King Duncan was a well liked king and he appeared to be a very respectable person. Banquo explains, "The King's a-bed. He hath been in unusual pleasure, and this diamond he greets your wife withal by the name of most kind hostess" (2.1.11-15). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth tried to appear as kind and comforting as they could while the king came to stay with them last minute. The King was very content and was happy with with everything. He tipped the servants and is offering a diamond to Lady Macbeth for being such a kind hostess. It is extremely unusual for a king to tip a servant, especially in that time period. Another place where we see King Duncan being a respectable king is in act one scene six. King Duncan says, "This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses" (1.6.1-3). In this quote King Duncan is complimenting the Macbeth castle and is talking about how nicely it is set up to create a open and airy feel.
Machiavelli would consider Macbeth a good leader because Macbeth takes on a leadership role throughout the play by doing what he needs to do. One of Machiavelli's famous quotes talks about how you don't actually have to be good as long as you appear to be. This is how Macbeth achieves many things in this play. When King Duncan comes to his castle he appears to be extremely nice and welcoming but ends up murdering him so he can become king. That leads to the quote stated by Machiavelli, "The ends justify the means." Macbeth also lives by the meaning of this quote. He takes short-cuts so he can get what he wants such as later killing Banquo. This way Banquos prophecy will not come true because he is dead. Macbeth is greedy and wants to maintain control of his society. This means he does what he needs to do to get it done.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Blog Friday (November 5th)
Appearance vs. Reality:
Machiavelli's outlook on this is relating back to his quote about how as long as you appear good, you don't necessarily have to be good. This means that as long as you do good things for your society and they see that you are doing good things, then it doesn't matter that you cheated as long as you get it done. In Macbeth this same idea carries though, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (1.1.10). This means that being fair doesn't always result in a good way, but when you do bad things, it sometimes results in a good way, even if it wasn't fair. I know it is morally wrong to think this way but it is mainly how everyone in this world gets what they need to get done accomplished.
Gender Roles:
In Macbeth the role of men and women is very different. The men are the head of the the house hold and are supposed to take charge while the women sit back and watch. In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is intrigued by the thought of becoming a queen. She decides Macbeth is too "softhearted" to get things done so she takes it upon herself and plots to kill King Duncan. She soon began to convince Macbeth to join in and kill Duncan himself. At first he refuses, but Lady Macbeth uses her seductive powers, along with the help of the three witches telling Macbeth the prophecy, to convince him into killing Duncan. Women from that time period were very respectable and were in charge of making the house presentable. Power is the main motivation for Lady Macbeth, it is causing her to do things she, or any woman from that time would never think of doing. "Only look up clear: to alter favour ever is to fear: leave all the rest to me" (1.5.70-72). In this quote, Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to appear very courteous and comforting. She is telling the man of the house hold to pretend everything is normal while she takes care of the rest. By the end of act one scene five, gender roles have been shifted greatly.
Loyalty and Honor:
Loyalty and honor plays a huge part in this play. A place where we see this most is in act two, scene one. Banquo and his son were out late one night when they uneasily heard Macbeth out and about. They were talking and when Banquo says, "I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters: to you they have showed some truth" (2.1.20-21), Macbeth responds, "I think not of them" (2.1.22). This is a key point in the play because it is where Macbeth lies to Banquo which is foreshadowing for more important things to come rather than little white lies. When Macbeth denies thinking of what the Weird Sisters were saying about the prophecy he is lying; secretly, that is the main drive for him to kill King Duncan. This part of the story signifies many important events to come along with many more loyalty betrayals.
Machiavelli's outlook on this is relating back to his quote about how as long as you appear good, you don't necessarily have to be good. This means that as long as you do good things for your society and they see that you are doing good things, then it doesn't matter that you cheated as long as you get it done. In Macbeth this same idea carries though, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (1.1.10). This means that being fair doesn't always result in a good way, but when you do bad things, it sometimes results in a good way, even if it wasn't fair. I know it is morally wrong to think this way but it is mainly how everyone in this world gets what they need to get done accomplished.
