And more Mini Lesson Notes on Macbeth

Knock, knock! Never at quiet! What are you? - But this

place is too cold for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further.

I had thought to have let in some of all professions that

go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire.

The repetitive knocks coincide with the Porter naming all the characters that are going to Hell e.g. the farmer who committed suicide, the equivicator that could not make it to Heaven and the counterfeiting english tailor. The line "Never at quiet!" may refer to the eternal inferno and torture that is Hell.

Notable is the use of the word "What" rather than "Who" on the first line, this gives way to the idea that the people coming to Hell are no longer human and now possibly monsters and this again infers the concept of the supernatural.

The line "I had thought to have let in..." suggests that the Porter is the gatekeeper to Hell and as the Porter works for the house of Macbeth, this further suggests that Macbeth is the Devil himself and his castle, Hell.

More Mini Lesson Notes on Macbeth

Act Two, Scene 3: The Porter, Fool or the Devil's Gatekeeper?

• Lots of reference to the gateway of Hell and people going to Hell.
• Could simply be for comic relief and entertainment.
• Porter contrasts the nobleman Macduff as a drunkard peasant.
• The repetition of the 'knocks' may represent the knocking of each person that the Porter describes as they make their way into Hell.
• 'The Fool' is often comical, but isn't a fool at all, only playing the part and actually aware of future plot twists and clever. The character of 'The Fool' could have been developed to attract lower classes of society to the theatre and allow them to relate to the play.
• Macbeth's castle could be interpreted as Hell with him as the Devil. Reinforced by the strangeness of the events taking place.
• The Porter's lines are not in iambic pentameter, but in prose, distancing himself from the play's other characters and convention.

Animal References:
Act Two, Scene 4, Lines 10-20. A falcon, an animal recognised as strong and a top predator (Duncan) is killed by an Owl, an animal of lower recognition and power (Macbeth). Horses, a symbol of servitude and loyalty rebel and break free of their bonds, like Macbeth, they served Duncan and like Macbeth, they are now going against his will aggressively. "'Tis said they ate each other." the peculiarity and vulgarness of this line reinforces the interpretation Macbeth's castle is Hell.

Mini Lesson Notes on Macbeth: The Murder of Sleep

Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more!

Macbeth does murder sleep - the innocent sleep,

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care,

The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,

Chief nourisher in life's feast.'

Still it cried 'Sleep no more' to all the house;

'Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor

Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more.'



The fact Macbeth believes he is hearing this voice supports the idea that he is guilty over his murderous deed, he feels judged and not only this, he is afraid.

The belief he will never sleep again stems from how hurt his mind is from having killed his King. The line "innocent sleep" does not just state Macbeth is not innocent but it may be referring to the innocence of Duncan and the innocence of sleep itself, the very innocence Macbeth has violated and killed "Macbeth does murder sleep". Macbeth goes on to list the good things of sleep "sore labour's bath,", 'sleep' is a thing of nurture, healing and warmth and this accentuates Macbeth's sin in "killing" it. Macbeth has killed sleep and through doing it, he will never experience again all the good things to do with it "Macbeth shall sleep no more." this line can also be interpreted as Macbeth now becoming paranoid and an insomniac through fear of being murdered in his own sleep.

The human necessity for sleep and Macbeth's proclaimed inability to have it makes Macbeth seem inhuman, as if the murder of Duncan has transformed him into a monster, similar to Lady Macbeth's desire to transform sexes. The idea of supernatural transformation is reinforced by the musical pace of the lines that likens Macbeth to making a chant which would make the link that he is now an otherworldly being like that of the evil Three Witches.

