, who’s flaw is his over-confidence and hubris.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has lost his privilege to share his thoughts in a soliloquy format because Shakespeare is showing how changed Macbeth has become due to his action and is forcing the audience to “root for” Macduff and Malcolm, rather than the newly-deranged Macbeth.
By this point in the play, the audience is supposed to be sympathizing with Macduff and Malcolm. because Macbeth has become a lost cause and is dehumanized by his dealings with the witches and with his Scottish subjects.