Saturday, February 8, 2014

Macbeth and relevance

Part of becoming a teacher is learning that intellectual work is shared work, a byproduct of this community of collaborative and helpful souls. In teaching, intellectual work should be transparent, explicit, and shared, and so we are going to start practicing this "think tank" mentality this week, as we proceed with our design for an instructional unit on Macbeth.

Part of what I asked you to think about and write about this weekend has to do with Macbeth and relevance. Why do we teach this play? Why is it important for a young person to read or know about Macbeth by Shakespeare?

With this, I want to return to Rosenblatt and to her always pertinent and brilliant reader response questions:


  • What happened, not simply in the story, but rather within me as I read the story? 
  • What things struck me forcibly? 
  • What were the “clues’’ in the story that “added up’’ to a meaning for me? 
  • What puzzled me?


This week, I want to know what the relevance of Macbeth is for you, and the answers lie in your answers to the questions I've posed above. So, please, consider what I've modeled for you below...a look into my mind and into my thinking of why Macbeth might be relevant in today's classroom, I chart a course of thinking, and then I follow that course to the end, where I may have a viable unit framework or idea. I am hoping to get you to show us, here on the blog, the transparency of your thinking where RELEVANCE and MACBETH are concerned. So, give it a shot, please! 

When I read Macbeth, I am reminded of the potential in all of us to do harm to others, to let our sense of self importance get the best of us, to let our anxieties rule our actions. When I think of those three predicaments, my mind turns to other texts and ideas. I think about George having to kill his trusted friend Lenny at the end of Mice and Men, and I think of Brutus delivering the fatal blow to his best friend Caesar, and I think of Macbeth killing his friend and kinsman Duncan, I wonder: What drives a person to kill someone he loves? What in human nature causes us to destroy that which we love? 

And, then, as an English language arts teacher, my mind goes wild. I think of war narratives, the poem "Naming of Parts" by Henry Reed, and of All Quiet on the Western Front (innocent boys all full of bravado heading to war only to see each other slaughtered). I think of Braveheart and of Scottish pride. 

I think of all the reasons we kill: mercy, justice, vengeance, democracy, freedom, greed. 

And then I think: How can I structure an instructional unit around the concept of taking or ruining another person's life? 

And, then I am off...to envision, to plan...

I can't wait to read about your ideas!


6 comments:

  1. In all honesty, Macbeth was one of my least favorite plays to read in high school. I thoroughly believe that it is because we did not actually get to experience the text. We basically listened to someone read the text on an audiotape and watched a movie.
    I really want to teach this play in a way I was not able to experience in high school. I want to show kids the culture behind the text, not only for the play’s location or English history, but histories around it. I really think Macbeth is one of those few texts that can really be viewed through a cultural lens.
    Really, when I heard that we were going to be making a unit plan on Macbeth, I was a little discouraged at first. Then I thought of the movie"Throne of Blood", and how interesting it was to watch. Ideas starting whirring in my head, and I was thinking back to 406 when i attempted to make a lesson plan based on Japanese folklore. I think, despite how old the film is that students can really enjoy it (even if they cannot take it seriously at first).
    I think the basis of my unit will be helping students use different reading lenses, mostly focusing on a cultural and gender lens. When reading the text on my own, I found myself doing this often and I think it would be good practice to teach my students a similar technique. I think students will benefit greatly from learning about other cultures, as it will make the classroom environment more comfortable and a cultural tolerance.

