Poetry

Even after the class discussions I don’t like poetry that much. What the class discussions did though, it that they made me learn to appreciate all the theory that poetry involves. Poetry is different for every type of author, each putting their own style to it. The way the author expresses their feelings through their poetry has a unique result in the mind of each reader and this is why I especially respect poetry. The literary devices used by the poet give a double meaning and therefore also a vivid image in which in a single word you can understand more than was meant. 

Macbeth and Throne of Blood

Semiotics is a difficult branch of linguistic, not only because of the terms but because of the signification a word has according to the cultural, historical and social context. The semiotic analysis can be apply to many different things and not only in the word or group of words. It can also be use in photographs, propaganda, videos, films, ect... For example in an announcement you can analyze the connotative meaning of the words and images used, and how this changes according to the culture or geographical place. The semiotics help understand the meaning and the cultural context of any work. You need to have a different perspective of the things to understand them completely. So the semiotic analysis is not as difficult as it seems to seem, if you understand the basses it can be very useful to comprehend the whole context of one work.

In the movie of Kurosawa, The Throne of Blood, has many aspects of the Japanese culture and the elements used to create the ambiance are very good. One of the things that are seen in the film are the ideologies of the Japanese culture like the honor, loyalty and the military aspects. At the beginning and through the story, it can be seen the wahoo used at an ancient time by the Japanese soldiers, like the arch and samurai sword. The costumes of the samurais and in the daily life were shown in the film and whichever were the elements to identified the ranks.

The film also teaches something's that are not discuss in William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. For example one thing that is learn from the movie is the importance of Lady Macbeth. Probably if she cannot convince her husband to kill Duncan in order to have the complete control, there wouldn't be a story. Kurosawa also explains the inevitable thirst of ambition of the human being, something that in the play of Macbeth is not mention so deeply. He explains this behavior of the human being by making Lady.... tell to her husband so he betray his lord by killing him. Another thing explain in the movie is the importance of the witch. In the Japanese it is clearly seen the evilness of some spirits and how the people in general are afraid of them or have a rancor with them. In the film there is only one witch that is that tell the prophecy, through the story it is seen how the witches is consider an evil spirit that only looks for the human destruction, and that is probably the reason why Shakespeare decided to put a witch as the teller of the destruction of Macbeth and also why the dialog between the three witches and Hacate to destroy Macbeth life and have fun with him.

In conclusion the author explain many of the meaning and cultural aspects seen in Macbeth through the images, character's dialog and their emotions.

Throne of Blood

Kurosawa’s film, Throne of Blood, have similarities with the play of William Shakespeare, Macbeth. The film is based on the play so most of the events that happen in the film also occur on Shakespeare’s play. Both of them begin in the same point; there is a war and the principal character is the hero winning the war. At the end of the final battle the principal character with his main comrade are travelling when they meet the witch (in difference of the play, in the film only appears one witch but they are three in the Shakespeare’s work), and she recites the prophecy that the main characters and his comrade do not believe. The event that makes them trust on the witch’s prophecy is that the first part, that the main character will become the ruler, become true. So far of the part seen of the movie, in both, play and film, the wife of the main character is the one who convince her husband to act, but they convince him in a different way. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband, Macbeth, to kill Duncan by putting his maleness in doubt. In the other hand Asaji-dono convinces her husband by telling him that Miki can betray him causing his destruction, she say that he has to choose between waiting his own destruction or kill his lord. The film shows more the Japanese culture’s idea of loyalty and honor. Kurosawa emphasized more certain aspects that Shakespeare did not; the main reason of these is because of the Japanese culture. For example in the film the values that are most emphasize are the honor and the loyalty towards the lord, but in Macbeth that values are irrelevant. The Japanese culture have these feeling of pleasure by been loyal to their lord and honoring him, the best example to see the importance of the honor and loyalty in the Japanese culture is the legend of the 47 Ronin. The story tells how 47 Ronin (a samurai that lost his daimyo, or feudal lord) revenge their daimyo because he was force to commit seppuku (the ritual of suicide, it is dying with honor in the Japanese culture) by a crime that he did not committed.