1. Do you feel sorry for Lady Macbeth? Why or why not?
Knowing how Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to murder Duncan, it is hard to feel sorry for Lady Macbeth. She is portrayed as such a strong and bold character in the beginning; even more so than Macbeth. Therefore, it is easy to feel like she deserves what befalls her. However, her mental deterioration due to her consummate guilt really made me feel sorry for her near the end of the play. The scene with her sleepwalking, and the repeated hand-washing motion, a sign of Lady Macbeth’s own awareness of her guilt, made me feel pity. No matter the initial intention, when a character feels so guilty as to sleepwalk and express regret over what has occurred, I believe there should be a chance for redemption. We know that there is no redemption for Lady Macbeth, and that is why this play is so tragic.
In another sense of the word, I do feel sorry that Lady Macbeth was so blinded by her opportunity to become queen. I am sorry that she committed suicide instead of trying to stop Macbeth from going all out. From her complete mental deterioration due to her guilt, I feel like she is a fragile woman inside. Perhaps living her life as wife to a Thane, with power and without troubles, never allowed her to become aware of her own fragileness.
2. Macbeth was a good guy before he met the witches, just always capable of dark deeds. I do not think it is fair to call him a bad guy even if he has always been capable of dark deeds because then everyone should be bad. As human beings we are all vulnerable to and capable of committing dark deeds; we cannot see the true heart of anyone until we see him or her in stressful conditions or in a position to achieve power as in the case of Macbeth. There was an experiment done that tested how “nice” people would act when in positions of authority in a jail. If I remember correctly, most of them started acting with violence towards inmates. It just shows me how human beings are innately “evil.”
So we cannot really blame the witches. Macbeth was always capable of dark deeds. Assuming that Macbeth’s thirst for power is his hamartia, I think it is extremely interesting that Macbeth became a Thane without any foul play. Although we do not know for sure whether he achieved a Thane status without foul play, he is described as a valiant warrior who led his army to victory in the exposition. I would think that he would have had his downfall earlier if his thirst for power is his hamartia. This leads me to wonder whether Macbeth’s hamartia, or hamartia in general, always leads to destruction of the individual. If there were no witches, Macbeth probably would have lived on fine being Thane of Cawdor.
3. I betrayed one of my best friends in middle school for a girl. He told me he liked the girl, but I also like the girl too; I just never told my friend. But I knew that the girl liked me. I ended up dating the girl, which completely broke our friendship. At first, I did not feel that guilty. I made all these excuses in my head that what I was doing was okay, and that my friend was overreacting. Soon enough, however, I started feeling really guilty. I realized what a stupid mistake I had made. I ended the relationship with the girl and tried to plea to my friend, who already forgot about me by that time. My other friends told me that ending the friendship because of a girl was stupid indeed, but they also told me that if my best friend was a real friend, he would accept me back. To this day he avoids me. I wish I could go back in time and fix things…
I definitely think Lady Macbeth’s response is plausible. I personally know some people who have almost no tolerance for guilt, and I have heard about many people committing suicide because of their guilt. John’s TOK presentation comes to mind, when he told us about the photographer of the child starving in Africa who committed suicide due to his guilt. If I were in her situation, I believe I would be consumed with guilt as well, but I do not think I would end my life. I believe there is always redemption, so no matter how heinous of a crime I have committed, I would try to fix things.
4. I have dreamt about really random and weird things, but I do not think I have ever experienced a predicted dream. I have experienced a de javu, if that counts.
Besides friends and family telling me things like “You’re gonna do great tomorrow” and me actually doing something well, no one has ever suggested anything about my future that has actually come true.
My parents always tell me I am going to become a “successful” person. They use this Korean word that is kind of like successful but is more like a mix of successful and influential. Although this apparently has not come true yet, it has affected me in some ways. Their comments sometimes give me confidence and other times help me push myself to become a better person. However, I am also a bit pressured and stressed at times because I do not want to let them down. I want them to be proud of me.
If some witches appeared and told me something about my future, I definitely think their comments would affect me. If I were in Macbeth’s shoes, I honestly do not think I would have been able to block off Lady Macbeth’s demonic whisper to murder Duncan, although I like to think I can. Knowing what befalls Macbeth, however, I would do things differently.
There will be many temptations throughout my life, ones that will cause me to act selfish, foolish, or greedy. Although I know that I will make some mistakes, I know that it is always better to go against my desires. This is what I am personally taking away from Macbeth.