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  2. During this reading of Macbeth, I was struck by how one violent act incited so much more violence. It all begins when Macbeth kills Duncan. Then, his paranoia drives him to kill the two guards, Banquo and (attempted to kill) Fleance, and Lady Macduff and the Macduff children. What I find most interesting about this is that, at least to me, it seems throughout the play that Macbeth is most affected by killing Duncan.
    This has led me to formulate questions about the value of human life. Is it worse to kill a king than to kill his guards? What about ones’ own best friend? Women? Children? Macbeth’s ambition knows no bounds when it comes to who he’s willing to sacrifice, but should we be lead to believe that any one of these deaths is more significant than another? And if so, which and why? And where does Lady Macbeth’s death fall on this continuum? Is Macbeth responsible?
    Also, is there justice in Macbeth’s death in the end? Is that what fairness is?
    In thinking about these questions, I think about a number of other texts that could raise similar questions. I think of Things Fall Apart and the transgressions of the Igbo people and of the colonizers. I think of The Crucible and the people the girls were willing to make victims in order to save face. I also think of The Virgin Suicides and the question of who is to blame for the deaths of those girls.
    I also think about all of the famous (or infamous) people whose deaths we mourn (or celebrate) today. I think of Nelson Mandela and the potential discussions that could arise from different biographical write-ups on him from different national or politically-affiliated sources.
    Based on these questions, I will attempt to fashion a unit concerned with the idea of the importance we place on some human beings over others and how those differences of importance are highlighted by death.

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  3. When I read this play I was wondering about the different reasons why this text has been taught in classes for years and years. I realized that it is because the play has many themes that are clear and morals for life in every single time period. The ruin that greed can bring about, the horror of guilt, and the danger of forcing yourself to fulfill or prevent a prophecy. These are things that exist outside of literature throughout history and even today in children and adults.
    I immediately began to think of corrupt governments, crime bosses, and King Leer for greed. I think of A Tell Tale Heart and the madness of guilt. And I consider Oedipus Rex his desire and his father’s desire to not fulfill a prophecy which eventually leads to the fulfillment of said prophecy. I began thinking of instances of betrayal and mutiny in my own life, and I look back to my high school experiences of becoming captain of a soccer team through a bloodless coup. And I realize that this play has themes that are truly timeless.
    I started to think about a way to take a focus on the themes, language, history, and culture in a way so that students could work in groups to rewrite a scene in the play giving it a new time, place, gender situation. And I think that the culmination of the unit would be student groups choosing from scenes I have picked out, picking a new time and place and working with that. Suppose they choose Boston in revolutionary times, or the 60s, or even creating a future, or making it happen in an Amazonian culture where the women are the leaders. Then they could adjust the language to fit their era, and consider technological developments. Then they could act it out. This would show their understanding of the language, understanding of a theme/moral, knowledge of historical context, comprehension of the universality of the story. They would also be able to flex their creative muscles. I think it would be really fun to focus on theme and roles then have students go off on their own interpretation and connections.

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  4. When I think about this play I think about violence and what it does to someone. A question I always asked myself while reading this play is why Duncan’s (and the many other murders) affected Macbeth so much. He was a soldier, the play opens up right after a battle that he was a great hero in, so why is this different? Is it because Duncan was one of his own? Is it because he knew them and thus couldn’t remove his mind and his soul from the murder of these men? Something I would like to explore with my students is the nature of war and the sacrifices one makes in order to deal with it. I am harkened back to stories like “The things they carried” or one of my personal favorite books “A farewell to arms” where war and violence affect the characters differently yet in some universally similar way. I think Macbeth touches on this idea of ‘morality and loyalty’ in war that seems to create a new system one governs themselves by and I think that is a fascinating concept to look into.
    Another thing I’m curious about is the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy, or the idea that one brings about their future simply because they are aware of it. One has to ask themselves whether Macbeth would have ended the way it did had the titular character not entered that cave and spoke with those witches. That leads to the question of whether it was destiny or not then? Was he always meant to enter that cave and hear those words? Or does he have some sort of free will in all this. I think Macbeth as a play would be a great jumping off point for some serious philosophical discussions.
    I think the basis of my unit will be on discussing morality and free will. Questions like: How does Macbeth’s knowledge of the future effect his decisions? If he was destined to betray the king then can we truly blame him? Is it different to murder a man on the battle field than to murder him in bed? Why?

