Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Act II -

Act II

Act 2, is the scene where Macbeth's first silliquay appears. During this, Macbeth is shown to be hullusinating about a dagger that he can see but not feel. Showing that Macbeth clearly is being effected mentally by what he is about to do.

Another thing is when Macbeth says at the end of this
"Hear it not for it is a knell, That summons thee to heaven or hell"
To me this sound sort of like a chant or something supernatural which makes strong reference to the witches. Im not really sure why this may be, a possibility is that maybe in act 1 the witches discuss planting seeds and such, it could be these seeds that the witches have planted are now beggining to effect Macbeth and therefore he is, if you like "becoming" one of them.

Also in this scene we see the dark side to lady Macbeth. Im not quite sure what it is exactly, but i see Lady Macbeth as a sort of ghost, like she isn't really there. Just the way that i can invision her moving around Macbeth and talking to him. Its almost out of this world, much like the witches in fact. It seems there is something that isn't quite right with her. I think this is shown when Lady Macbeth goes back to frame the guards, she almost does it with no conscience, and after she shows no remorse at-all

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Directors Blog.

Acting out Act one scene four, really helped me to understand excactly what was taking place in the scene and gave me a quick look of the emotions iin the scene based on our groups interpritation of it.

What basically enrolls in the scene is King Duncan entitles his son Prince Malcome as the prince of Cumberland. We see the jealous side of Macbeth as he confesses he himself would like to own that title.

I think personally that the scene may have taken place in the kings throne room simply because he entitles there, so i imagine the king sat in a throne with the other characters Malcome, Banquo & Macbeth knelt before him.

I imagine the decor of the throne room to be quite fancy, royal blues and reds with gold, we also decided that King Duncan should have a ring which all three other characters kissed on introduction.

All together it seemed quite a formal meeting of the characters.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Coursework.

Focus:
The struggle for power in the text i've studied. (How characters struggle for power)

I've made notes on my novels so far.
With "The body theif" i've confirmed this as my first book and my main focus, Simply because i feel that i know this novel very well. I think Lestat in this novel is essentual for my studies because he struggles at one point with the power he had, once had and posseses in both human form and his Preternatural form.

I think with him struggling more mentally then physically with his power, makes it a more interesting focus because it will tie in with other mental factors that would be great to address in my essay. Essentually, my second novel which unfortuantly i have not yet confirmed will have to contain a similar aspect of power, or an issue with power, i think i'd like to use a physical power in my second novel rather then a mental struggle because it would make a good comparison.
(to be continued)

Macbeth - Act Overview - Act 1

So far Act one of Macbeth has displayed numerous gothic elements. Firstly the scene starts with three witches, casting spells and chanting and so forth. Witches are almost primarily associated with the gothic scene being supernatural. Next, practically the whole play is set within a castle, obviously another gothic horror trend. Also there seems to be a lot happening at the night time, like the witches so far, and other scenes that I know of yet to come, like murders at night.

There seems to be many references to death and blood also. Another thing is that there is a lot of scheming and betrayal going on.

Lady Macbeth appears to be almost like a conscience to Macbeth, influencing his thoughts and actions. She seemingly has more power then he does, this could be seen in a different light though as she is aware of the power Macbeth himself has due to his status, and therefore she knows he can get rid of the king without being touched.

Another thing is that when Lady Macbeth says "unsex me here" it seems to me as this is almost like a spell, maybe a link between the witches and herself. which could be another gothic horror trend.

(to be continued)

Thursday, October 1, 2009

What is Literature?

Personally, I dont think you can define literature. You cant categorize it into a novel containing certain things. You could look at a novel and ask 100 different people what made that novel literature, and its almost certain that you'd get 100 different answers. Defining literature as " it has the ability to grab you, enthrill you, and enlighten you are all just factors that many novels, believed to be literature or not possess.

Shakespeak for example, the most well recognised figure in all of literature. Is it possible to pin point excatly what it in that his novels and/or plays contain that make them literature?

For me the answer is no, Personally, there is no way of underlining the key aspects of a novel that makes it literature. Can new writers not share the same qualities that Shakespears novels contain, and if they did, would they get the same recognition and status?

Again my answer would have to be, Although i'd like to say yes, it would have to be no simply because Shakespeare is know so greatly for his literature that when anything gets compared to it, there is no comparrison because the expectations are so high.

A bit like saying Shaheen Jafagholi posseses the same qualities as Michael Jackson.