Blog Thursday November 11th 2010

King Duncan;

In Macbeth King Duncan is portrayed as a loyal and honorable leader. Early in the play, King Duncan is talking with Banquo about Macbeth and how he deserves everything that is being given to him."Welcome Hither:/ L have begun to plant thee, and will labour/ To make thee full of growing. Nobel Banquo,/ That hast no less deserved, nor must be known/ No less to have don so: let me infold thee:/ And hold thee to my heart"(1.4.27-37). In this section of the play he also points out to Banquo that he is a very honorable man, and deserves greatness too. Duncan also has a side of him that is really focused on battle. In Act I when he first hears about Macbeth and Banquo and how they won the battle, he was very proud. He gained a large amount of respect for them because they were viscous on the battle field. That side of King Duncan is greatly portratyed in Act I Scene 2. "Duncan: Dismayed not this/ Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?/ Sergent: Yes;/ As sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion:/ If I say sooth, I must report they were/ As cannons overcharged with double cracks,/ So they double redoubled strokes upon the foe:/ Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,/ Or memorize another Golgotha,/ I cannot tell/ But I am faint, my gashes cry for help" (1.2.33-42).

Machiavelli & King Duncan;
In my opinion I don't think that Niccolo Machiavelli would approve of King Duncan's ethics, and the way he went about doing things. Also, King Duncan didn't follow one of Machiavellis largest rules. "Before all else, be armed." King Duncan allowed himself to be murdered by Macbeth because he did not have sufficient guard. He allowed him self to get drunk, and also allowed his guards to let down their guard by also getting drunk. Then it was easy for Macbeth to slip right past them, kill King Duncan using their daggers, then it was easy for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to smear the blood over their faces. "A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise." This quote reminds me of how King Duncan quickly turned on the Original Thane of Cawdor, he didn't give him a chance to explain, didn't give him a second chance. He didn't really even have proof that the audience knows of, nor does that audience know what the Thane does. All we know is that King Duncan decides to have him executed because he was not loyal to him. He makes a very hasty decision, and this shows he didn't really think things through, or give chances to his Thanes. All in all, I do not believe that King Duncan followed Machiavelli's rules for a good leader. 

November 5th: Blog Friday

Appearance Vs. Reality;

"It is not essential that a Prince have all good qualities, but it is most essential that he should seem to have them." Niccolò Machiavelli  

In William Shakespeare's Macbeth Macbeth becomes king and uses his power to murder for his own gain. In Act I Macbeth appears to be a good warrior and that is why he starts to gain respect from King Duncan, although, this is not the only side to Macbeth that we as an audience get to see. In the play, there is a note that says Macbeth[ aside], what this means is he is thinking this to himself, so the other characters do not know what he is thinking. "If chance will have me king, why,/ chance may crown me,/ Without my stir" (1.3. 143-144). As Macbeth thinks this to himself, this is the first we here that he is having murderous thoughts to get him self to the throne. As the Macbeth continues Macbeth will start to act upon those murderous thoughts, and he will at first, appear to be same strong warrior, while he doing evil things to friends and others.   

Gender Roles;

In the play Macbeth gender roles are very prominent. I this play the men are the leaders, they are the rulers, they are the warriors, and they work for royalty. This was very common in the time Macbeth was written. The men were in control, and they were the ones that made the decisions. Lady Macbeth also follows the status quo for women in this time period, she is loyal, and does what she is expected to do when guests come. but the Gender Roles are switched when it comes time to make and follow a plan to murder King Duncan. Macbeth starts acting cowardly, and Lady Macbeth is the one who is being strong, and who is pushing him to kill Duncan. As we discussed in class, this is a role reversal on Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's part. 

Loyalty and Honor;

In Act I scene 2 it is mentioned that the Thane of Cowder has been disloyal to King Duncan. This is only one example of Loyalty and Honor in the play Macbeth. There are also other examples of loyalty, and disloyalty. Macbeth for example just gained the kings respect, and has already starting plotting out ways to kill him. Also, in Act II Macbeth and Banquo are having a conversation, and Banquo and Macbeth are talking about how they must both be loyal to each other and tell each other what is going on. Macbeth has already broken his word by not telling Banquo about his plan to kill King Duncan. Banquo has, at this point, become skeptical of Macbeth. He says that yes, he will be honorable to Macbeth, as long as Macbeth is an honorable man. The theme of loyalty and honor in this play,. is more about being disloyal and dishonorable. 

October 29th: Blog Firday

1. Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italiane philosopher from the 15th century. He grew up in Florence, Italy. The purpose of Machiavelli's "The Prince" was to show what his ideas on leadership were. He told how he wanted a leader to act, and displayed his opinions on how someone who is in a place of power should act and lead.

2. "He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command." This quote shows a great leadership skill because it is basically saying that a leader needs to know how to lead. What Machiavelli is trying to say is  that a leader can not just say he is a leader, and expect to be obeyed. To become a leader, one must persevere, and work to get there. Also, once a leader is know as "the leader," he must know the role that he is now playing. Once he has the power, he must be able to command to be obeyed. A leader can not just expect to be listened to, he must know how to make his people listen. 

3. "Politics have no relation to morals." The Machiavelli quote is not one the a leader should go by. This is because the quote is stating, the in polotics, you should not act byt the morals you live by. Take the example of a President. If the United States had a president that did not act the way he or she would normally act while doing their job, our nation would be in flames. Say the president when not doing presidential duties was a fun loving person, one of their morals is to forget about violence and just live life to the fullest. If a president were then to not go by this moral when making important decisions, our world could end in disaster. The president may decide that there is a possibility for great problem, and do something extreme, that could be violent. Then our nation would be in an uproar, and everything would be in chaos. This quote states that when in politics, nothing is bad. This is not a true statement, because if a political candidate stops at nothing to win, chaos may be created. 

4. "The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not." This quote goes well with Pizarro and the Incas because Pizarro lived in a place where the "times" were changing, and because of the east to west vs. north to south travel Pizarro was able to keep up with the times. The Incas lived in and area where it was nearly impossible to get current technology or resources because of the north to south travel, and they lived across an ocean from Europe and Asia. The reason this quote goes so well with the battle is because Pizarro had ways to keep up with the times and new technology for battle, and there for was able to defeat the Incas even though they were seriously outnumbered. 

5a. http://www.ctbw.com/lubman.htm 

This picture shows a leader who had a plan, and knew how to command so that his followers would obey him.