ENG111 -- Introduction to Literature: Beholding Violence in Drama and Film
Prof. Eileen Joy
Summer 2009
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS #5: Shakespeare's Macbeth and Cavani's Ripley's Game)
Figure 1. Tom Peters as Macbeth in an Oxford, UK production
Respond to TWO of the following prompts:
1. How would you describe the power relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? What, further, is the power dynamic between the couple at the outset of the play, and how does it change as the play progresses?
2. What if you found yourself in a condition where you were able or compelled to act out your fantasies, without thinking (and you thought were beyond judgment)? What might that feel like? empowering? insane? something else? How does this question pertain to Macbeth?
3. How does Macbeth struggle with the murders he feels he has to commit, and how does his attitude toward his crimes change as the play progresses?
4. What is Lady Macbeth's attitude toward murder at the outset of the play and how does that change as the play progresses?
5. How might you compare and contrast the characters of Macbeth and Jonathan in Ripley's Game? How, further, are both Macbeth and Jonathan changed by the murders they commit?
6. How might you compare and contrast Lady Macbeth and one other female villain we have encountered thus far: either Clytemnestra, Medea, or Tamora?
7. Ian Johnston describes Macbeth as a divided person as regards killing Duncan. Describe in detail, using Macbeth's own words, what this division is about.
8. Freud once wrote of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, "Together they exhaust the possibilities of reaction to the crime, like two disunited parts of a single psychical individuality, and it may be that they are both copied from the same prototype." With reference to specific scenes and dialogue in the play, how might you explain and expand on Freud's statement here?
Please respond to the questions with full, complete sentences. You should write approximately two typed, double-spaced pages (total) in response to the prompts you choose (but let's not get distracted by these fine points of detail--what matters to me is that you respond to these prompts with thoughtfulness and care and show me that you have something of substance to say in relation to the reading and discussions we have had, and what that ultimately means is: MORE is always better than less, but one page is the minimum). The questions are always interpretive in nature, and therefore there are NO right or wrong answers, only your opinion (an opinion, nevertheless, that's hopefully grounded in a close reading of the text as well as a close attention to background material presented through online links). You will want to refer to and/or quote specific passages from the text in order to support your observations and ideas.
Responses should be saved as .doc [Microsoft Word] or .rtf [Rich Text Format] files and sent to ejoy@siue.edu as email attachments.