Blogger #22 Trent McGovern

Trent McGovern
Mrs. Fusaro-Pizzo, Blogger #22
November 8th, 2018
Sophomores, Period 7

Aim: How can we assess Shakespeare's perspective of Medieval & Elizabethan gender roles through an analysis of Lady Macbeth?

Do Now- Pair Share Review
"Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires" (1.iv.57-58)
What does this quote highlight about Macbeth's characterization? How is he in comparison to Banquo?

Before starting the lesson, we discussed this quote from yesterday's reading and what it meant for Macbeth's character.
-He doesn't want what he desires to be shown to everyone.
-"Black and deep desires" This shows how even though he does have these thoughts of murdering the king, he still knows they are inherently bad and evil thoughts to have.
-There are universal concepts of light and dark.
      -People look up to the "stars" like the universe would have a better understanding than us
           -Macbeth wants his true desires to be hidden by darkness, not have a light shined on them by the "stars".
-King Duncan has the "divine right" to be king. Macbeth killing him would go against the universe, or the "stars".

Do Now- Team Share
How can we summarize what the roles of women were during the Elizabethan era? Were they different in Medieval times?

Team Share: Each person in the team contributes at least one comment to the discussion. Provide valuable feedback to one another.
























We used this sheet, to which all of the answers are c, to explore what gender roles in the Elizabethan era were like.
-Women were not treated as equal to men
-The role of women was to serve men
-Women were seen as inferior to men
-Elizabethan men were against the ascension of Queen Elizabeth, as they were used to men being above women
-Women were expected to be submissive, obedient, quiet/reserved
-They were were expected to want to have domestic duties, be wives,  and have children
-The idea of women not wanting to be those things was unheard of.

Turn and talk:
With respect to women, what does "milk" symbolize? When defining milk, consider the image of a mother feeding her child; what feeling does that imagery invoke?

The different answers given in the whole class discussion were that "milk" symbolizes nourishment, femininity, fertility, and nature. The feeling invoked by the imagery was calmness, care, love, and support.

Whole Group discussion
Read, Listen, Analyze and Interpret\
Act 1, Scene V
We are introduced to Lady Macbeth. As we read lines 14-28, write and respond: How does Lady Macbeth view her husband? In her opinion, what qualities does he possess, what qualities does he need to obtain? How will she aid him in obtaining those attributes?

-Macbeth respects his wife a lot, calling her "my dearest partner of greatness"
-They clearly have a loving and caring relationship.
-Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth is too nice and honest to be able to obtain the power that was prophesized.
-He is too cowardly and doesn't have the guts to lie and do whatever it takes to rise to power.
-She plans to help in this aspect, by telling him her ideas about what he has to do.
-She will make sure nothing will get in his way.
-She wants to have the cruelty and bravery that was expected of a man that will help her aid Macbeth.

Finally, we started to watch one of the film interpretations of the scene we just read. While we ran out of time in the middle of it, it helped us to further understand the tone of voice Lady Macbeth was speaking in and the meaning of the scene.