#fei's analysis

[warpedmacbeth]

My Take Macbeth - Act 1 Scene 5

I mean, is it a shock to anyone that my first analysis is Lady Macbeth's first scene?

Yes? Oh, hi, you must be new! My name's Fei, nice to meet you! *shakes hand*

ANYWAYS, the scene is the one with the letter (Here's a Link if you don't have a copy), and, as with most scenes with Lady Mac, I find it to be very powerful. In my opinion, though, this is where we first see the real power, I mean, the scene basically runs like this:

*Gets a letter*

L.Mac: Shit. My husband's too weak to kill the king.

(NO-ONE'S MENTIONED KILLING THE KING YET!)

L.Mac: Oh well, he'll come around.

Messenger: The King's coming.

L.Mac: Perfect. Duncan's as good as dead, I need to be prepared *prepares*

*Macbeth enters*

L.Mac: *Sucking up to persuade him*

Macbeth: The king's coming.

(AS IF SHE DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW THIS HONEY)

L.Mac: Oh? When's he leaving then?

Macbeth: Tomorrow.

L.Mac: Nope. He'll be dead by then. Shut up, and leave it to me.

Macbeth: We'll speak more.

L.Mac: LEAVE IT TO ME.

Ok, it's not like you couldn't have translated this, but I love the way she says all of this, and this is basically how I see it. There ARE other interpretations, and all of them are valid, but this is how I see it.

Lady Macbeth takes control. She also asks to be unsexed, which is a MASSIVE DEAL. I have two ideas about this line:

First, the stereotypical school version, where due to the time, a woman would not be able to physically do any of these things, therefore she becomes another creature almost, kind of like the witches (which is kind of fun to explore really if you think about it)

Second, there's the thought that she actually does go through a gender crisis. I also like this one because I have been through (and probably am still in) a gender crisis. I, like many others, do believe that Shakespeare was Bisexual, and because there was so much comp het back then, he may have had a gender crisis, or known someone who did, which means he knew what she felt (and I like the idea that she was an undercover enby)

ANYWAYS, whatever the purpose of the line, it's one of the important lines.

Ok, I know I've bored you thoroughly now, but I have just one more line I'd like to analyse for you, and it is this one:

"Dearest partner of greatness"

Macbeth, absolutely unprompted, likened Lady Macbeth to a partner, an equal (whilst also implying she was equally as great as him), which is also a massive deal back then. It's a fantastic line. Truly.

To sum up, Lady Macbeth is a manipulative amazing undercover enby, Macbeth is a himbo who reveres her, and they are an amazing power couple which I am immensely jealous of.

[warpedmacbeth]

My take Macbeth - Scenes

Act 1

Act 1, scene 1

Act 1, scene 2

Act 1, scene 3

Act 1, scene 4

Act 1, scene 5

Act 1, scene 6

Act 1, scene 7

Act 2

Act 2, scene 1

Act 2, scene 2

Act 2, scene 3

Act 2, scene 4

Act 3

Act 3, scene 1

Act 3, scene 2

Act 3, scene 3

Act 3, scene 4

Act 3, scene 5

Act 3, scene 6

Act 4

Act 4, scene 1

Act 4, scene 2

Act 4, scene 3

Act 5

Act 5, scene 1

Act 5, scene 2

Act 5, scene 3

Act 5, scene 4

Act 5, scene 5

Act 5, scene 6

Act 5, scene 7

Act 5, scene 8

This is just to keep track of what the hell I'm doing, and to let you know what the hell I'm doing too, if you so wish. The ones without links are set to be requested, but I SHALL be doing all of these at some point (because it's fun and easy to do) some will be serious, some won't be, but all of them will be me gushing over Shakespeare's writing (and also Lady Macbeth, of course)

I'll be posting my takes every week on Saturdays, so enjoy!

[warpedmacbeth]

My take Macbeth - Act 4, Scene 3

(Requested by @therainbowwillow)

Ok, so this scene is directly set after the last scene I did, where Macduff's wife and child were killed, and this is where he finds out.

Firstly, let me talk about Malcolm and Macduff for a hot second. They're talking about how awful Macbeth is and how amazing it'll be when he's gone, right.

