Look to the lady!
At the end of 2.3, Lady Macbeth "faints" while Macbeth reveals to everyone that he has killed the servants.
First, do you think that we're supposed to believe that Lady Macbeth truly faints here, or is she merely pretending to faint? Provide at least one piece of evidence (a quote or a description of an event) to support your response.
Second, why do you think that Shakespeare chooses to have the murder of the king and servants take place off stage? The film version chooses to show the audience the murders (in a pretty gruesome way, might I add)--how does this added scene affect your understanding? Does it change your view of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?
First, do you think that we're supposed to believe that Lady Macbeth truly faints here, or is she merely pretending to faint? Provide at least one piece of evidence (a quote or a description of an event) to support your response.
Second, why do you think that Shakespeare chooses to have the murder of the king and servants take place off stage? The film version chooses to show the audience the murders (in a pretty gruesome way, might I add)--how does this added scene affect your understanding? Does it change your view of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?
posted by Kristin L at 3:28 PM
52 Comments:
I think that we are not really supposed to think she faints, but at the same time I do. It is possible that Lady Macbeth really did faint becuase of all of the stress she was under and all of the guilt she was feeling. But, I think she may have pretended to faint because before she fainted she said "Help me hence, ho!" Who says help when they are about to faint? I think that she may have tried to get out of an awkward situation by fake-fainting so that she wouldn't have to worry about lying and trying not to trip over her words and reveal the truth.
I think that Shakespeare chose to have the murders of the servants and King Duncan off stage because it is possible that Shakespeare could have gotten in big trouble for having a play be too gory to show the audience.
I think that the added scene in the movie of Duncan getting killed reveals more about Macbeth. Before, we thought he was pretty scared to kill Duncan, and he almost didn't go through with it. But in the new scene, it shows how much he really wants the throne, and that he will go nuts and kill everyone just so that he can have the throne. It doesn't change my view of Lady Macbeth since she didn't kill Duncan. She is still bloodthirsty for power, but is still scared and thinks its inhumane.
I agree with mollyk when she says that we are supposed to believe that Lady Macbeth truly fainted but at the same time we are not. I'm sure she was surprised when Macbeth revealed this piece of information to everyone since this was supposed to be a secret (or so I understood). She has been very stressed, and I think her yelling out, "Help me hence, ho!" was either her being fake, or Shakespeare indicating to the audience that Lady Macbeth was about to faint.
I think Shakespeare did not really want to have the murders take place on stage because of how gruesome they must have been in his mind. Like mollyk said, it probably would have gotten him into a lot of trouble for how gory it would have been.
When the film version included the murders, it changed my view of things somewhat. It really showed that Macbeth really did brutally murder all of those people (or in the film, at least Duncan). You can talk about something all day but never really understand it until you see it on a screen. It hits home in the sense that he was evil enough to take a knife and stab another person multiple times while looking into their eyes. It slightly changes my view of Lady Macbeth. In the film, she was a little nicer and a little more scared than I had imagined. She did reveal her true self, though, slightly when she took the daggers back to the scene of the crime.
I think that Lady Macbeth pretends to faint at the end of 2.3 because right before she does, Macbeth begins to talk about Duncans death and what he looked like and the servents... and in fear of him reavealing the truth she faints to shut him up.
Well first it would be hard to make the scene belivable on stage. I also think that Shakespeare thought that he didn't need it. I think he didn't want the audience to dislike him any more. In the movie we see Macbeth kill Duncan in a grotesque manner. It builds more hatred for him, and the audience see's him more of a monster than in the play.
I would say that Lady Macbeth faints to makes it seem like the Macbeth’s were innocent, but she also could have fainted for real. It works both ways by saying that she was very surprised with Macbeth’s decision to murder the servents, but she might have been just over-whelmed with guilt, or she could have wanted to put on a scene so the servent conversation could be dropped. Exaggerating, “Help hence me, ho!” makes all the attention directed at her and the murdering of the servents would be dropped to take care of her.
I think that the murders took place off stage to make it seem more terrible that it couldn’t be shown. Appearing them onstage makes it seem more realistic and tragic, but I didn’t feel the same guilt of Macbeth. I think that these murders and events that follow are run by guilt and it seems to be a major part of the play. Without the guilt that follows Macbeth by the hidden murders, it doesn’t seem as awful of a deed. Lady Macbeth seems like more of a part of the murders if they aren’t shown. It was her idea but in the movies Macbeth does all the work and it looks like it is just his thing. With all of that, the book is more of a guilt driven view for me.
I agree with Molly in that I dont think that we are suposed to think Lady Macbeth has really fainted but, part of me thinks she really did. I think the stress that she was dealing with in having to deal with her husband commiting such a horribe crime. I think when Macbeth arrived after doing to killing and seeing how he was acting put her over the top.