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  5. When I think of Macbeth I think of human nature and a person’s ability to be persuaded and manipulated. I think about ambition and guilt, and the ability for power to corrupt. I think about how often betrayal is committed by people, against family, friends, partners. I think about how no matter how a person appears to the human eye every person is an onion and those layers never stop peeling. Some have the ability to sting and bring tears to your eyes, while others have the ability to bring the perfect taste to an otherwise tasteless dish. Macbeth is still as relevant today as it was the day it was written. Macbeth is a story about just that: human nature, power, greed, ambition, guilt, betrayal, murder, witchcraft, retribution, family, gender roles, and the evils that humans are able to commit.
    While reading Macbeth all I could think of was the Lord Acton quote “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are always bad men”. I also kept thinking about the story of Star Wars and began drawing parallels between Darth Vader and Macbeth. While playing around with this idea I found a George Lucan quote that really got me playing with this idea more: “The story being told in ‘Star Wars’ is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again. Power corrupts, and when you’re in charge you start doing things that you think they are right, but they’re actually not”. Another idea I am tinkering with is a quote from Uncle Ben from Spider Man saying “With great power comes great responsibility”. I was thinking how Macbeth wanted the power, but didn’t want and couldn’t handle the responsibility that came along with it. I’m not sure if this idea and quote will flesh out—I’m still working through this one. I think the questions I would develop my unit around would be: What forces have the ability to shape a person? — Is there such a thing as good people?—and are you predestined to be good or bad?
    From a literary standpoint, I see the relevance in teaching Macbeth because Shakespeare covers a plethora of literary devices. Students would be exposed to: imagery, alliteration, irony, analogy, soliloquy, monologue, aside, metaphors, extended metaphors, similes, personification, and symbolism. I want students to be able to make connections to their own lives, their culture, their community, and the world. Students will be able to see their world critically, observing and formulating opinions, and will gain confidence to speak about it. In their final years as minors in this country, it is important that they practice being active participants in the world, that their voice holds weight and they too hold power.

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  6. Macbeth is, as I have said, one of my favorite plays. I love the imagery, the characters, the action, and the fact that more than most of Shakespeare’s works, Macbeth has made a mark on pop culture. We see the witches, and their potion, and more in many, many things, from cartoons to blockbuster movies. I did not study it in high school, so most of my experience with the text has been directly descended from my love for it. It would be years before a class would bring it in as a common text. And even then, sandwiched between other texts of a similar sort, the nuances of the play, and its richness, was diluted by the need to press forward, full steam ahead.
    When I was reading Macbeth, I was struck by how things were moving quickly. I thought of the plots and rebellions, and thought of other times in history this has happened. I thought of the assassination of Caesar, of the French and American Revolutions, and more. And then I thought of the political and philosophical rationale used for all of these. What might Plato have said if he had seen what happened during the play? How about Machiavelli? Hobbes? Locke? Marx? And I thought back to a notable conversation I had after reading Hamlet, and debating whether Claudius was justified or not. When, if ever, is there a time to rise up? It is a question the Ancient Greeks grappled with, and it is a theme in the play.
    I also thought of the history surrounding the play, both of medieval Scotland, and of England at the time Shakespeare was writing it. King James had recently ascended to the throne of England, and he was also King of Scotland. He had also become the patron of Shakespeare’s company. How might this have affected Shakespeare’s writing? How might the creepiness of a moonless night on the moors affected things? How about Scottish history? Mary Queen of Scots had just been executed for plotting against the queen in the then-recent past, but she was the new king’s mother. Did this affect the writing? There is a rich context to mine, even setting aside that the characters are supposedly all actual historical figures. How were they twisted?
    After reading the comments, I also think of the snowball effect that the play seems to show (thank you Jessica). So I think of other cases, of (once again) the French Revolution, of World War I (and the time immediately preceding it), and of the uprisings we have seen in recent years. One event, such as the assassination of an archduke, can plunge the world into anarchy and terror. This is an interesting angle. What are the consequences we face for our actions, and what happens if they corrupt us, or become entirely too big for us to deal with? This is also when I think of Mean Girls, which deals with power and corruption quite nicely.
    I think of the play as a “case study” for political, historical, cultural, and fantastic manipulation. And I think that Macbeth could serve as an example better, or at least more accessible, than Plato’s Republic or The Prince ever could be. So I try to graft a unit that will allow students not only to (hopefully) be as captivated with the story and characters as I am, but also to help them be more aware and informed citizens and individuals. Now, more than ever, people need something they can base their opinions on. And I think Macbeth is a great platform to build on.

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