{"id":168719,"date":"2015-02-08T20:29:19","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T20:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/02\/08\/shredsandpatches-theboyfallsfromthesky\/"},"modified":"2015-02-08T20:29:19","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T20:29:19","slug":"shredsandpatches-theboyfallsfromthesky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/02\/08\/shredsandpatches-theboyfallsfromthesky\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

shredsandpatches<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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theboyfallsfromthesky<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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artfulgruesome<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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We went over Macbeth in class today. There\u2019s a part that says \u201cUpon my head they placed a fruitless crown\/ And put a barren scepter in my grip,\u201d<\/p>\n

Macbeth can\u2019t have kids, you guys.<\/p>\n

His scepter is barren. HIS SCEPTER<\/i> IS BROKEN. Shakespeare just made a dick joke you guys. The entire class was in tears of laughter.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah it\u2019s a dick joke but it\u2019s also kind of sad \u2014 YMMV, especially if you think the Macbeths have previously had children, but the reality is that they have no children during the play. Macbeth has no one to pass his crown to, and because Banquo was prophesied as the father to kings though he would never be king himself, this is why Macbeth is threatened by Banquo and his son Fleance. It\u2019s one of the things that feeds his paranoia.<\/p>\n

(Of course historically speaking by tanistry standards Macbeth arguable had the better claim to the throne anyway, and it doesn\u2019t seem like Banquo and his family were in line at all, but if you take the throne by force I think you\u2019re likely to be paranoid that someone will take it from you by force.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I would argue that this isn\u2019t a \u201cdick joke\u201d at all, not in the sense that it\u2019s not about dicks because it obviously is<\/i> about dicks, but in the sense that it\u2019s not really funny. <\/i>It\u2019s a penis reference, yes, but it\u2019s not there to make you laugh so much as to underscore Macbeth\u2019s status as a dynastic dead end. After all, his anxieties about posterity are going to lead him to commission the murders of his friend and his friend\u2019s young son (Fleance\u2019s age isn\u2019t specified but he\u2019s young enough to be called \u201cboy\u201d) directly after the end of this speech<\/i>. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

shredsandpatches: theboyfallsfromthesky: artfulgruesome: We went over Macbeth in class today. There\u2019s a part that says \u201cUpon my head they placed a fruitless crown\/ And put a barren scepter in my grip,\u201d Macbeth can\u2019t have kids, you guys. His scepter is barren. HIS SCEPTER IS BROKEN. Shakespeare just made a dick joke you guys. The entire … <\/p>\n

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