LRJ #1

2/20/09

1. Both Macbeth and Banquo are guys who are extremely loyal to their country, "But the Norweyan Lord began a fresh assault... so they doubly redoubled their strokes upon the foe" (1.2.31, 33, & 38). Here, when Macbeth and Banquo are fighting the rebels, one of the rebel leader begins a new wave of attack to which the two warriors, instead of fleeing, fight twice as hard for their country. This also shows each of them to be strong and brave by sticking around when the going gets tough. Macbeth is also portrayed with great kindness, "Thy nature; it is too full o' th' milk of human kindness" (1.5.16-17). This is a statement made by Lady Macbeth when she is weighing whether or not her husband is strong enough to pull off the murder of King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth herself is portrayed as a woman of strength by volunteering herself to help her husband to achieve that which he does not initially have the strength to do, "Make thick my blood; stop up th' access and passage of remorse" (1.5.43-44). This could also be interpreted as a form of greed wherein she is helping Macbeth so that she can move up further in society.

2. The biggest theme that seems to be present is Murder.It is brought up a couple of times , "My thoughts, whose murder is yet but fantastical" (1.3.140). Here, Macbeth is fantasizing about killing his king and taking the throne for himself, but quickly disregards the idea. lady Macbeth on the other hand decides to make sure that her husband ascends to the throne, "What you and I cannot perform upon th' unguarded Duncan" (1.7.70-71). She tells this to her husband after she has convinced him to go along with the plan. Macbeth later adds in another degree of sneakiness by coming up with the idea to use the guards' daggers to frame the guards.

3. The Image that particularly sticks in my mind is when Macbeth kills one of the rebel leaders, "He unseamed him from the nave to the chop and fixed his head upon our battlements" (1.2.22-23). Shakespeare is describing how macbeth slew his adversary in order to show the reader how he deals with enemies of the state (Being sliced open like a turkey about to be stuffed is not a very nice thing...).