Macbeth Act One Reading Journal

Act One, Scene 1: The introductory scene is short, involving solely the introduction of the Three Witches, Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to demonstrate the evil and maliciousness of the witches through their entrance alongside 'Thunder and lightning'. The scene foreshadows conflict in the play "When the battle's lost, and won." and language such as 'fog and filthy air' insinuates acts of deceit and corruption. The witches present the Gothic element of the Supernatural through their chants e.g. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" which incite that magical forces are at play. The scene uses many short, single lines by each of the Witches, this creates a rhythm and quickening  pace likened to that of a witches chant.
Act One, Scene 2: The scene takes place at a Scottish military camp after a battle between the Scots against the Irish and Norwegians. Macbeth is ironically glorified for his prestige and courage during the battle by his fellow captains. Stemming from a battle, there are numerous references to blood, which may foreshadow bloodshed that is to come. Macbeth's ascension to Thane of Cawdor signals a rise of power and this coupled with the other nations fighting against Scotland may give the impression that Macbeth is rising to power against the King, this betrayal is reinforced by the betrayal by the previous Thane of Cawdor.
Act One, Scene 3: There is a recurring association of Thunder with the entrance of the witches, asides from the opinion that the thunder may represent their evilness, the thunder may also express the witches as a Godly power, this coincides with the possibility of the witches being past, present and future making them supernaturally omnipresent. The evil of the witches is emphasized when they meet and mention their own recent activities and each one has been 'killing' or 'plotting'. The rhyming chant of the First Witch which may be interpreted as like that if a nursery rhyme is contrasted to the reality that these characters are dangerous and sinful. This is also the scene where it is revealed to Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland by the witches and that he is the new Thane of Cawdor by Ross, confirming the Witches' prophecy. Macbeth contemplates whether the crown will come to him or whether he will have to do a deed.
Act One, Scene 4: It is revealed that King Duncan "built An absolute trust." with Macdonwald foreshadowing again that a future betrayal by the Thane of Cawdor is at the midst. This is the first time Duncan and Macbeth speak together and being after the prophecy, Macbeth's words to the King may be interpreted as half-hearted  or tongue-in-cheek "the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself.". With attention to Macbeth's last portion in the scene, his line's assume the rhyming pattern of the Witches placing him alongside their devious ranks, this is shown further by the line "that is a step, On which I must fall down" which symbolises his fall from grace in betraying the King; the word 'must' here may also mean that Macbeth has already decided his course of treason. Duncan's decision to make Malcolm his heir to the throne also poses another obstacle for Macbeth, will he have to kill Malcolm in addition to Malcolm?
Act One, Scene 5: This scene places heavy focus on the character Lady Macbeth (LM) who is heavily stirred by the notion that her husband is to be King. She may be interpreted as the raw and brash incarnation of Macbeth himself, this interpretation however goes against the previous proceedings that Macbeth is a valiant and honourable man. Shakespeare's decision to introduce LM through her reading a letter may illiterate that LM is not acting upon her own accord entirely in the scene, where she behaves much unlike a typical woman of her time, spewing words such as "Come you spirits....unsex me here," which is supernatural and goes against God much like Frankenstein with his Creation and that met dire consequences. LM believes that to go forth with her merciless plan, she must "uneffeminate" herself, to have strength and no remorse like a soldier. She dominates Macbeth and criticises his hesitancy.
Act One, Scene 6: This scene shows Lady Macbeth's (LM) other side to her persona, she gives the impression of utter gratitude and dedication to the King, whilst simultaneously plotting against him; showing her cunning and ruthlessness.
Act One, Scene 7: This scene entails Macbeth's procrastination and resultant decision to act upon his and Lady Macbeth's (LM) constructed plan. In the dark and left alone to his thoughts, Macbeth begins his long soliloquy, considering and procrastinating his plan to kill the King save the consequences that could follow. His sentences are short bursts; like a train of nervous thought. Macbeth's values the King's good virtues and see's only his own ambition as a factor pushing him to do commit treason. Macbeth attempts briefly to regain his honour "We will proceed no further in this business:" but like Eve tempting Adam, LM, almost representing the woman of sin, soon enters to quell his hesitation and steal his remorse. It seems as though Lady Macbeth acts as the voice in the back of Macbeth's mind, doubting him and pushing him to carry out his dark deed; she does this by attacking Macbeth's manhood and dignity "live a coward in thine own esteem?". The scene is very sexual with LM likening Macbeth's desire to become King like his desire for a woman "Such I account thy love...To be in the same in thine act...As thou art in desire?" There is a strong theme of betrayal here as Macbeth ponders the betrayal of his King and country and LM betrays her womanly virtues "while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,". With all this switching of gender roles; Gothically, it plays out as if Macbeth is the '"woman" at threat from a tyrannical male' (LM). Macbeth ends the scene with two lines "Away and mock the time....what the false heart doth know" that are of striking similar fashion to the ending two lines from Act One, Scene 1 by the Witches, these two lines follow up on the themes of deceit and forthcoming sin.

