The Picture of Dorian Gray: Summary Presentation

Macbeth Act 3 Notes

Act Three, Scene One

Banquo suspects Macbeth but gains comfort from the second part of the Witches' prediction — that his own children will be kings. Having announced his intention to go riding with Fleance, Banquo is persuaded by the Macbeths to return later that evening to their new palace at Forres for a special feast. However, Macbeth realizes that the Witches' prophecy regarding Banquo represents a threat to his own position. Unable to endure the thought of Banquo's descendants claiming his position, Macbeth summons two hired murderers and confirms with them prior arrangements for the killing of Banquo and Fleance.

Act Three, Scene Two

This short scene allows the audience once more into the private thoughts of the murderous couple, while holding the action momentarily in suspense. As the hired killers make their way toward Banquo, Macbeth and his wife meet secretly. His wife attempts to soothe his troubled mind but ironically feels the same doubts herself. Killing the king has provided them with many more difficulties than they first envisioned. To the astonishment of his wife, Macbeth reveals his plan to murder Banquo.

Act Three, Scene Three

The hired murderers meet as arranged. On hearing approaching horses, a signal is given, and Banquo and his son Fleance are attacked. The murderers' lantern is accidentally extinguished, and the job is left half-done: Although Banquo is killed, Fleance escapes.

Act Three, Scene Four

At Forres, Macbeth and his wife welcome the thanes of Scotland to the banquet. Immediately prior to the feast, one of the murderers appears at a side door and reveals to Macbeth the truth about the mission: their success in the killing of Banquo and their failure to murder Fleance. Macbeth recomposes himself and returns to the table. As he raises a toast to his absent friend, he imagines he sees the ghost of Banquo. As with the ethereal dagger, the ghost of Banquo appears to come and go, propelling Macbeth into alternating fits of courage and despair. Lady Macbeth invites the thanes to depart and, once alone, tries one last time to soothe her husband. But Macbeth's paranoid mind is already on to the next murder, that of Macduff. To ascertain his future with greater certainty, he makes clear his intention to visit the Weird Sisters once more.

Act Three, Scene Five

Hecate, the classical goddess of the lower world who represents the spirit of ancient witchcraft, calls the weird sisters to her to complain that her own part in Macbeth's downfall has been overlooked and that she now wishes personally to make his downfall complete. The scene is unnecessary to understanding the play and was probably not written by Shakespeare.

Act Three, Scene Six

Meeting with a rebel lord, Lennox reveals his doubts concerning Macbeth. His argument is that those who might be immediately suspected of murdering their kinsmen are less likely to have done so than Macbeth, who had killed the guards of Duncan's chamber so hastily. Although Lennox is prepared to accept Macbeth's actions, he cannot help feeling deeply suspicious of him. The other lord reveals to Lennox that Macduff has fled from Scotland to join forces with Malcolm in England. Moreover, they have requested help from England's King Edward the Confessor. Both Lennox and the other lord pray that God's vengeance may swiftly fall on the tyrannical Macbeth and that Scotland may return to peace once more.

Macbeth Act 2 Notes

Act 2, Scene 2:

After killing Duncan, Macbeth enters his private chambers where Lady Macbeth is anxiously awaiting him.  The shrieks of owls and the cries of crickets, both evil omens, pierce the air as Macbeth narrates to her the gruesome details of the murder.  He tells his wife that Donalbain cried "Murder!" and that Malcolm laughed in his sleep while Macbeth killed Duncan, but they both said their prayers again and went back to sleep.  Macbeth also tells his wife that he was unable to bless himself when he "had most need of blessing." (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 31) He thinks that he heard a voice saying, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep." (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 34-5) From this point on in the play, neither Macbeth nor his wife are able to have a good night's rest as they are plagued by the memories of their ghastly crime.
Suddenly, Lady Macbeth notices that her husband's hands are covered in blood and that he is still clutching the telltale dagger.  She orders him to wash up and hide all incriminating evidence.  Macbeth, however, is incapable of doing anything because he is in a state of shock, so Lady Macbeth is forced to take over.  She smears blood over the faces of Duncan's servants so that they will seem guilty of the crime.  When she returns, she promptly washes her hands and orders Macbeth to be calm.  The couple hears a loud knocking at the south entry and they fearfully retire to their chambers.

