Module #14 - Mistakes...Consequences

4/17/2014

Dee Life's Quotes flickr.com

As your reading of Macbeth is coming to an end, give some thought to this quote.

"I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences... I'm human, not perfect, like anybody else.
Queen Latifah

Did Macbeth learn from his mistakes? Do you consider that he was human and just made errors in judgment or is there more to it? Is Macbeth the only one to blame for the tragedy or are there others? How does this relate to society today?

Since all of this is leading up to a literary analysis of the drama Macbeth, please be sure to add some hearty discussion.

You will need to respond to one (1) peer's post this week.

Brian Burke

4/21/2014 04:12:57 pm

When I see the phrase "I'm only human", I am appalled that people use that as an excuse. Making mistakes is natural of course, to an extent. Killing is not a forgivable crime. Macbeth has traveled too far down a dark road where there is no going back. Macbeth is not the only one to blame for this tragedy. There are numerous characters that contribute to the tragic ending of this play. The kinds children who flee create suspicion, Macduff is plotting against Macbeth. There are so many more characters in this tragedy that contribute to the ending. Reflecting on the quote, it is a reasonable thing to say, but not always justifiable. Society today is in fact very similar to the play. It's a different time period but in the end the only thing that people want to achieve is power. And there are devious acts that are being done to gain this power. This goes for Macbeth and also today's society.

Alyssa Saggio

4/22/2014 01:14:00 am

Killing is definitely not a forgivable crime. I like that you stated while the quote is reasonable, it's not always accurate. I also didn't even think of how people in our world are obsessed with the thought of power. Everyone always wants to be in control of everything, and many of those people will go to extremes to get what they want. Although I would agree with you in most aspects of your post, I don't think people use the phrase, "I'm only human" as an excuse. In most cases, I would say that people make mistakes and learn from their actions. I think stating "I'm only human" is what people would say when they make a mistake and realize that they should learn from it. Now I don't think that it's a feasible excuse for murder or theft or robbery or anything too severe, but mistakes are often justifiable. I'm sure you yourself have made choices and decisions in your life that you haven't been to happy about. Life is a learning experience, and we are all only human.

Alyson

4/23/2014 06:15:15 am

I agree with you when you say that "I'm only human" is valid but only to an extent. Making stupid mistakes like dating the wrong person or pick the major are forgivable, but murder will never be. The law does not view crime as just making a mistake especially when the crime is as intense as murder. I also agree when you say that Macbeth is in too deep to get out now. He has made too many wrong decisions and committed too many crimes to be forgiven. I never thought about the king's children being a cause for Macbeth's actions, but you brought up a good point that they are. Times change, but the power hungry people never do.

Tori Mccaslin

4/25/2014 11:25:55 am

I agree with what you say about saying "I'm only human" being an excuse. People can make small mistakes in life and most of the time they can be forgiven, but murder shouldn't be. Like aly, I also agree with what you say about Macbeth being in too deep to fix his life. He's made too many bad decisions to be forgiven or turn his life around.

Alyssa Saggio

4/22/2014 01:04:50 am

I would agree that no one is perfect; sometimes people strive to be perfect but every one has that ONE quality most people would consider an imperfection. Yes, Macbeth is just another one of those imperfect humans, but I don't see how that's an excuse for his behavior. I could understand that he made "errors in judgement" because his mind was so clouded with the thought of power. Because I know how "Macbeth" ended, I feel as though he might have had some understanding for the many mistakes in his life but I strongly do not believed he learned from his wrongdoings. In my opinion, it's a bit much to say that Macbeth is "the only one to blame for the tragedy." Several people throughout "Macbeth" play key roles in influencing the tragedy. One person being Lady Macbeth. While she didn't kill anyone but herself, she convinced Macbeth that it would be a good idea to kill Duncan in order to be the next King of Scotland. In addition, she framed other men to make it look like her husband was not the murderer. Speaking of murderers, Macbeth convinced THEM to kill Macduff and his family, which they agreed to. Going off of Macduff, if he would have been with his family, he might have been able to protect them. Even the three witches can be responsible for influencing the tragedy. Without them, Macbeth would know nothing about his future and he probably wouldn't have been so power hungry. As far as society goes, I find it funny that although we are now centuries later in history, people still have a hard time owning up to their actions and admitting they were wrong (just like Macbeth). Another similarity I noticed between our modern times and William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is that people often resort to violence when they are unhappy about particular events. Think about the constant wars people involve themselves in. Or if you think that may be too broad of a scale, take into account all of the fights you've seen or heard about in your high school, middle school, and even elementary schools...Although we are not battling to the deaths and using swords for weapons, people in our generation (and for several other generations) constantly resort to violence, similarly to Macbeth.