But then Malcolm turns around, and says that he'll be a terrible king, because, of course, no-one in this play is above being dramatic, and possibly also because he wants to know how loyal Macduff is, possibly because he doesn't trust himself, and possibly just because he's bored of being royal.

Anyways, the drama continues, Macduff roasts Macbeth, and then Malcolm suddenly trusts Macduff and his doubts are gone (honestly these people trust way too much, he should've taken more time but there it is) and suddenly he doesn't mean anything anymore.

So, Ross comes back, and speaks a little about Scotland, and then does the thing that makes me hate him the most out of the whole play:

Macduff: How does my wife?

Ross: Why, well.

Macduff: and all my children?

Ross: Well too.

NO THEY ARE NOT WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

And I mean, I know I hate Macduff, but GOD, you let him believe they were fine!

In my opinion, this is worse than the murder, as he gives Macduff security, and then rips it away from him brutally. I know Ross is supposed to be an insignificant character, but this is just downright cruel, no matter which way you view it.

And sure, maybe he couldn't cope with the reality.

But that does NOT mean you can do that to your OWN COUSIN.

Moving on (because otherwise I'll be here all week), Macduff does get told, and then MALCOLM says this:

"Be comforted: Let's make us medicines of our great revenge, To cure this deadly grief"

I mean, could he be any LESS comforting? His family was just destroyed, and he goes: oh yeah, let's just go get revenge and everything'll be fine!

NO. NO IT WON'T. His family are dead. They are not coming back, and it probably won't help very much at all.

Luckily, Macduff CAN stand up for himself, and does tell Malcolm to go the f*ck away because he also has a right to be sad, and good for him, to be honest

To sum up: No-one validates Macduff, and although he left them, and probably caused this, and also he's very dramatic and annoying, I don't wish this on anyone, and Malcolm and Ross (especially Ross) need to learn how to be more compassionate about everything.

[warpedmacbeth]

My take Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 6

Ok, sorry I'm late with this, I've had an awful week. Anyways, to make it all better, I'm choosing this scene, one of my favourites (Ignore the fact I say this every time)

So the scene is basically the one after the other act 1 scene I've analysed (here if you want to remind yourself), and basically contains Lady Macbeth lying for England (well, Scotland, anyway.)

It all kicks off with Banquo and the king being very fake, basically like guests in any house (the bitchin'll start later on - that kind of thing)

Also, do I see a lil' bit of foreshadowing in here with 'the air is delicate'? Banquo really did have his eye on the ball.

Anyways, then Lady Macbeth, hearing Banquo about to spill all the tea, comes rushing out, just in time to giggle and laugh and be all stupid like women are supposed to be (except we already know she's none of those things)

Macbeth's off scene for this one, which we can only assume means he's crying about having to kill the king (especially if you hear the following scene)

Lady Macbeth successfully convinces everyone, because she's brilliant at acting, and also they're stupid enough not to notice a plot against them if she was literally holding a knife to their throats.

So basically, the usual stuff, everyone except Lady Macbeth is dumb, and Macbeth's crying in a corner somewhere.

[warpedmacbeth]

My Take Macbeth - Act 4, Scene 2

Ok, so I promised myself the second scene I did would NOT be Lady Macbeth related, so I opened my book to a random page, and landed on this one. It's kind of unfortunate it's a murder scene, but hey, we work with what we're given.

First, let me pick out my favourite quote from the scene (and arguably the play):

First Murderer: What, you egg!

(Stabbing him)

(Yes, I realise this isn't funny because it's a murder, aside from the fact that it's frickin' hilarious)

Lady Macduff is an icon in this scene, telling Ross that Macduff's 'Flight was madness', AKA why's he being so dramatic, GOD!

Ross is a backstabbing traitor to everyone, as always, and he's in the scene, so he deserves a mention.

And then there's the Son, who doesn't even get the decency of a name and is largely unimportant other than defending his god-awful father.

Lady Macduff goes OFF on Macduff, but then stands up for him, which is sweet (and actually reminds me way too much of my parents for my liking), and I'm kind of sad that she died without much of a role because I'd like to find out more about her (although arguably, we didn't SEE her die, so she could be alive...)

So, to sum up, Ross is awful, the Son is unimportant, Lady Macduff is amazing, and the murderer is hilarious.