I think that Shakespeare had the murder of the king and servents take place off stage so that te audience did not have to witness the gruesomeness of multiple murders.
I think that this added scene made my understanding of the play much more clear because I am a very visual person and just seeing it made it much easier to understand. My view on Lady Macbeth was allready that she was a little off kilter. But after seeing how she reacted to the murder just made my view alot stronger.
I think that Lady Macbeth faints to take the attention off of Macbeth because he seems to be panicing. Because she faints, Macbeth has an excuse to leave and doesn't have to disccus the murder.
The murder was showed off stage because it was too gorey to show on stage. I don't think that the people back then were as used to blood and guts and all that good stuff as we are today. The movie showed it to show the fear that Macbeth felt when he murdered Duncan. Macbeth is kind of hesitant in the movie to do it and it sows fear. They also showed it cuz it was cool.
I do think that Lady Macbeth faints. I also think that we are supposed to believe she fainted. The fact that Macbeth killed the two servants as well as Duncan really surprised her so she fainted.
I think they chose to have the murders scene off stage because of the how gruesome it would have had to be. I also think that the scene would have been hard to make the crowd believe how gruesome it was. By not having the murders seen by the audience it gives their minds a chance to wonder in what ever direction they want to go, whether that would be very gruesome, or not gruesome at all.
I think that Lady Macbeth faints because she is trying to draw the attention away from Macbeth. I guess we could think that she really does faint because of pressure but also she is the one that wanted to kill King Duncan herself, so with such harsh thoughts she would not just faint. I also think that is a way to avoid the topic for a while so Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have some time to think about things.
I think the reason Shakespeare decided to have Macbeth kill the servents and King Duncan off stage is because back in his day it would have been very hard to show on stage and make it look like a serious murder.
I was not in class to see the movie version of the murder. but i would think the reason they would show Macbeth killing them is to make it look like he is serious about becoming king and he will go through anything and will do anything to become king.
I think that Lady Macbeth fainted for real, but at the same time didn't just like Molly and Jessica said. She might have been shocked that Macbeth told everyone what he had done, but I also think she wanted to show herself as innocent. By fainting it shows that she was frightened and had nothing to do with the murders. Lady Macbeth even topped off her innocent by collapsing with "Help me hence, ho!"
I think Shakespeare wrote the play so that the murder took place off scene was too entice the reader into Lady Macbeths view of what was happening, along with all the other characters in the book; and to keep the reader wondering and more focused on the reasons of the murder.
I think the movie version of Macbeth showed the murder was mainly because it was a movie. In movies you always want to keep viewers more into it, today in society everything must move faster and we must be intrigued by things, compared to back in Shakespeare’s time.
I think she faints because she wants to look like she had nothing to do with the murder. When she was acting all normal around the king it made her look really innocent and told the other people around her nothing was up.
I think that shakespeare has the killing happen off stage because he wanted the audience to imagine the killing. He also wanted to make a possibly that maybe he didnt do it. I think I dont like the wife more then I dont like Macbeth because she seems sneaky and innocent when really she perssuaded Macbeth to kill Duncan. Seeing the killing scene in the movie was good to see after ready the book and imagining my own killing scene.
I think that the reason for Lady Macbeth fainting was to draw Macbeth away from discussing the murder. An other reason is because if she faints she will not have to lie to anyone.
I think that the murders took place off stage because he wanted this play to be seen by everyone and if it was to gory then the younger kids would not be allowed to see it.
The scene where Duncan gets killed was important on my view of Lady Macbeth. I agree completely with what Taylor D said.
I think that Lady Macbeth was pretending to faint because she didn’t want anyone to find out that they were guilty. When Macbeth starts to take about what everything look like at the scene of the crime he committed, I think that Lady Macbeth fainted so that Macbeth would stop telling their secret. Which means that Lady Macbeth is losing power she thought she had over Macbeth.
I think that Shakespeare didn't want his plays to be so gruesome. He maybe wanted the audience to imagine what would happen. And in the film version the scene is added because they wanted to see what would have happened or what would go on as if it were real. I think that the directors decides to put the extra scene in the movies to have an understanding of what went on in those days and for the effect and mood of the movie.
I think that Lady Macbeth really did faint because of the shock that she just found out Macbeth had killed two servants as well as the king. And there also wasnt really much of a need of a diversion for Macbeth
I actually thought of them the same even when it didnt show them killing the king and servant. I thought it was already evil and greedy enough to kill the King of Scotland. But it does show the how graphic the back would have been if it was on a play and it helps me see why they didnt kill them on stage.
1.I think that Lady Macbeth really faints in this scene. I think this because two people say "look to the lady" and everyone looks at her and she never wakes up. Also I don't think she gives the other characters the idea that it is fake becuase they never pause or look at her closely, they just seem to believe it right away.
