Aim: How is the play simultaneously lightened and darkened through Shakespeare’s implementation of “comic relief”?
Do Now:TEAMWORK
Work with your teams to construct a list of Famous US Conspiracy Theories you know.
My team and I discusessed the United States president assassinations. For example, JFK was assassinated and the conspiracy theory is that either someone plotted it or the CIA did because he had too much information.
Class Discussion
William- some conspiracies were that 5g data causes covid because it spreads through air and that flies and birds are government cameras
Sachi- deaths of Kurt Contains and Jeffery Epstein
Joel- death of Versace and how Lincoln and Kennedy were both assassinated and had very similar information like how the secretary names were Kennedy and Lincoln
Andy- Roswell incident, aliens, and men in black
Edward- many conspiracies in Hollywood like Marilyn Monroe, the Black Dahlia, and the two Lees (Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee)
Sofya- the Sodder Children case on Christmas Eve of 1945, mother of 9 children woke up to smoke and the kids who lived upstairs went missing even though the house was burnt to a crisp and there were signs of burning flesh. This was coincidental because a life insurance agent went to their house not long ago and told them them their house would go up in smoke and the children would be destroyed
Edward- a lot of conspiracies like the three masons, Illuminati have control over the government
William- JFK junior is alive and is planning to steal the election coming up and run for president with trump
Some more examples:
The eye on the back of the dollar bill alluding to the Illuminati
Martin Luther King Jr.
D.B. Cooper Hijacking
Chamber behind the faces of Mount Rushmore
Area 51
UFO conspiracies
Loch Ness Monster
Bigfoot
Here is an extra link if you want to get a deeper look into conspiracies: https://youtu.be/z1feVpZrjtk
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605
(which I summarized, but here is the original link if you want to check out the more detailed version. https://docs.google.com/file/d/19mZzOKUoHBfIueNggg2wEDJjXJA5IbYC/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=mspresentation)
1603 : James I became the King of England and fined Catholics for not attending the Church of England services. He also put Catholic priests to death.
1604: Robert Catesby (the brains behind the operation) and a group of Catholics plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on the day it opened; after plotting for over a year. The gang were made up of Catholics and they were angered that the Protestant King and Parliament would not let Catholics pratice their religion.
King James I started changing things and stopping the people’s practices of Catholicism which angered a lot of people.
Guy Fawkes: Catesby couldn’t work alone and so he gathered people who were like-minded, like Guido (Guy) Fawkes, who was an explosives expert, to help him. The gang’s plan became known as the Gunpowder Plot
The Plot - May 1604: Guy Fawkes and Thomas Percy rented a house near the House of Parliament. Fawkes pretended he was Percy’s servant and called himself John Johnson. They dug a tunnel that ran from the cellar of their house to the underneath of the House of Parliament, which was perfect for smuggling gunpowder. Fawkes was given the job of watching the barrels and lighting the fuse.
The plan takes shape: They kept digging until in March of 1605 when they heard a cellar under the House of Lords became available for rent. The gang abandoned their tunnel and packed the cellar with 36 barrels of gunpowder. They covered the barrels with firewood to hide it in case anyone looked inside.
The Plot Thickens: The riskiest part of the Gunpowder Plot was already in place. What’s next…?
Who sent the warning?: There were ten days to go and the gunpowder was ready, the gang was ready, everything was prepared. What could go wrong? Well, there was a mysterious letter that ruined this carefully plotted plan. Lord Monteagle who was an MP, cousin of Francis Tresham, and a good friend of King James I found a letter on October 26th of 1605 at dinner. A tall, mysterious stranger handed the letter to his servant in the street earlier that evening and the letter warned him to not attend the State Opening of Parliament on October 5th because something bad was going to happen. Monteagle showed the letter to Robert Cecil, but they were slow to act and King James as well as many ministers were suspicious that it might be a fake.
What to do?: It was all quiet for a few days while the gang found out about the letter. Catesby was not going to give up and he sent Fawkes down to the cellar to check if the gunpowder was still safe. All they could do now was wait.
November 4th 1605: The King ordered a search of the cellars and Fawkes was found with a pile of wood and gunpowder. He was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. The Gunpowder Plot had failed.
Torture in the Tower: After his arrest, Fawkes was taken to see King James and his court. He refused to answer most of their questions and made it clear that he did not have any regrets. He also would not reveal who the other plotters were, which infuriated the King. Reports were written at the time quoting him say, “You would have me discover my friends.” This basically means he would not rat out his gang. After his audience with the king, Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London where they hoped they could get him to talk. Fawkes was tough and did not give any secrets. He was tortured on the rack to get him to reveal the other plotters. He eventually did because it was very painful and he was under torture. Their trial was at Westminster Hall in Parliament; in January of 1606.
Torture in the Tower for The Other Plotters: The rest fo the gang had been hiding in a house in the Midlands when soldiers surrounded their house. Catesby, Percy, and the Winter brothers were shot dead. The remainder of the gang were brought back to the Tower of London where they were tried and found guilty of High Treason.
Torture in the Tower for The Other Plotters - January 1606:
All seven were sentenced to be…
Hung = The prisoner was hung but cut loose just before they lost consciousness.
Drawn = Their stomach was then sliced open and their guts pulled out. The heart would be pulled out last, and shown to the dying person.