Act 2, Scene 3: 

A drunken porter stumbles through the hallways to answer the knocking at the gate.  By comparing himself to a devil-porter and the castle to the residence of Beelzebub (the devil), he implies that Inverness is an evil and sinister place.  Macduff and Lennox enter the castle and ask for Macbeth.  They ask to see the king, as Duncan had requested that he be awoken at a timely hour.  Macduff goes to the king's room to wake him up.  In the meantime, Lennox explains to Macbeth how there were earthquakes and storms raging the whole night.  In Elizabethan times, people believed that Nature mirrored human events; thus in this case, Nature has reflected the horrible murder of King Duncan.  Macduff reenters the room pale and shocked-he wakes up the whole castle to report the news that King Duncan has been murdered.
Lady Macbeth enters the room, feigning the countenance of one newly awoken.  She pretends to be horrified by the news that the king has been murdered in her own house and faints.  Malcolm and Donalbain are informed of the tragic news.  Instead of openly grieving for their father, they escape respectively to England and Ireland.  The heirs feel that the court thinks them to be the main suspects of the crime.  In addition, they risk their own lives by staying in Inverness, as they could be the murderer's next targets.  Thus, the royal heirs quickly flee Scotland.  Macbeth asks the rest of the court to reassemble in the hall to discuss this strange turn of events.

Literature Analysis #8

Literature Analysis 8

The Road

By Cormac McCarthy

1. The Road is the story of a man and his son who are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.  The father keeps the son safe in this dangerous territory as they face scavengers and cannibals.  The father feels that it is important to keep his son as sane as possible during this time so he won't end up like the crazy people around them.  The son feels safe with his father as they venture until the father begins to grow ill.  This illness causes the father to die and the son is left with a choice to join a colony.  He decides to join this colony since they can keep him safe and he thinks of them as a new family.

2. The theme of the story is the power of family and love.  The father loved his son and wanted to see him safe and unharmed.  He gave his son morals to give him humanity in the inhumane times.  Without the father's love for his son, the father would not have lasted as long through his disease and the son would have been lost.

3. The book has a depressing tone.  The father and son must survive through these difficult times.  They are constantly facing death without food or water.  When they do have food and water, scavengers are trying to take it from them.  The father is also trying to keep his son sane in this insane world.  It is tough for the audience to watch this child grow up in this environment.

4. McCarthy uses setting, characters, and syntax to represent the theme and tone of his book.  The setting is a desolate wasteland which immediately connects with the depressing tone and gives the reader a feeling of emptiness.  His characters are constantly struggling to survive and face death often.  His syntax shows how the characters connect with each other and the importance of family in these trying times.

BNW Quote

“If one's different, one's bound to be lonely.”

This simple quote is the main theme of the satire. In Brave New World, the society is created for everyone to be the same. No individuality other than class distinction, which is predetermined, makes the population mundane and controlled. The 'savages', or naturally born people, are outcasts in society and looked down upon.

Brave New World Ch 2 & 3

Literature Analysis #7

Literature Analysis #7

Their Eyes Were Watching God

By Zora Neale Hurston

1. After a long absence, Janie Crawford is now back at Eatonville, Florida. People gossip about her and her young husband, Tea Cake. Her grandmother's wants to marry Janie and finds the perfect fit, Logan Killicks. One day, Joe Starks and Janie flirt and she runs off with him and they get married. They travel to Eatonville where Jody hopes to have a “big voice.” Jody makes some negative comments about Janie's appearance, so she does the same. Jody beats her for making fun of him and their marriage breaks down. Jody gets ill and he soon dies. Janie feels free for the first time in years. Later when she encouters Tea Cake, a man twelve years her junior, Janie is attracted to him. Despite negative gossip people made, she begins dating Tea Cake. Janie marries Tea Cake and leaves town to go with Tea Cake to Jacksonville. A terrible hurricane takes place in the Everglades, and as they flee the rising waters, a rabid dog bites Tea Cake. Tea Cake doesn’t realize the dog’s condition and three weeks later, he falls ill. Tea Cake becomes convinced that Janie is cheating on him. He shoots at Janie, and in order to save herself, she kills him. She is  put on trial for murder but all-male jury finds her not guilty.

2. One of the themes in this book is about gender issues. Janie needs to get married to a man so that her life would be safe. This leads to the idea that women are dependent on men to protect them.

3.Hurston’s main tones are celebratory and sympathy of the richness of African-American culture. 

4. 1)Allusion: The author makes references to the, Civil War, General Sherman Eatonville, Florida, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Booker T. Washington

2) Metaphor: "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."

3)Foreshadow: "Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked. And when she [Nanny] gained the privacy of her own little shack she stayed on her knees so long she forgot she was there herself….Towards morning she muttered, "Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do. De rest is left to you." She scuffled up from her knees and fell heavily across the bed. A month later she was dead.

4)Imagery : "She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid."

5)Symbolism: the head-rag Janie wears represents the constraints imposed on women by men in power.