AC+AngieJ

4.1. Witch One Lennox

SCENE ANALYSIS:

What happens in your scene? Outline the basic events. Macbeth, in his desperation for peace of mind, seeks the three witches to find out what is in his future. The witches are, meanwhile, brewing an evil potion to bring "double trouble" to Macbeth and his wife. The witches show Macbeth apparitions, who, in short, tell Macbeth to beware Macduff, that no man of woman born will ever harm him, that he will not be vanquished until the woods of Birnham march to his home, and also to show him how Banquo's children will be kings. Macbeth is lulled into thinking that he will not be defeated because the conditions are so laughably impossible, yet he also decides to act at once to secure his safety and kill Macduff's family and destroy his estate.

What do you think are the key purposes of your scene? In other words, what is this scene important? This scene is crucial, as it persuades Macbeth that he must take his safety into his own hands and slaughter innocent people like Macduff's wife and children, and because the apparitions show Banquo's children as kings, to also try to kill them as well. It makes certain Macbeth's doom, because it also makes him sure of his safety.

What are your reactions to this scene? This is one of my favourite scenes because it includes a lot of nonsense-like dialogue; for example, "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble". It is also interesting to see how desperate and willing to do anything Macbeth has become, compared to how hesitant and relatively moral he was in the beginning of the play.

CHARACTER REPORT:

What does your character want in this scene? Witch One: to show Macbeth his future, as he demands Lennox: to serve Macbeth

What is your character's motivation for doing what he or she does? Witch One: to lull him into relief and trick him into thinking that he is safe Lennox: because if he doesn't serve his mad king, he might get his family slaughtered like Macduff

What obstacles stand in his or her way? Witch One: Macbeth's inability to consider the hidden meanings of the apparitions' prophesies; he only reads as far into them as he wants to see Lennox: the fact that Macbeth has become an exceptionally crazy, unpredictable, and bloodthirsty king to serve

What happens when your character confronts these obstacles? Witch One: the witches pretty much leave Macbeth thinking whatever he wants to think (i.e. he truly is safe from any man, as ("no man born of woman shall harm Macbeth") Lennox: he speaks calmly, respectfully, even though he probably feels angry and fearful of Macbeth for being such a terribly king

Are there any distinctive elements in your character's way of speaking? Witch One: probably cackling often, as this is the unfolding of the witches' evil plan, with a hoarse and low voice; Witch One in particularly also seems to be particularly bored with Macbeth, especially when he doesn't listen to them Lennox: submissively, docilely, like a servant to his lord

What is your character thinking during the scene? Witch One: "that fool, he can believe whatever he wants to believe.. he is just hastening his own doom" Lennox: "contain yourself, control yourself; you never know what Macbeth might decide to do.."

1. Evaluate the performance of your group. What went well? What didn’t go well? I think our performance went well considering the props and time we had to arrange things, as we knew what we had to do in terms of actions and gestures. I also think all the characters were portrayed well, with enough emotion and animation to make the scene effective. What didn't go as well as it might have was the fact that we were unused to reading so many Shakespearean lines at a time; for example, many of Macbeth's monologues are dozens of lines long, and we sometimes got out of breath or mispronounced several words. However, overall, it was fun and stress-free.

2. How well did you contribute to your group? I contributed by helping to organize what props and costumes each person would bring, as well as planning out the actions and stage placements. I also drew and took notes for the Set & Costume sheet. I acted as Witch One and Lennox.

3. How well did you perform as an individual? I believe I performed adequately, as I tried to change my voice a bit and also put a lot of action into the scene. I messed up a few times with some of the lines, and the dim lighting didn't really help when we had to quickly read our script. I also miscalculated how much time I would have to change character/costumes and go back in the scene as Lennox, and thus there was a lull in the scene while I changed.

4. What could have improved your scene performance? I think I could have delivered the lines a bit more smoothly, without pauses and jarring, and also if I had found a quicker way to change character.

5. How did the scene performance help you better understand the play. Acting it out gave us a better idea of the mood and situation of the scene, giving us more context in which to imagine the characters. I understood better why Macbeth acted as desperately and madly as he did later on in the play, after seeing what he saw and hearing what he heard from the witches.