The Three Witches

The three witches are a little bit perplexing to me at this point in the play. I don't believe in magic or evil spirits or anything along those lines so it's hard for me to completely understand these three characters. I think the magical idea that surrounds these witches will make it difficult for me to connect this play to real life. Mack stated in his article that Shakespeare will help you discover and unearth things about life and about yourself, but if the witches become too supernatural it will be challenging for me to connect to this play on a deeper level. I am intrigued, from an entertainment point of view, to see where the character of the three witches goes though. I predict they will appear sporadically throughout the play and hold important dialogue that will move the play along or that will reveal things to the audience, but I don't think they will always be telling the truth. I think in the opening scene when they predicted Macbeth and Banquo's future that they weren't telling the whole truth. I could see the witches appearing in the play to stir up the plot a bit. I think that they will be conniving and sly just like a lot of witches in literature and film are. The three witches will be interesting to watch to see where their character development, if any, goes and what involvement they have within the plot.

Macbeth Almost has a Conscience...

The character of Macbeth has been interesting thus far. I had faith in Macbeth's moral compass for a while and believed that he might be a good person. Once he heard from the witches that he would end up king, he began thinking of ways to get that title. He thought that murdering Duncan was the only option to gain the crown. However, on a couple of occasions he had some internal conflict to whether murdering someone could be justifiable or not. I began to believe that Macbeth wasn't just out for power, glory, and wealth. In Act I, scene 3 Macbeth said to himself, 

"My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

Shakes so my single state of man

That function is smothered in surmise,

And nothing is but what is not." 

He began to think that these new thoughts of murder that were circurling his brain weren't representative of himself. He began to be scared by the mere thought of killing someone. He also said to Lady Macbeth that he was having doubts and wouldn't be able to go through with the plan, 

"We will proceed no further in this business.

He hath honored me of late, and I have bought

Golden opinions from all sorts of people,

Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,

Not cast aside so soon." 

Both of these texts led me to believe that maybe Macbeth was truly a human being. He began to seem like a genuine person with a conscience, but the strong will of Lady Macbeth ultimatley shined though, as she convinces him to go through with the plan. I am interested to see whether Macbeth's conscience eventually comes through or if Lady Macbeth's character is too strong for Macbeth to disagree with.     

Why read Shakespeare?

1. According to the article, what are some reasons that students find Shakespeare difficult to understand? What does Mack present as an answer to this?

Some students find Shakespeare difficult to understand because they don't get it, they don't understand what any of it means. The writing is too difficult to comprehend what is happening. It's too complex the first time they read it, so they figure that the next time they read it, it will be just as awful as the first. Some people just don't want to read it. They're just normal guys who don't think there is any merit in trying to decipher Shakespeare when they can enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Mack presents that reading Shakespeare the first time will be hard and not enjoyable, even the second time might be bad, but if you keep reading and reading it, it will eventually click and Shakespeare can teach a lot of lessons about life. 

2. According to Mack, when you finally “get” Shakespeare, what do you actually get?

Mack says, "Shakespeare offers us a lens on the real world in which we live." When you "get" Shakespeare you get a mirror on the real world. Shakespeare reflects the world and allows the reader to see its true nature. Ultimately when you can better understand Shakespeare you can better understand life. Mack says, "it means that finding beauty and meaning in Shakespeare is a sort of proving ground for finding beauty and meaning in life."

3. List and summarize five convincing arguments in answer to the question “Why read Shakespeare?”

1. Each time you read Shakespeare you can understand it a little bit more. It allows time for your interests to develop. The first time it will be hard to read and to understand, but with each successive time you read, you will be able to understand more and more of it. Shakespeare will grow on you, if you allow the time for it to do it.

2. It teaches you about the true world we live in. Shakespeare offers a mirror of the world and allows you to discover the true meaning of beauty and value in life. Reading Shakespeare can give you a "flight simulator" on life. It shows you situations that can happen in real life, and them shows you want consequences -good or bad- that can come from certain actions.

3. It will teach you about yourself. You can relate your own attributes and characteristics to those of the characters in the novels. Mack says that getting to know Shakespeare is like discovering where your ideas come from, and finding where your ideas come from is a profound way of getting to know yourself.

4. It will teach you skills of life. It gives the reader basic skills that will be useful across all fields of work. It will reflect the defects of the mirror of the mind so the reader can polish them and then can have a more accurate reflection of the world. Reading Shakespeare can reveal some faults and then gives you the skills to refurbish those faults into something better. 

5. Reading Shakespeare shows how the head and the heart need each other. Shakespeare will teach you about your emotional intelligence. You can better understand your emotions (where they come from, how to deal with them, how others have dealt with them before). 

4. Which one of these arguments do you find most convincing? Why?

I find Mack's concluding paragraph one of the most convincing portion of his lecture. He proposes that becoming better at understanding Shakespeare will make you better at the art of living. You will be better prepared to find true happiness and you will know what is truly valuable in life after reading Shakespeare. Of the five arguments he present though, I find the one about discovering more of yourself to be the most convincing. I think having a good grasp on who you are is vital in life. Without a deep understanding of yourself, you can't know what you find most important in life. It's hard to be truly happy without accepting who you are first.