2. In my opinion Shakespeare didn't show the murders because he didn't want us to look at Macbeth like he was crazy or scary. In the movie he's creepy because he so grusomely kills another human. He's so creppy and crazy seeming infact that you don't really feel bad for him at all. But in the play you feel bad for him when he starts to regret it, you almost get the feeling that the poor guy was forced into it by someone else(Lady Macbeth). The evil of the murder in the movie makes you afraid of him and it makes it much more real to th e audience what Macbeth has done.
I think that Lady Macbeth was faking her fainting incodent because it would add a dramatic scene and help her cause. When she fainted she screamed "Help me hence, ho!" signifing she knew it was coming, and had a premeditated plan as how to execute it. When someone faints it is due to lack of blood flow to the brain, which locks down all regular concious abilty to think clearly enough to ask for ones help.
I think that Shakespeare didnt put the murder scene in the play because at the time of the plays conception the act would have been to gory and to amoral to show. The director added the scene in the movie to add to the suspence and keep people more enticed to keep watching the movie and not loose interest.
I think that Lady Macbeth was just fainting on purpose and wanted the attention to change from the king to her. When you faint I don't think you really now when you are going to, it just happens. When she yelled "Help me hence, ho!" that shows that she was just about to faint and was just pretending. When someone faints in really life they usually cant tell and cry for help right before they faint.
Shakespeare I think wanted the play to be as real as possible and with this he knew that he did not have to tools and good enough props for the murder to look real enough. He chose for this to be off stage because it would just be too complicated to do and take up more time.
The added scene in the film version just gave the movie more suspense and added drama. It shows just how vicious Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are.
I think that Lady Macbeth faints on purpose do further elaborate that this is her first time ever seeing this and that she is an "innocent" by stander I also think that she did it so she did not have to go in the room and actually see Duncan.
Second I think that Shakespeare chooses to have the murder scene off the stage because he wanted the reader to think that Macbeth is still a good person underneath it all. Providing the description of the death scene shows that he did commit it and it puts Macbeth in a different light.
I truly think that Lady Macbeth is faking when she faints. In the movie it looks like she didn't mean to, but in the play version she just seems to faint out of the blue. Macbeth is describing how he killed the servants but not greusomely at all.
With the murder taking place off stage Shakespeare is trying to save money buy not actually killing someone because there weren't any special effects at that time that could have made the murder look convincing. In the movie Macbeth Brutally Murders Duncan and it makes me think of him as mean and possibly evil. Lady Macbeth was just decieving and evil from the start and she hasn't changed.
I think that Lady Macbeth is only pretending to faint. Lady Macbeth is the mind behind her husband's murder, and if there is any suspicion at all towards who killed Duncan, she does not want to be brought into the list of suspects. If she acts surprised and terrified, there will be less suspicion toward her or her husband.
I think Shakespeare wanted the murder to be interpreted by the audience. Showing it onstage would be hard to make realistic, and would also require less imagination from the viewers. The movie's perspective of the murder definitly changed my view of Macbeth. The film showed a very violent, brutal murder and I do not think that Macbeth would have done it that way.
I believe that the audience is not supposed to believe that Lady Macbeth truly faints. I feel that her warning of "help me hence, ho" was written as an indication to the audience that she is simply pretending. She could be doing to make the Macbeth's seem innocents. I however feel her true motivation is to portray herself as weak, dainty, and incapable of even witnessing (let alone planning) such a horrendous crime.
I believe Shakespeare chose to stage the murders out of view in order to give the audience and opportunity to use their imagination and also to give Macbeth a sense of false helplessness. In the movie Macbeth is portrayed as a fully competent, cold blooded murderer whereas, in the play, he simply comes across as dumbfounded and ridden with guild from his actions and
I believe with what basically everyone else is saying about Lady Macbeth's "fainting". It seems really fake and totally planned. This is not to say she didn't do a good job though! I mean they really thought she'd fainted! But back on subject... I defiantly think she just fainted to bring attention to herself and away from the conversation at hand. It also gives Lady Macbeth very "proper lady" like qualities, a normal reaction expected of a spoiled Queen. (Back in my mind I see this "blooper" of her falling and no one noticing her faint and just going on...)
I agree with Alyssa. I think that Shakespeare choose to have the murder take place off stage because he wanted to leave what happened to the imagination of the audience. This leaves Macbeth's motive in a cloud of thought. That way two people watching the play could have two totally different opinnions. This is really smart of the author because it provokes thought and discussion about their work.
I think that she doesn’t really faint because she is always pressuring him. She is clearly the dominant one in the marriage. I think that this was kind of a test to see how he would do without her. She always decides what to do and how he does it and she was probably seeing if he would crack when she was “fainted”.
