|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 10 February 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Lady Macbeth by Gwen Herat Of all Shakespeare's women characters, Lady Macbeth stands out as the most gruesome, calculating virago whose ambition to kill King Duncan and usurp the throne of Scotland, is a study how the bard twisted his pen in various ways to denote the making of women as from the innocent Ophelia to the cancerous Lady Macbeth.
Obsessed as she was with power, she drove an obviously sane man, Macbeth, to the brink of destruction. She manipulated the perfect plot in order to make way for Macbeth to be king. She was a great manipulator of situations and by far, the shrewder one of the two. He was led up the garden path by her sexual stimulation when it was warranted, poisoning his mind against the trusting Duncan who even ventured to visit them offering Lady Macbeth an easy access to her morbid plans for assassination. The speed of action with which the story moves, there is no pause or rest. When he returns from the victorious battle fields, she pampers him. 'All hail, Macbeth; that thou shalt be king hereafter' and drives the first seed of poison into his mind. It was easy for Lady Macbeth to exercise her spell after the three witches prophersied great things for him. However, the naming of Malcolm as the Prince of Cumberland casts a shadow on his ambition. 'Hie thee hither She smells success the moment she sees Macbeth and when he announces 'My dearest love Duncan comes here to night' and she snaps back 'And when gone hence?' with ferocity to which Macbeth replies, 'Tomorrow as he purposes'. By now Lady Macbeth had decided on his elimination. So, she replies 'O never, shall sun that tomorrow see'. The king arrives, the crafty Lady Macbeth greets him with love, 'This castle has a pleasant seat' he tells her unaware of her plot to kill him. Macbeth hath no doubts about his lady's capabilities and with coaxing, he becomes eager to finish off the dead. There is no going back and Macbeth by nature a dreamer of spectral dreams, readies himself. But here we see a complascent Lady Macbeth even briefly whose attempt to stab the sleeping king, fails. Lady M. "That which hath made the drink hath made me bold, what hath quench'd them hath given me fire. ......Hark Peace; It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman. Which gives the strongest good night. He is about it. The doors are open and the surfeited grooms, Do mock their charge with snores. I have drugg'd their possets. That death and nature do contend about them, whether they love or not. Macbeth - 'Who's there? what, he? Lady M - Alack, I am afraid they have awaked and it's not done. The attempt and not the deed. I laid their daggers ready. He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled my father as he slept. I had done 'it. ACT. 11. Scene 11 It is only here that we see a shade of softening of Lady Macbeth when she recalls her father as the king lay asleep. (Enter Macbeth) Macbeth - 'I have done the deed. Did'st thou hear a noise? Lady M - I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did you not speak?... ACT. 11. Scene 111. However, remorse instantly grips Macbeth. Fear and repentance tightens his spirit and no longer does he heed his wife's words. But with the security of Duncan's death, he takes heart but until his watch runs to inform him about the moving Birnam Forest which the witches had told him. Yet, Macbeth contained himself with the assurance given by the witches that no man born of woman shall harm him. They all proved futile. As the play progresses Lady Macbeth and her husband exchange places. He becomes bolder while she retreats with fear. The supernatural fears that gripped Macbeth leaves him and torments his grief striken wife. She walks in her sleep and attempt to wash her hands. She talks of Duncan's murder and the knockings at the door. She falls sick and her maid summons a doctor. Doctor - 'A great pertubation in nature, to receive at once, the benefit of sleep. And do the effects of watching......(Enter Lady Macbeth) - Here she comes. Lady M - Yet, here's a spot. Doc. - Hark she speaks. I will set down what comes of her to satisfy my remembrances the more strongly. Lady M - Out, damnd spot. I say hell is murky; Fie my lord, fie. a soldier and a feared? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account. Yet, who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him? Doc. - Do you mark that? Lady M - The thame of Fife and wife where is she now. What, will these hands never be clean. No more of that. You mar all with the starting. Doc. - Go to, go to; you have known what you should not........ Lady M - Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so pale I tell you yet again. Banquo's buried. He cannot come out on's grave Doc. - Even so? Lady M - To bed, to bed; There's knocking at the gate. come, come, come, come. Give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed in bed. The news of her death do not upset Macbeth as he repents for his deed. 