Gender Roles:
In Macbeth the role of men and women is very different. The men are the head of the the house hold and are supposed to take charge while the women sit back and watch. In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is intrigued by the thought of becoming a queen. She decides Macbeth is too "softhearted" to get things done so she takes it upon herself and plots to kill King Duncan. She soon began to convince Macbeth to join in and kill Duncan himself. At first he refuses, but Lady Macbeth uses her seductive powers, along with the help of the three witches telling Macbeth the prophecy, to convince him into killing Duncan. Women from that time period were very respectable and were in charge of making the house presentable. Power is the main motivation for Lady Macbeth, it is causing her to do things she, or any woman from that time would never think of doing. "Only look up clear: to alter favour ever is to fear: leave all the rest to me" (1.5.70-72). In this quote, Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to appear very courteous and comforting. She is telling the man of the house hold to pretend everything is normal while she takes care of the rest. By the end of act one scene five, gender roles have been shifted greatly.
Loyalty and Honor:
Loyalty and honor plays a huge part in this play. A place where we see this most is in act two, scene one. Banquo and his son were out late one night when they uneasily heard Macbeth out and about. They were talking and when Banquo says, "I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters: to you they have showed some truth" (2.1.20-21), Macbeth responds, "I think not of them" (2.1.22). This is a key point in the play because it is where Macbeth lies to Banquo which is foreshadowing for more important things to come rather than little white lies. When Macbeth denies thinking of what the Weird Sisters were saying about the prophecy he is lying; secretly, that is the main drive for him to kill King Duncan. This part of the story signifies many important events to come along with many more loyalty betrayals.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Blog Friday (October 29th, 2010)
Niccolò Machiavelli was a philosopher from Italy in 1469 until he died in 1527. Niccolò Machiavelli was one of the discoverers of political science. Political science is the study of government, principles, and processes. He also wrote plays which lead to him writing the book called The Prince. The book is basically a guide for a prince to get and maintain power.
(Source: "Machiavelli." Philosophy Pages. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. <http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/macv.htm>.)
The Machiavelli quote I think is most relevant in todays society is, " It's better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both" (Machiavelli). What this means to me is that when you are feared people will listen to you because the are afraid of you you will do to them. If you are not fear, but are loved then you will be too "soft hearted" and things will never get done. The part where it says, "if you cannot have both" means, you have to be feared by people but also be like and like your people. You have to find the balance between the two, and once you do, you will be a successful leader.
If Machiavelli had given advice to the Incas I think it would have been "before all else, be armed" (Machiavelli). This would have helped the Incas have a better chance of winning. If the Incas had this advice before entering into the square unarmed and unprepared they would have had a chance against the Pizarro and the Conquistadors. Advice Machiavelli would have given to Pizarro and the Conquistadors is, "People are fickle by nature, and it is easy to persuade them of something, but difficult to keep them persuaded" (Machiavelli). If Pizarro and his men knew this before conquering and defeating many societies then maybe he wouldn't have had to kill as many people. He could have found a way to convince the people and become a universal ruler of many societies instead of killing them all off.
The Machiavelli quote I think is most relevant in todays society is, " It's better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both" (Machiavelli). What this means to me is that when you are feared people will listen to you because the are afraid of you you will do to them. If you are not fear, but are loved then you will be too "soft hearted" and things will never get done. The part where it says, "if you cannot have both" means, you have to be feared by people but also be like and like your people. You have to find the balance between the two, and once you do, you will be a successful leader.
(Someone's Always Watching)
The quote I think that does not best represent leadership today is the quote where Machiavelli talks about how it doesn't matter how you get it, as long as you get it. I'm sure this happens in many situations, even I do it. However, when people in the US government do something like that, people catch it because the people of America are constantly watching and waiting for them to mess up. As soon as they are caught people use it as a reason to overthrow the government. Now it does matter how one gets it because it has to be approved by many other people before one can get what they want.If Machiavelli had given advice to the Incas I think it would have been "before all else, be armed" (Machiavelli). This would have helped the Incas have a better chance of winning. If the Incas had this advice before entering into the square unarmed and unprepared they would have had a chance against the Pizarro and the Conquistadors. Advice Machiavelli would have given to Pizarro and the Conquistadors is, "People are fickle by nature, and it is easy to persuade them of something, but difficult to keep them persuaded" (Machiavelli). If Pizarro and his men knew this before conquering and defeating many societies then maybe he wouldn't have had to kill as many people. He could have found a way to convince the people and become a universal ruler of many societies instead of killing them all off.
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