I think that Shakespeare didn't add in the killing of Duncan and the servant because of two reasons. First, I don't think that they could accurately show the murder and have it look realistic, and in the movie, they are able to add in special affects. Second, I think it allows for imagination when they don't show it. It allows people to think what they want and not be wrong.
I think that Lady Macbeth was faking the fainting part because she was just getting attention so that Macbeth would not get caught for killing King Duncan. I also think that she wanted attention and she was to keep Macbeth from freaking out and he would be able to stay calm and not panic at all. I think that Lady Macbeth just wanted attention and she wanted what was the best for Macbeth if that meant he would be the next King of Scotland.
The reason that I think that they showed King Duncan getting murder is because they wanted us to see the expression on his face. The reason that I think they did not show the scene of Duncan getting killed in the play is because it was not right for people to not see how he died or the way he died. The other reason is because he was jealous of Duncan even though he was family to him. They did not want the reading to be getting nasty and disgusting because he was panicing and he was waking up when he was about to die. Macbeth was panicing when Duncan woke up and was about to start stabbing him.
Thesis statement:
In Act 3 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a guilty conscious of Macbeth and his wife causes their actions to spin out of control.
In William Shakespeare act three Macbeth, Macbeth was being crowned king of Scotland because he and his wife Lady Macbeth had committed a murder of killing his own family the original King of Scotland Duncan.
Thesis: Act Three is full of conflict and confusion but the one situation that stands out the most is the chaos that surrounds the murder of Banquo.
Here's mine...
The central conflict in Act three of Macbeth is one of the mind. Macbeth’s real enemy at this point is himself. His thoughts are deeply distorting his views and causeing him to take drastic measures.
Macbeth act III has a main point of conflict along with areas of confusion and treachery, the main point of conflict however is the death of Banquo who is a fellow general in the Scottish Army.
Macbeth’s greatest enemy is the one which lies within him; throughout Macbeth Act III, Macbeth is dealing with issues he has created and now has to deal with.
During Macbeth, conflicts seem to take center stage throughout the play. Specifically during Act III, a conflict between Macbeth and himself appears as the main conflict of the act.
This post has been removed by the author.
The central conflict in act three is Macbeth's internal struggle between his acting cool and collected and his paranoia of being discovered.
The main conflict or at least the source of conflict in act 3 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is paranoia.
I think that the main conflict in Macbeth is the wanting for power versus the weight of guilt.
Act 3 begins with the setup of the cover-up. Shakespeare has the central conflict of Act 3 be the cover up of the setup; Macbeth spends the entire act hiding the death of Duncan and with it feels the guilt of the murders he’s killed.
In Act III of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the central conflict is between Macbeth’s “fruitless crown” and Banquo’s prophecy.
In the play Machbeth by Shakepeare, the central conflict is Banquo being murdered, this results in Macbeth seeing the Bloody Ghost of Banquo.
Thesis: there was many important things that took place in scene 3 but the most important part in act three was when banquo was killed
Act three in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Banquo is a main character who is murdered, the murder invites for more mystery and conflict.
Thesis!
The central conflict in Act III of Macbeth by William Shakespeare comes from Macbeth’s moral corruption and guilt for what he has done which leads to the beginning of his downfall as king.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth during Act 3, Macbeth begins to lose control of his actions due to all that has happened.
In Act III of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the central conflict is between Macbeth's actions and his guilt.
The main conflict is the power Macbeths mind has over him with guilt and hallucinations.
In act 3 of Macbeth, Macbath begins to break down mentaly due to the witches prophices
The main conflict in Act 3 is the murder of Banquo. This causes more mystery and questions.
The main conflict in Act III is Macbeths inner conflict with himself trying to weigh out the guilt with what he has done with the neccesity to kill the people close to him so he can stay king.
This is Jade
The main conflict in Act III is Macbeths inner conflict with himself trying to weigh out the guilt with what he has done with the neccesity to kill the people close to him so he can stay king.
in act 3 of macbeth the most importsnt thing is that banquo gets killed
In my opinion the central conflict in act 3 is the murder and death of Banquo, this causes much confusion within the characters.
In my opinion the central conflict in act 3 is the murder and death of Banquo, this causes much confusion within the characters.
i think she really did faint because she could not belive the news he just told them.
i think it was because it was to gory to show on stage and shakespear would have got in trouble for showing the murder scence
I think that Shakespeare showed the murder off stage because he wanted to make Macbeth appear less guilty. Shakespeare wants Lady Macbeth to seem like the one who pressured Macbeth into doing it and that this horrible action is taking place directly because of HER, not because of him. Macbeth says, "I am afraid to think to think of what I’ve done. Look on’t again I dare not." This is one of the first things Macbeth says after the murder takes place. Coincidence? I think not.
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