11/27/19: Mark Gerges

11/27/19

Sophomores 2020
Mark Gerges
Period 5

Aim: How does Shakespeare’s use of “FOILS” develop characterization and enhance the themes of Macbeth?

As class began, we were given a Do Now that asked us to analyze a few lines from Banquo’s soliloquy at the beginning of Act 3. These lines read:

“Thou hast it now— King, Cawdor, Glamis, all as the weird women promised, and I fear thou playd’st most foully for’t.”

As a class, we came to the conclusion that this quote was explaining how Banquo believed that the witches’ prophecy had begin to come true. He also believed that Macbeth gained this power foully, connecting back to the concept of “fair is foul, and foul is fair”.

After the Do Now we began to discuss the meaning of a Foil in literature. A Foil is “a character who is meant to represent characteristics, values, ideas, etc. which are directly and diametrically opposed to those of another character, usually the protagonist.” Simply two characters who were raised in similar surroundings and circumstances, but developed different ways of thinking. Some examples were Jack and Ralph from Lord of the Flies or Batman and the Joker from DC Comics. We connected this to Macbeth and said that Banquo was a foil to Macbeth.

We then began to read Act 3 Scene 1 together as a class and we came across another soliloquy, this time from Macbeth. Once again, we analyzed the soliloquy to find hidden meaning and intentions of Macbeth in it. After analyzation we saw that Macbeth’s mentality had completely changed. At first before killing Duncan, Macbeth was very hesitant at times about whether he should commit such a deed. However now, in Macbeth’s soliloquy, he states that he will kill Banquo in order to retain the kingly status of his lineage. After all he’s sacrificed, Macbeth is willing to take it a step further

Reflection:
In today’s lesson I learned the new term, “Foil”, characters with similar upbringings but later branch off and develop different ways of thinking. We used this term to better understand the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo and how their relationship has developed throughout the play, especially now that Macbeth seeks to kill Banquo. This term can also be applied to any literature where a relationship as such present. It better defines a specific relationship between two characters.