English Lit teachers/anyone cleverer than me - help!

[heatherpot]

DD is in Y10 and has to write an essay about whether Macbeth is a sympathetic character. She is struggling as she is insisting it doesn't mean 'do we feel sorry for him?' like sympathy means in normal life. However, she can't really put into words what it does mean - something more like empathy? I don't know! I've told her to message the teacher but they have been told only to contact them in lesson time (perfectly fair enough), which won't be until Monday and she wanted to get it done before then. So I'm trying Mumsnet as net best thing! Is it really not as simple as saying whether or not we feel sorry for him? I must admit, the wording seems not - 'is he a sympathetic character?' suggests does he feel sorry for others, which is obviously wrong! Aaargh - I'm no good at this - help please!

Can we empathise with him is my immediate thought. However, wait for an English teacher!

I did English Lit A level many moons ago, Macbeth included. Does it not mean 'do we identify with him'?

I teach history rather than English but am pretty confident that by “sympathetic character” they mean one that the audience can empathise with. A sympathetic character is one that the audience are meant to like or at least be sympathetic to.

Provojes sympathetic response from the audience, innit.

I am an English teacher and I would expect students to find evidence through the play of the moments we, the audience, feel some form of emotion for Macbeth- we feel sympathetic towards the situation he is in. Mainly brought around through Lady Macbeth and his own poor judgement. I think in terms of the essay question the word ‘sympathetic’ is used to illustrate that we can see where he has gone wrong with his decisions and feel some kind of understanding- empathy- to his situation. Does that help?

Not an English teacher but an English graduate. Why is she adamant she’s not being asked whether we feel pity for Macbeth? Look up Aristotle’s definition of tragic hero.

There are lots of reasons why we might pity the character - to some extent he is swept along by forces outside his control. He’s being influenced by his wife/the witches (bigger questions of fate etc)...does he show moments of regret for his actions? Did he anticipate the outcome?

It’s easy to condemn Macbeth; more interesting to explore our sympathies for him.

Does the reader / viewer of the play dislike the character because of his actions, or do the empathise / understand why he did them?
Long time since I studied it, but Lady MacBeth is the "power behind the throne". She is the one setting the wheels in motion, however MacBeth allows himself to be coerced.
Then there is the prophesy from the weird sisters. Magic was seen as real in those days (see witch trials, teachings of the church, old women forced to the margins of society) , was he doomed to follow through against his conscience? Would the deaths necessary to cause him to gain the throne have happened anyway because of the prophecy, whether he was active or passive?
How do we view his character in light of this?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_character#:~:text=A%20sympathetic%20character%20is%20a,supporting%20characters%20and%20even%20antagonists.

I am not impressed with your DD’s English teacher if the essay is set without giving some guidance! Wasn’t there a lesson leading up to this discussing the title, looking for quotes, planning the structure?

Ask her to research Macbeth as a tragic hero, and consider to what extent his downfall was of his own making.
Things to consider:

• should he have listened to then witches? Banquo knew better ( he told Macbeth “to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths”)
• was he manipulated by his wife?
• why did he continue to slaughter others once he had become king? What was the driving force for this.

Exploring these points would be useful. Has she got an extract as a starting point?

Yes the question is definitely expecting the essay to be about the extent to which the audience sympathises with Macbeth. There's no reason why she shouldn't include a paragraph about the extent to which Macbeth is depicted as sympathising with others as part of this question but "a sympathetic character" refers to the expected feelings of the audience towards the character, not the portrayed sympathy level of that character.

Can we understand/empathise with the way he behaves even though we understand that he does some dreadful things?

Is he sympathetic in that we see that Shakespeare presents him as a brave warrior and a noble man initially, which makes his downfall more tragic than if he had been an out and out villain from the start?

She might also explore the impact of the witches and Lady Macbeth on his decision-making: the way that Lady M goads him and challenges his masculinity (a big deal in the context of when the play is set/was written).

She could also look at his speeches, especially his soliloquies, where we see how torn by doubt he is at key moments, and then towards the end where he recognises the futility of it all.

Obviously, if she wants to challenge it as well and explore the extent to which he's not sympathetic - his murders, especially of his friend and of women and children; his callousness; his decision that he's come so far, he might as well carry on, etc etc

@EmmanuelleMakro

I am not impressed with your DD’s English teacher if the essay is set without giving some guidance! Wasn’t there a lesson leading up to this discussing the title, looking for quotes, planning the structure?

That's for the children to do - they have to do the work.

And in my experience, the teacher will have provided quite a lot of teaching enabling the children to do this but whether the pupils are paying attention or not is another thing (am not a teacher but have teenage children, one of who is also studying Macbeth)

Do we understand why he feels he has to act the day he does? I'd use his river of blood speech for this - he's caught up initially and then fears he can't turn back.

Yh what everyone else said.

I would consider how Sh presents him as a person with a mix of traits - he does terrible things but why? What is his motivation - yes, lust for power, but also love for his wife, swayed by the witches.

He is seen as a noble hero at the start of the play so she could explore how that is turned on its head. Look at his doubts about what he us going to do. Why didn't he stop when he could? What dies he feel when his wife dies? What about even at the end - he feels guilt at what he did to Macduff's family and doesn't want to fight him (and kill him for sure, as he thinks).

Wow - thanks all, so helpful!

Sounds like we weren't a million miles away in our thinking it's just the word 'sympathy' can be broader here? So when he's being a great soldier at the start we don't exactly pity him but feel 'sympathetic' in the Englishy sense as he's serving his country? I'm a bit over-invested in this now as it kind of took over our evening yesterday!

By the way, we in no way blame the teacher. DD says she understood during the lesson but when she started doing it herself began to doubt herself. She's loving the play and has plenty of ideas of what to put but was starting to doubt whether the were right for the question, though she's not impressed by all the blame and hate Lady Macbeth is getting from her classmates and wants to challenge that view in her essay if possible!

Thanks again all.

If she wants to view that M is at least equal blame to LM she could do worse than start with the bit about
'he leaves tomorrow'
'yes, that is his intention'
(not direct quotes) as it shows he is already thinking that maybe Duncan won't leave the next day...

I would say not do much sympathy for a soldier serving his country. That bit is scene setting, its a "how the mighty have fallen" scenario, the corruption caused by the possibility of power and position to a formerly great man, how becomes despised and feared.

Who.

He's a respected warrior, rich and powerful in his own right, who ends up with his head on a spike.
All the things he does, egged on by his wife (possibly) justified by the prophesy, end like that.
In fact that's a common theme in stories about magic - wishes that go wrong, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs etc.
It all goes wrong through the greed / stupidity of the person who should, on the face of it, have ended up with their hearts desire.