I was working on my Molly project today— contemplating a slightly new format, to reconstruct the prologue. The idea came out of the first weekly mini writer’s retreat that I started last Monday with my soul-sister, Patti Henderson:
Patti encouraged me to attack the material in a new way.
I love how collaborative dialogue can push, pull, inspire. Afterwards, perseverating on the ideas that were brought up, the magic begins as one idea flows into the next, and the creative process leads as opposed to being led. The dots connect and coincidences become more than coincidences…
For example,
I was on the ferry headed to a wedding on Friday when suddenly, in my mind’s eye, I saw the prologue unfold in a series on visuals with a particular focus on the character’s eyes. We see the children see…
I wrote some notes and continued to mind map when I got home today.
I put an episode of Charlie Rose on in the background…
https://charlierose.com/video/player/28756
I heard Kenneth Branagh quote a moment in Macbeth… That is a step. On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap… He emphasized and mused on the word o’oerleap and how in the context it meant the choice of murder. I was intrigued by the word, by his take on it and how it worked well in the context of Molly. So I looked further and searched for the moment it appears in the play:
MACBETH [Aside]
The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. (1.4.55-60)
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see… how wonderful! By seeking more on o’erleap, I find a quote related to my new vision for the prologue. Coincidence?
And so, that is a step on which… I build.
The prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
Macbeth sees that to become king, he must over come Malcolm, and Duncan, so that he is next in line. He is describing this as a step on a stoop that he can either be to intimidated to not even attempt, or have full confidence and leap over it. One could say that the witches’ prophesy did not cause Macbeth to kill Duncan. Instead, he always had the desire to kill the King within him, but the prophesy caused it to come to the forefront.
“Whence is that knocking?—
How is’t with me, when every noise appals me?
What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”
Macbeth Act II, Scene ii
Macbeth says these lines right after killing King Duncan. He is feeling extremely guilty and all of a sudden he hears this knocking at his gate. He is afraid that whomever is at his door may be there because they know what Macbeth has done to the King. He is afraid to see who it is and why they are there. Macbeth is also saying that he is so full of guilt and his hand is so bloody from committing such a crime that even if he were to dip his hand in the ocean to try and clean off the blood, the ocean would just turn from green to red.
“Blood hath been shed ere now, i’ th’ olden time,
Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal;
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform’d
Too terrible for the ear: the times have been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end, but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools: this is more strange
Than such a murder is. ”
Macbeth, Act III, Scene iv
After MacBeth murders Duncan and Banquo, he begins to see apparitions. At his celebratory banquet, Macbeth’s hallucinations worsen. He begins to show signs of insanity at the dinner, detectable to the other guests. He was not able to beat his conscience because he knew what he did was wrong. Macbeth was seeing the ghosts as they were killed, with wounds and all. This was worse than killing someone.
Molly / MacBeth – The step on which to build xo
DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!