David Gao|PD5|11/26/19| Duncan and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

11/26/19

Sophomores
David Gao
Period 5

Aim: What is pathetic Fallacy used to illustrate the unnatural order of the Macbeth universe?

We started the lesson by continuing from yesterday's lesson by finishing the act 2 scene 3 of Macbeth that we were reading and finishing act 2 scene 4 as well, which is the final scene of the act. The story goes that Macduff found the king dead and cries out. And with the awakening of the entire estate, so does Duncan's sons: Malcolm and Donalbain who after discovering their father murdered quickly fled to England and Ireland respectively. Reasonable reactions, after all their father had just been murdered and what other reason is there to murder the king then the crown, and as they were next in line they intelligently fled. During this scene, they also say "There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood, The nearer bloody." Which after some class discussion we concluded to mean that they think that the person who killed Duncan is still on the property and that no one can really be trusted as people can look nice and smile at you but that doesn't mean you know what they're really thinking, which is a motif throughout the story that people may not be who they seem. 

Next we then went back to the literary techinique, pathetic fallacy, we went back over what it meant, and in a nutshell is a personification, which is giving an inanimate or otherwise non-human thing human traits or emotions. Someone else also mentioned that because it is personification it is also figurative language. Also during yesterday's lesson, Ms. Fusaro explained to us that pathetic fallacy wasn't about feeling pity for something it was actually from the word pathos which meant emotion, which is the real definition of the fallacy, to attribute emotion to something found in nature that is not human. 

This fallacy is found often in scenes three and four of act two. One example is when Lennox describes the bad weather they're having and the screams of death which coincidently happens the same night that Duncan is murdered. Another example is when Ross was talking to the old man about Duncan's horses, which are supposed to be the best as they are the king's horses, rebelled against their caretakers and ate each other.

The use of this fallacy is also for irony which is very present in scenes three and four as all the bad things that are happening are happening after Duncan was murdered. 

After this, we talked about the rest of the scene, especially about Macbeth killing the two guards. We talked about how in the eyes of the other people he would seem incredibly suspicious since he decided to kill the only two people that seemed to be connected to Duncan's murder. And he was talking way too much and going on and on about how his emotions overwhelmed him, meanwhile the king is dead. And so as because of her less than intelligent husband Lady Macbeth has to bring the focus onto her and away from Macbeth by promptly fainting. It's also worth it to note that a little before this scene when Lady Macbeth asks what is going on after everyone discovered that Duncan was killed she is referred to as "O gentle lady..." by Macduff, which couldn't be further from the truth as Duncan's murder was premeditated and she was the mastermind!

Later on, as Macduff is leaving Macbeth's estate he is talking to Ross who greets him hilariously by asking him "How goes the world, sir, now?" And proceeds soon after if Macduff is going to scone to see Macbeth's coronation to be king. To which he replies no, and this is a big deal because a coronation is a big deal to go to as it is crowning the next king. So this line saying that he's going home to Fife, which he is the thane of, is a big deal since it shows that he's suspicious of Macbeth and his relation to the death of Duncan. 

And to end the period off we get to get extra credit on our overall grade if we do an assignment where we illustrate a pathetic fallacy. Oh and we can't do it if we miss a blog or something so I gotta finish this soon. 

My Reflection 

In class today I learned about pathetic fallacies and how they're used. I learned that it is basically personification and is often use by Shakespeare for irony, which is something he does a lot. I also learned how to identify these fallacies as they are more obvious to spot now that I have something to compare it to that I had previous knowledge of. I along with the class also encountered the motif of not judging by one's cover again. And this information can be used in real-world situations too since in real life you shouldn't judge people by their faces but rather their personalities or something more real as you cannot peek into their brains. In the end, I think that I can use that motif and look for it more in Shakespeare's other works and other nods to it in Macbeth and I also know how to spot pathetic fallacies in writing and the actual meaning of the term.