Catharsis in Macbeth

Definition:

Catharsis is a Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing" derived from the ancient Greek infinitive καθαίρειν transliterated as kathairein "to purify, purge," and adjective katharos "pure or clean" (ancient and modern Greek: καθαρός).

(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions

Roots:
Ancient Greek: Derived from the ancient Greek infinitive καθαίρειν

Connection to Macbeth

In Macbeth, the audience feels throughout the play that Macbeth’s slaying of the innocent Duncan was unjustified. Even though Macbeth feels guilty and has doubts and scruples, he still goes through with the act, which makes us unconsciously feel that he should be punished and not rewarded with the kingship. The audience has a need for closure and to purge all of these emotions about Macbeth. This need ultimately leads to the death of Macbeth, as it is the simplest and possibly the most satisfying way to purge the emotional baggage associated with Macbeth and because he finally gets his justice.

The life and role of English women - 1600's

Macbeth was written around 1606.

According to: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maggieoh/Macbeth/history.html,

Role and life of Women

In the early 17th century
• Caucasian women during the early 17th century had the privilege of learning basic reading and writing skills.

o Few women continued past the basic learning and most were discouraged to achieve more education.

• After achieving basic education, women were trained to become mothers and house wives.

• Women had no influence in politics and legal issues of the day. Neither did they have a say in government policies.

o Essentially woman had no say in anything men felt women should not be involved in.
• Women had no right to own a business or to hold any of the property once married

• Women could not get a divorce.
o If a woman was divorced, she would be stripped of all real-estate property and would be frowned upon by society.


The real Macbeth:

• Macbeth was an 11th century Scottish king who actually killed the ruling king, Duncan 1 during 1040.

• He was known to be a brave leader who ruled honestly and equally, imposing law and succesfully conquering territory

Women in the time of the real Macbeth (late 9^th to early 10^th century):

• In the tenth century, a few women achieved power but almost entirely through their fathers, husbands, sons and grandsons

• Women's value to royal families was as child bearers and as pawns to move around in dynastic marriages

• Women wore simple clothing that resembled tunics, they were considered housewives and they did house chores or farming.

• They seldom had power, but some women became queens and conquered land.

In the early 17^th century:

• Caucasian women during the early 17^th century had the privilege of learning basic reading and writing skills.
• Few women continued past the basic learning and most were discouraged to achieve more education.

• After achieving basic education, women were trained to become mothers and house wives.

• Women had no influence in politics and legal issues of the day. Neither did they have a say in government policies.
• Essentially woman had no say in anything men felt women should not be involved in.

• Women had no right to own a business or to hold any of the property once married

• Women could not get a divorce.
• If a woman was divorced, she would be stripped of all real-estate property and would be frowned upon by society.

Women in the 1600's

• Women wore simple clothing that resembled tunics, they were considered housewives and they did house chores or farming.
• They seldom had power, but some women became queens and conquered land.

• Macbeth was a 11th century Scottish king who actually killed the ruling king, Duncan 1 during 1040.

• He was known to be a brave leader who ruled honestly and equally, imposing law and succesfully conquering territory

• and succesfully conquering territory

Sources:

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/lists/bl_list_10th_century.htm

http://eportg.cgc.maricopa.edu/published/h/is/history201-activists/document/1/index-2.2.shtml

http://eportg.cgc.maricopa.edu/published/h/is/history201-activists/document/1/index-2.2.shtml

http://www.moondragon.org/costumes/11cdress.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1j.html

Act 1 - Comparison between Gutenburg

Comparison Analysis of Act 1 scene 1 - Gutenburg vs. Oxford

The Gutenberg electronic version of Macbeth is located on the official Project Gutenberg website. Considering the fact that it was Project Gutenberg that invented electronic books as well as the fact that Project Gutenberg has been active since 1971, which was fairly close to when the first personal computer was invented, it is not very likely that the Project Gutenberg website will be taken off the net for quite some time. The Project Gutenberg website itself is also updated nightly, which lends credibility to the fact that the website is quite popular and thus is not very likely to go down.
According to a December 2008 newsletter from Project Gutenberg, the website is host to as many titles as the average U.S public library. Because of this, it is quite obvious that Project Gutenberg is a very reliable source.
Variations between the Gutenberg electronic version of Macbeth and the Oxford Edition of Macbeth mainly came in the form of changes in physical layout, for in the Project Gutenberg version, the characters’ lines are on the same line as the characters’ names, while in the Oxford Edition, the characters’ lines follow the characters’ names on the next line. When comparing the two versions, it is quite obvious that there is a difference in font as well as font size: the Project Gutenberg version is slightly bigger than the Oxford version, which allows it to be more easily read.
Besides changes in physical layout, there were also slight changes in stage directions, punctuation, as well as character information. With regards to stage directions, the Project Gutenberg version of Macbeth placed directions with far more significant meaning into the text whereas the Oxford version followed Shakespeare’s example and left the directions extremely vague. Also, the Project Gutenberg version of Macbeth lends a more dramatic feel to the play, as many comas and periods that are present in the oxford version were substituted with exclamation marks. Also, the Project Gutenberg version of Macbeth presents the characters at the start of the play in the order of importance while the Oxford version presents the characters in the order in which they appear in the play.
These variations in text can cause the Project Gutenberg version of Macbeth to seem superior to the Oxford version, however the Project Gutenberg version lacks characteristics essential to a grade 10 understanding of the play which the Oxford version does not. These missing features include footnotes as well as line numbers.
In conclusion, the Project Gutenberg version of Macbeth is certainly a reliable resource, however the Oxford version of Macbeth is slightly better when taking into account the targeted audience.

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/1ws3410.txt

Scene 1 Discussion