'She should have died hereafter' he says. Those were his comments on Lady Macbeth but he Soliloquises, 'Out out brief candle; Lif's but a walking shadow, a poor player That starts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more; it is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing!..... And thus endeth a relationship, greater than love, great in honour but for the viles of a scheming wife who brought down an illustrious career of a man who would have stood in par with the king. A man as great as Macbeth. Tribute to American director Spike Lee, February 10-14 In honor of Black History Month, the U.S. Embassy's American Center will sponsor a film festival featuring several of famous director Spike Lee's works at the Sri Lanka Television Training Institute (SLTTI) from February 10 to 14. Among American film directors, Spike Lee is considered one of the most provocative, adept, and important figures in contemporary cinema. His films explore various themes, from examining modern race relations in American cities to profiling black leaders and artists. Lee's films offer vivid, powerful views of the black experience in America, including racial prejudice and stereotyping, and challenge the viewer to examine their reactions to these topics. Every February, Black History Month is celebrated the contributions that black Americans have made to American society, providing an opportunity to educate communities about notable black figures and the history of African-Americans in the United States. People of African descent make up 13.3 percent of the total U.S. population, approximately 38 million people. Black History Month affords people of all races a chance to reflect on the enormous impact of African-Americans on the culture, society, and history of the United States. Following are listings of the films to be shown at the festival as well as brief synopses: Thursday, February 10: Do The Right Thing (1989) One of Spike Lee's most controversial films, Do The Right Thing examines race relations in America, turning the camera's lens on one block of the New York neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. A scathing look at what Lee portrays as the true nature of American racial stereotypes and prejudices, the film is considered one of the best movies ever made about race in America. Friday, February 11: School Daze (1988) Set at a historically black school, Lee's third film examines race relations in a highly charged atmosphere that combines tradition, sexual tension, and social divisions. Lee intended this film to be a critique of the divisions at all-black colleges, comparing the socially conscious with the materialistic School Daze, Lee's attempt at a musical, also examines the interplay within different groups of African-American students. Saturday, February 12: Mo' Better Blues (1990) A jazz biopic that examines one of the most popular indigenous American musical genres, this film showcases a different aspect of Lee's directorial style, slower paced and more deliberate than his earlier works. The first Lee film to star Denzel Washington, Lee creates an intimate and moody look at the world of jazz featuring works by John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Sunday, February 13: Jungle Fever (1991) A look at interracial relationships in America in the 20th century, this film sets out to look at the obstacles placed on an interracial couple in the United States by traditions of race, sexism, and prejudice. Lee makes the case that the two protagonists (Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra) are driven to one another by frustration with social obstacles to their relationship, and examines the underlying motives and emotional undercurrents. Monday, February 14: Malcolm X (1992) Considered the milestone of Lee's career by critics, this dizzying look at the life of militant American civil rights leader Malcolm X pulls no punches in its intensity, traversing the journey of Malcolm X from a hustler on the streets of Detroit to one of the most revered and controversial figures in American history. The film also examines the role of the black Muslim movement in the civil rights struggle that took place in the United States in the 1960s, mixing religion and politics. Films will begin promptly at 5:30pm each day. Tickets for the festival are free of charge and are available at SLTTI, 100A Independence Avenue, Colombo 7, beginning February 7 - Monday - Friday from 9:30 am to 4:30pm. Seating is extremely limited and tickets will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis. Due to space constraints, tickets are limited to two (2) per person per film. Inquiries about Black History Month, Spike Lee, or the Film Festival should be directed to the Cultural Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy at 242-1271. Information about tickets can be obtained from SLTTI at 269-2507. |
|
|
News | Business
| Features | Editorial
| Security Produced by Lake House |