Devin Blattner

4/22/2014 03:40:42 am

I don't believe that Macbeth learned from his mistakes. He was still fighting for power even at the end of the play. I don't believe that dying was a consequence for Macbeth. He didn't learn from his mistakes. In a way I think Macbeth was just a human that made bad decision but that is not a valid excuse for what he did in his lifetime. Serial killers may have made bad choices in their life and could regret those choices when they are sitting in jail but that doesn't make up for they choices they have made. Although Macbeth is a huge target to blame, he is not the only one. Lady Macbeth should also take part in that blame because she is the one who originally forced Macbeth to kill. This topic relates to modern society because people still make bad decisions that affect them in negative ways.

Cole

4/24/2014 11:20:55 am

I agree with everything you said. It's ridiculous how people never learn from their mistakes. People who go in and out of jail are a great example. They never learn from their repeated mistakes. You're right when you said Macbeth was just a human who made a mistake, but didn't learn from them. I also believe that Lady Macbeth was a huge catalyst for Macbeth to start his murderous rampage, but Macbeth should have been strong enough to resist it.

Kasey Gallagher

4/22/2014 05:13:06 am

I agree that people aren't perfect but I don't agree with using the phrase "I'm only human" as an excuse for negative actions. Everyone is human but not everyone murders, steals, does drugs, etc. I think its human nature to make mistakes because I see life as a series of trial and error, but human nature isn't an excuse to do things.
I don't think Macbeth learned from his mistakes and I don't think he was just "being human". I think his actions were pushed by nothing but greed. His actions weren't "human" or justified. I think other people were also responsible for Macbeth's actions because the ideas were never present in his mind until other people influenced him.
I think the ideas and themes present in Macbeth can relate to society because there's a certain level of corruption that occurs when we interact with other members of society. I know that when I was in elementary school, up until I was in 5th grade, I was innocent and knew nothing about sex, drugs, or alcohol until 2 of my friends started telling me about different things. I think things like that occur all through our lives no matter what stage we're in.

Alyssa Saggio

4/22/2014 06:37:46 am

Interesting take on how Macbeth relates to society. I don't think I would have ever thought that corruption could occur at such a young age because I feel that our generation is so advanced with technology that it is normal for us to know things that we should not or do not need to know. It's weird to think that if a friend tells you about drugs, sex, or alcohol they are corrupting you because it happens so frequently in today's society. I see the similarity with Macbeth. However, in the 1600s the people were obviously corrupted in terms of other topics...not drugs, sex, and alcohol. For example, Macbeth was corrupted by his need for power, which was driven by Lady Macbeth.

Alyson Picione

4/22/2014 07:14:16 am

Macbeth did not learn from his mistakes. To me, learning from your mistakes is seeing that what you did is wrong and taking the necessary steps to not do it again. Macbeth continued to murder people even though he knew that murder is wrong. There is not way he is "just human" or made an error in judgement because he took someone else's life. When you are playing with someone else's livelihood it is no longer a mistake. Not only is Macbeth responsible for the murders, so is Lady Macbeth because she encouraged him to commit the murders for her own selfish pursuit. This relates to society today because although politicians are not murdering people, they do lie to get ahead in the polls.

Cole

4/22/2014 08:19:25 am

I love that quote. But I don't think that Macbeth learned from his mistakes because he made the same mistake twice. The first time I believe was a bad judgment call, but he didn't learn from his lesson because Duncan's didn't affect him like Banquo's death did. Although I don't think that he is the only one responsible. Lady Macbeth played a big part, but it seemed that she did learn from her mistake because when Macbeth talked about killing Banquo, she didn't agree with him and told him to stop. This relates to society today because a lot of people don't learn from their mistakes because they continue to make the same mistakes, and some people make the same mistakes even after they pay the price for it.

Tori McCaslin

4/23/2014 04:34:09 am

When I hear the phrase “Im only human,” I don’t think that it is a good excuse. However, I do agree that people can make mistakes and make bad decisions and then learn from them. I do not think that it can be used as an excuse for killing another human being. Everyone is taught right from wrong and everyones knows that murder it wrong and there is no excuse for it. It is normal for people to make mistakes and then learn from them because no one is perfect. I don’t think that Macbeth learned from his mistakes because his actions were fueled with revenge and greed. His actions were not “human” nor can they be justified. I think that other characters in the play can be partially responsible but in the end, every decision he made was completely up to him. I think that the themes and ideas in Macbeth can definitely relate to society now because there are a lot of people who change their mind or actions when others begin to influence them. No matter how hard people try to be their own person and make their own decisions, influences can happen throughout everyones life.

Brian Burke

4/23/2014 06:06:43 am

This post shows very similar opinions to my own. People are taught right from wrong and they should somewhat know what to do in any situation. Like the previous posts, you stated that people do learn from their actions. This is true. Contrary to that, people do not always learn from their mistakes. In a way, Macbeth does not learn from his mistakes throughout much of the play. I personally do believe Macbeth did learn from his mistakes in the final scenes. Macbeth showed much regret and also spoke of an inevitable fate, death, which would likely soon meet him. This realization supports the idea of him coming back from his insanity and understanding the severity of his deeds. I also agree with your opinion on human nature in society. Influences are everywhere and making a sole decision on your own can often be difficult.

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Module #14 - Mistakes...Consequences

Mrs. Erdman

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