12/2/19 Jayden Huang : The Power-Hungry Murderer Macbeth

Sophomores 2020
Jayden Huang
Period 5


Aim: How does Shakespeare’s use of complex character development illuminate central themes and contribute to Macbeth as a whole?

  The lesson began with a recap of Macbeth’s soliloquy from the previous class, where we as readers learned about Macbeth’s true intentions, and how he saw his own best friend, Banquo, as a threat to his quest for power. He let the words of a few witches he met on the side of a battlefield convince him that his best friend had to be killed, if he wanted his children to become king.
  Afterwards, we continued with the read-out of the rest of Act 3 Scene 1, where we see Macbeth having a conversation with two murderers. He converses with them, and persuades to them that Banquo is the reason for all of their problems, and that killing him is the only way to solve them. In this scene, Macbeth displays toxic masculinity, where he pressures the murderers by saying that they are not truly men unless they kill Banquo. The analogy used to convey this point discussed different dog breeds, and how we refer to both a dog like a greyhound, or something as docile as a pug, as dogs, despite their vast differences. In this, Macbeth is conveying that while they are men, they aren’t really men unless they kill Banquo.
  He convinces them that the problems in their lives are all to be blamed on Banquo, and not him. The murderers, as people, we know to be unhappy with their lives, which are full of disasters, and full of financial burdens. These issues would obviously take a toll on them, and cause them to seek out a solution, which in this case, they see the solution as killing Banquo, the root of all of their problems.
  After some clarifying questions about the text, we learn a little bit more about the whole scene. Macbeth wants both Banquo and his son, Fleance, killed, so that there is no way for his offspring to be crowned king, over Macbeth’s. He does not personally commit the murders, because he wants to keep his mutual friends that he has with Banquo.
  Overall, in this lesson we explored Shakespeare’s character development, and how it allows us to know more about the story. We learn more about Macbeth in his conversations with the murderers as power-hungry, and willing to do anything for the crown, even murdering his own best friend, let alone killing a child as well.
  Afterwards, we were introduced the character wallet projects, where we create a wallet filled with items we feel would show a lot about the character of the person it is based on. To start, we used Mrs. Fusaro’s wallet, and pretended that it was found at the scene of a crime, nearby pools of blood. We went through the items to see what kind of person she was, based on what she carried. We deduced that she likely was not the murderer, because of her status as an organ donor, a blood donor, and a very apparent dog lover. These facts led us to see Mrs. Fusaro as a philanthropic person, unlikely the murderer, and more likely to be one that helps in the situation. After the wallet rummaging, we viewed character wallet examples from previous years, and the little details that show a lot about character. An example is a Macbeth wallet, with many blood stains on it, and an ad for blood cleaning services. This further shows how small details can show a lot about a person’s character, whether they be a philanthropic person like Mrs. Fusaro, or a murderer trying to hide their tracks.

My Reflection:

  In this lesson, I learned about characterization, and the ways a person’s character can be revealed or displayed. Through the textual evidence of Macbeth’s conversation with the murderers, we learn that he is extremely power-hungry, assassinating his best friend at the chance his children may become future kings. I learned this because this is an extremely important technique used in literature. You cannot truly comprehend a book, novel, etc. if you don’t understand the characters, or the hints the author provides about the characters. These hints may be easily missed, but with the careful eye developed from this lesson, we can pick up on these details, to better our understanding of literature. I will use what I learned in other books I may read, or in other literature that I may write. Characterization is definitely an important technique for anyone that wants to better understand what they are reading, and is present throughout all of literature, and in every genre, highlighting its importance, and why we need to learn about it.