Quartered = Finally, the head would be cut off and the body cut into four quarters.
This was a very painful death because it's slow and they keep repeating the hanging until they lose consciousness. Then, they slice their stomach open to grab the insides which is extremely painful because the intestines are long and it will take forever to pull out. Last, their heads would be cut off and their bodies were cut into four. Their heads were placed on spikes for everyone to see, which you can also see from act 1 of Macbeth.
The Fifth of November: Every year on the 5th of November Fawkes is remembered during the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Throughout England, bonfires are lit and fireworks are set while a stuffed model of a man is burnt on the bonfire to celebrate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.
Rhymes and Chants:
Remember, Remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy
Stick him up on high
Put him on the fire
And there let him die
Bonfire Food: People bake potatoes,eat sausages and a soup called Parkin which is
made of oatmeal, ginger, treacle and syrup. There are beautiful fireworks all over the
country.
The Gunpowder Plot and Act II, iii:
“Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven. Oh, come in, equivocator” (Macbeth 2.3).
The insistent reference to equivocation seems to be alluding to the Catholic priest Henry Garnet, (AKA Father Garnet) who was hung, drawn and quartered for his role in the Gunpowder Plot and was deeply criticized for equivocating. Allegedly, Garnet had heard confession from Robert Catesby, one of the plotters, which revealed his intention to kill the King, but obeyed the Seal of the Confessional by keeping it secret. Jesuits were particularly associated with equivocation, which is a way of avoiding the sin of lying by implying something untrue through ambiguous phrasing. Garnet’s defense of equivocation was extremely damaging in his trial, and the porter’s light-hearted remarks seem to be playing on popular derision of the priest.
Watch for further equivocation (a respondent who avoids giving a clear direct answer; liars) throughout the play as a whole.
Comic Relief
Comic Relief (N) - A humorous scene or speech in a serious drama which is meant to provide relief from emotional intensity and, by contrast, to heighten the seriousness of the story.
Notes:
✔ Shakespeare often employed the idea of comic relief to break up the seriousness, tension or mood in a tragedy.
✔ Shakespeare’s audience would have been expecting it after a serious scene.
Last class, we witnessed the murder scene of Duncan, and all the anxiety that was surrounding that. One of Macbeth and Lady Macbeths first plot discussions was “When does he go home? Tomorrow as he purposes.” He was only supposed to be there for a short period of time and they killed him in the middle of the evening which means by the morning someone would discover his body. King Duncan was supposed to leave in the morning so when people started looking for him, they would find him dead. The audience would have been devastated that the King had just died and would be looking for a relief, but it also heightens the seriousness of the act that has just been performed.
Reading/ Acting!
Macbeth—Act II, iii [2 pgs—Enter Macbeth] The Famous “Porter’s Scene”
Notes:
✔ Porter: Was responsible for a Castle Entrance and for the guardrooms. They also insured no one entered/left w/o permission. (The knocking sound was because of the porter. They were responsible for the castle entrance and ensured that no one entered or left, like a gatekeeper.)
✔ Knocking: Was eerie b/c of the Bubonic Plague; i.e. Knocking for the dead! (People would go around houses to knock to retrieve dead bodies.)
✔ Shakespeare created the first “knock knock” joke as a result of this scene.
Roles acted by…
Stage Directions - Kenneth
Porter - Joel
Macduff - Edward
Porter’s Speech Analysis
Class Discussion
Ruth said equivocator meant to deceive, mislead, etc. This person is very good at equivocating to the point where they have committed treason and bent justice but yet can’t equivocate their way into heaven.
Josh said the farmer was saving up crops just for it to be a surplus and not be able to sell out and it is selfish.
Edward said the equivocator is basically someone who thought he could get away with his lie and he couldn’t even lie his way into heaven.
Continued
The bell rings and Ms. Peterson says we’ll discuss the rest later because this is a two day lesson.
Reflection
Through today’s lesson, I’ve learned more about the background and historical connections of Macbeth and have started to realize a change in Lady Macbeth’s character. During the previous lessons, Lady Macbeth was first introduced as a cunning, brave, fearless woman who wanted to take charge and kill Duncan to become queen. After she saw Duncan sleeping, she couldn't bear the thought that he looked just like her father. This character development also shows how she is a hypocrite because she used to call Macbeth a coward. It is only the second act of the book and these characters are already going through emotional rollercoasters. Today, I learned about the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 where there are conflicts, causes, effects, and historical context. Basically James I became King of England and did not let Catholics practice their religion which caused a group of people to rebel and plan a plot against the Houses of Parliament. This all has a connection because Shakespeare’s Scottish play was written in 1606 which is just 3 years after King James I was crowned and during that time the Gunpowder Plot had been discovered. Macbeth is a play about treason and overthrowing a King. The famous line, “Knock, knock! Who’s there, in the other devil’s name? Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven. Oh, come in, equivocator.” is supposed to be a reference to the Catholic priest Henry Garnet who was deeply criticized for equivocating and then hung, drawn and quartered. Shakespeare’s allusions to the events of the Gunpowder Plot and what happened after leave the audience with a better understanding of both the play and the historical event. This could help me get a better understanding of the historical context behind his work and a deeper connection to the Macbeth play itself. Therefore, I’ve gotten a deeper understanding of the book and the Gunpowder Plot.
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