Wednesday 19 October 2011

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.

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