Lady Macbeth

1. Do you feel sorry for Lady Macbeth? Why or why not?

Lady Macbeth plays a critical role, especially in the beginning of the play. She cajoles her husband to murder Duncan in order to satisfy her greed. There was not a single moment when I felt sorry for Lady Macbeth while reading the play. In fact, I thought her suffering and distress from guilt was an obvious outcome. Reading Macbeth, especially Lady Macbeth’s lines, reminded me of the bible verse:

Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

Lady Macbeth’s lust of authority and more power have begotten sin, which Lady Macbeth suffered from. Then, her sin brought forth her death. I think Lady Macbeth shows a perfect illustration of the verse.

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2. What do you think about the character of Macbeth>? Was he a good guy before he met the witches, or do his actions imply that he was always capable of dark deeds? Is he to blame for his actions, or are the witches really to blame?

I believe Macbeth was not born “evil,” but allowed himself to become evil after meeting the witches. We know in the beginning of the play that Duncan trusted Macbeth to a great extent and Macbeth also was loyal to his country and king.

However, the huge change in Macbeth’s life came along with the three witches. I think Macbeth was always capable of dark deeds because if he was a “good guy” before he met the witches, he would not have committed in such hideous deeds.

For the third question, I think both Macbeth and the witches are to blame for such outcome. Firstly, Macbeth is to blame because he allowed himself to murder Duncan even though he had the choice not to kill him, when he said the line:

“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir. [Act 1, scene 3]

However, despite the choices he had, he chose to murder Duncan. The witches, of course, are to blame because if it wasn’t for their prediction, the entire incident would not have happened. Macbeth would have continued to be faithful and loyal to the king.

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3. Is there a personal incident in your life you wish could erase? Envision Lady Macbeth wringing her hands, unable to get the imaginary blood off of them. She is haunted by her participation in the grisly deed. Do you think her response is plausible? Do you think you would be consumed with guilt yourself if you found yourself wrapped up in such a heinous crime?

Every time I make a mistake, I wish I could erase. But there hadn’t been an incident as horrifying as Lady Macbeth’s in my life that I want to erase. Lady Macbeth’s response is plausible because murdering is a grave sin. If I found myself wrapped up in such a heinous crime, I think I would have similar reaction to Lady Macbeth’s. I would be under a great distress and suffering from guilt and sin I have committed and would be haunted by the participation in the grisly deed. I would definitely want to rewind the clock and undo things.

4. Future & Predicted Dream

4. Have you ever experienced a predicted dream? Has anyone ever suggested something about you future that has actually come true? Did their comments influence your action and the results that followed?

I have never experienced a predicted dream nor have met anyone who suggested something about my future that has actually come true. I think our future depends on present, or how we spend and manage our present time. I think knowing the future can change a lot of our behaviors in present, as we’ve seen in Macbeth.

Yet I do have a friend who met a shaman, who communicates with the dead and predicts the fortune. He said most of it actually did come true; the female shaman predicted the names of the colleges he would get accepted and would not get accepted. The shaman also predicted that he would loose one of her grandparents in May, which came to reality. However, hearing about his future did not change him much; he continued to study hard because he was afraid that if he didn’t, he would not get accepted to the college the shaman mentioned that he would. Although I am a bit curious about my future, but I do not want to visit the shaman after listening to his visit to the shaman which was very creepy and terrifying. But sometimes, I feel knowing about our future can be a big negative factor than a positive. I would rather live not knowing the future and continue to work hard in present time.

Lady Macbeth's Decline

“A little water clears us of this deed. How easy it is, then!” (2.2.86-87)

This line of Lady Macbeth is taken from the scene when Macbeth decides not to proceed with his plan of murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth, who covets for more power and the throne, says this line to Macbeth in order to persuade him to ensue with their plan. Lady Macbeth thinks that washing themselves covered in blood with water will conceal their crimes and sins. Water did conceal their crimes from seeing by others, but they could not disguise their sins from themselves.

“What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45)

Lady Macbeth says this line unconsciously, in her sleep. The audience really can sense her troubled nature due to her sin as Lady Macbeth delivers this line. She is scared and fearful of the truth of what she had done. Perhaps, her fear is what keeps her away from darkness and sleep as she orders her maid to keep the candle lights on. Also, in the latter line, both the audience or readers and Lady Macbeth, herself, know that her hands will never be clean again as long as Duncan wakes up from his death.

Margaret Atwood

Of the three poets, I am most like with Margaret Atwood. She is not only an incredible poet and a writer, but she also is feminist and political activist. I’ve long been very much interested in Women’s Studies after reading the Incidents during my freshman year. The book encloses several writings of American and Canadian anthropologists around the world and there were a number of writings on women’s role in different cultures. For instance, MyungHye Kim, an anthropologist, writes “When she [Korean women] has to leave home for a day or two for a personal reason, she does so in an apologetic way and she is expected to prepare meals for the rest of the family, arrange help with childcare, make the house tidy and so forth, so that her absence would not cause any inconvenience for the rest of the family.” This fact is true in Korean culture. The perspective of women’s role being just as a homemaker is changing nowadays in Korea, but there still exists conservative atmosphere among the culture that results in the conception that preparing meals and looking after family are women’s duties.



I am not a political activist, but I am interested in politics. Every morning, I read newspapers while eating breakfast and reading politics section became essential part of my morning. I also enjoy the political satiric cartoons. At first, they were hard to understand but as I started to get the gist of them, it makes me grin.



Moreover, Margaret Atwood wrote many works based on the theme of “loneliness”. It seems that she has been through some period of seclusion and underwent loneliness at some point in her life. I was able to connect with her feelings because I was once isolated from the world when I was recuperating from my injury in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) in hospital for over three months. Visitors were hard to make appointments and even if they did arrange an appointment, they were only allowed to be in for thirty minutes (either 10 to 10:30 a.m. or 5 to 6:30 p.m.). Of these personality traits and issues of my interest, I recognize myself the most with Margaret Atwood.

Theme for English B by Lanston Hughes

I TPCASTT-ed the poem “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, which is one of my favorite poems. Langston Hughes talks through a protagonist that he’d created in his poem who speaks in powerful voice about racial issues that had been rooted in the society during the time he was writing. Through his simple writing style that sets off the poem more powerful and influential to the readers, Langston Hughes addresses his race’s ignorance and tries to bring changes by showing what he had writing for his English class taught by a white instructor. His compelling words and his powerful delineation of his experience brings about emotions of the readers. I read the poem out loud before and after I had done the TPCASTT. I was able to understand the poem more profoundly, especially when I saw different literary devices used in many colors. As in the poem “Theme for English B,” truth lies in every man’s heart, not only in the hearts of specific race.