Gothic Elements in Macbeth: Act One

The story of Macbeth takes place around the backdrop of the Scottish royalty so presumably this gives us a Castle belonging to the Monarchy, affording us with already one element of the Gothic; a castle setting.
In addition to this, the atmosphere of Act One is undoubtedly mysterious and suspenseful with the revelations of Macbeth's future by the unearthly Three Witches.
The element of an ancient prophecy connected to the Castle or its inhabitants is partly fulfilled by the Witches prophesising Macbeth's rise to Kingship.
Again, the Witches help provide another element of the Gothic through their visions of the future and at the beginning of the play, the thunder and lightning upon the entrance of the Witches gives an omen. There is another omen in the setting in which we first read of King Duncan, it is upon a battlefield which may signal the conflict and death that has been prophesised to come his way.
There are portions of the supernatural most clearly represented by the Witches who deal in witchcraft and prophecies.
From Lady Macbeth, we see high, overwrought emotion, her reaction to Macbeth's fate is outrageous and over-the-top, her blood boils and she itches at the oppurtunity to make her husband King.
In Act One, we don't see a woman in distress so much so in a manner that she needs someone to protect her but in fact someone needs to be protected from the fiery Lady Macbeth.
As of yet, we are short of female characters threatened by a tyrannical male, however it would seem with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's plot to kill the King, she could soon have her fortunes reversed and be at threat herself.
Metonymy of gloom and horror is present, as mentioned earlier, with the entrance of the Three Witches where they are accompanied by lightning and thunder; pointing to their sinister and dangerous role in the play.
Gothic Vocabulary has been used in association with the characters introduced where the Witches have a lot of 'mystery' in their lines, Macbeth and Banquo are in 'surprise' and Lady Macbeth has much anger in her words "And fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty:"

Marxist Analysis on The Tale of Two Cities

'It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.'


To my understanding Karl Marx depicted a life that is thoroughly deterministic, depending upon which social circumstance you are born into, be it a peasant like those a plenty in the streets of London and Paris or a Parisian Marquis, your lifestyle would be fitted around that social class.
Marxism argues for a socio-economic existence of the individual where their social existence is largely determined by the organisation of the state’s economy, they cannot change their social existence through their own efforts much like the peasants of France cannot change their fortunes, for the feudal system affords the Marquess and Monarchy with the state's wealth. Born a peasant, always a peasant. Born an aristocrat, always an aristocrat.
There is a character in The Tale of Two Cities that entirely undermines the key idea being touched here and that is Charles Darnay. Born into the French aristocracy, it was his consciousness that determined his existence and decision to exile himself from his pre-determined social existence and not his aristocracy that determined who he was.
The claim that writers and their stories are 'divorced from socio-economic circumstances' is not true.
It is clear to see that Capitalism is not far from the economic organisation of 18th Century France, where it has turned generations of the French working class into functional objects to allow the aristocracies to profit from their efforts. Built from this socio-economic example of 'working class' and 'poverty' is the alienation of the French peasants to their fury in the revolution against those that hold the chains to their social existence.