Saturday, December 17, 2016

Top Picks for Lady Macbeth

"That '70s Show"- Set in Wisconsin in the 1970s,  revolving around a group of teenage friends, their mishaps, and their coming of age.  This show features two strong female characters, Donna and Jackie, have manipulated their men countless times.  Donna also preaches equality for women while she commonly breaks the stereotype of women during the time period.  The commonalities between Donna and Lady Macbeth is what would lead her to watch this show.  It reveals that now matter how strong and independent Lady Macbeth appears to be on the outside, she is fragile on the inside.

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"- A woman was kept captive in a doomsday cult, and eventually rescued.  Now she lives in New York City and has to adapt to a world she thought did not exist anymore.  Lady Macbeth watched "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" because it inspired her to push through the difficult situations, and look forward to what the future held.  However, unlike Lady Macbeth, Kimmy is able to adapt to her brand new life in the real world.  It reveals how Lady Macbeth wanted to be able to live without the guilt of her past, but unfortunately was not able to escape.
"The Crown"- Following the political rivalries and romance during Queen Elizabeth II's reign that shaped the late 20th century.  Queen Elizabeth II takes the throne and a new era is dawning on the British Empire.  Lady Macbeth shows jealousy toward the power that was appointed to Queen Elizabeth II, and is envious that she could never be awarded the same amount of power and respect.  It reveals the reason behind Lady Macbeth's manipulation of Macbeth to murder King Duncan, as her desire for some form of power.
"Black Mirror"- Each episode follows a different character in a new landscape in which technology has gone awry.  The character looses control over the technology that has taken control over their society. The psychological breakdown of the characters in the show is very similar to Lady Macbeth's breakdown.  Similar to Lady Macbeth losing control over Macbeth as he slips deep into inhumane evil, "Black Mirror" focuses on the character's downfall and reveals the psychological impacts the technology has on them.  Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth change in character as her fault, and the guilt of this consumes her and we see it manifest in her sleepwalking.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Power of Evil

People who are not "evil" take the first step towards evil because they believe that a small act of evil will not counter all the good they have done in their lives.  The first thing that is involved in walking "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3)  is a person being convinced or persuaded that the evil action is the right thing to do.  A person is also convinced that the action would be easy to forget and return to the life that they once had.  Guilt is the main internal consequences from an individual choosing evil.  An example of this is present in Shakespeare's Macbeth after Macbeth murders Banquo.  The ghost of Banquo is a manifestation of Macbeth's guilt and appears to him during the dinner to celebrate the life of Duncan.  This dinner is known as the turning point of the play, and we finally see how the actions of Macbeth directly impact him.