Macbeth
Ratings705
Average rating3.9
Favorite Shakespearean play, I've seen it twice at Stratford. The first time I saw Lady MacBeth played by Lucy Peacock losing her mind onstage I freaked. Loved it ever since. (the perils of o'erleaping ambition also seemed relevant in the white collar world I work in)
‘'There's husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out.''
This is a text that has been brewing inside my mind for quite some times. I started reading Jo Nesbø's retelling of Macbeth two days ago (quite interesting so far, by the way...) and it gave me the chance to reflect on a masterpiece that isn't just a play but a psychological study of power, ambition and the darkest recesses of the human soul. I don't presume I am able to write a ‘'review'' on Shakespeare's works. Goodness, no! This is just my take on the reasons why Macbeth shaped Literature's dark themes and imagery, having a plethora of the Bard's most beautiful and darkest quotes, being the most realistic depiction of the human tendency to destroy and violate all that is sacred and honest.
‘'Can the devil speak true?''
Macbeth -more than any other play, in my opinion- has the power to form images of distinct horror and brutality in our minds. Let us not forget that it is loaded with superstitions and weird phenomena have been recorded during theatre runs throughout centuries of performances. I would take it one step further and say that Macbeth initiated the Gothic elements in Literature, although they wouldn't have been named thus at the time. This is obvious in the presence of the Three Witches, the characters I've always been most fascinated with than any other in the play. Imagine the audience during the reign of James I, the first Stuart king, watching spells and curses unfolding on stage, right before their eyes? How did they perceive their presence in the play? How do we perceive it? Are they merely the harbingers of things to come or do they have an influential role in the fate of Macbeth and the characters? In every production of Macbeth I've watched, the Three Witches can make or break the whole performance for me. One of the reasons I adore Polanski's vision of the play is his choice to end his outstanding 1971 film version with Donalbain coming across the Witches' lair, bitten by the harsh Scottish rain, as the vicious circle goes on and on...
‘'Now o'er the one half of the world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep; witchcraft celebrates pale Hecate's offerings; and withered Murder, alarmed by his sentinel, the wolf, whose howl's his watch...''
Darkness is everywhere. This is a country that is slowly finding herself in a deep sleep of deceit and death. Ravens croak, owls shriek, bats signify the end and Hecate walks the Earth with her ominous escort. Rain is the introductory dark omen of what is to come and the wind is filled with lamentations. The strange screams of death and the knockings out of nowhere are signs of the utter violation between two human beings, between kinsmen and friends.
‘'...and nothing is but what is not.''
Macbeth and his wife put on their most sincere smiles and act like the perfect hosts. He calls Banquo his dearest friend, invites him to his royal feast. Macbeth is brave, unyielding even when his world crumbles, firmly determined until the very end. And yet, his soul hides extreme antitheses. Throughout the action, he knows that his deeds will lead to nowhere. ‘'Blood will have blood'', he says in sadness. And he is right. What he succeeds in is the murder of trust and every sacred value our world holds dear. The endless course of murder that desires more and more...Regicide, the killing of relatives, dear friends and compatriots and comrades. The slaughter of women, children and servants. He knows that once he starts, he cannot stop.
‘'I have supped full with horrors.''
Each and every time Macbeth decides to pluck away one more thorn of threat to his reign, he tries to find the arguments for and against the coming deed. The sense of duty doesn't seem to abandon him altogether but is always in a brutal fight with his burning ambition. Guilt plagues him even before he starts the bloody chain of events, he ‘'murders sleep'' and, in my opinion, the moment he raises his hand to slaughter Duncan, he first murders himself and his principles. Do I see his wife as the utter solicitor to his bloody future? Definitely yes. Lady Macbeth is by far my favourite Shakespearean heroine but as hard as I try, I cannot find any redeeming qualities in her character. Her remorse is madness, and is it even remorse or the unbearable burden of guilt? These two aren't one and the same. While Macbeth's end is as brave as it can be, her end is lonely, honoured only by Macbeth's quiet sorrow expressed in an achingly beautiful soliloquy. Macbeth isn't Iago. He's not a lunatic villain who kills just because. I've always considered him an anti-hero. A man who can't survive the fight between his weak will to do what is right and the darkness of his desires.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare created one of the most controversial characters in Literature. While the historical Macbeth was the exact opposite of his theatrical counterpart, the Scottish play became one of the most recognizable works of Art, even to the few uninitiated to the greatness that is the Bard. It became a synonym for conspiracy, treason, murder echoing, among other themes, the Gunpowder Plot that threatened the very essence of the British reign at the time. It became a metaphor of the limits a human can bend in order to achieve the absolute control. A token of lacking faith in everyone and everything. When a man who was considered valiant and loyal becomes devoid of any humanity, what kind of good can be sustained in a world governed by petty leaders and corrupted sovereigns? Do not tell me this doesn't apply to our current times. I will not try to convince anyone to love this play. Its strength in overcoming prejudices and the fact that it remains one of the most beloved and performed works of Shakespeare speaks for itself. For me, this work of dark beauty and nightmarish brilliance is the best example of how Shakespeare managed to know the human nature more than any other writer...
I leave you with what I consider to be the finest lines about the futility of chasing unattainable ambitions and the most beautiful soliloquy ever written...
‘'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his way upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.''
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com
Tenía bastantes expectativas sobre esta obra, esperaba que lo dividido y arrepentido que está Macbeth sobre las desiciones que toma y debe tomar realmente me llegaran o al menos me dejaran pensando, pero no sentí mucho realmente.
Me gustó más Hamlet.
También creo que el rechazo que se ganó Lady Macbeth en la cultura general por su forma de pensar/actuar es desmedido. No tiene que gustarte, pero tratarla como el origen de todas las desgracias que pasa Macbeth es exagerado.
Tummasävyinen sarjakuvasovitus Shakespearen synkästä näytelmästä. Sovitus on alkuteokselle uskollinen, julma ja verinen. Kuvituksessa on perinteistä seksismiä (noitien ennustuksen verinen lapsi on korvattu alastomalla naisella), mutta myös ilmeikkyyttä ja rujoa murhaa. Teksti siteeraa paikoin Shakespearea, mutta on enimmäkseen omaa sovitusta, mikä tekee tästä alkuperäistä helpompaa luettavaa.
Summary: This tragedy tells the story of a man who uses violent means to overtake the throne of the kingdom of Scotland, but who learns that no one can escape fate.
This play includes themes of the dangers of confidence in one’s security and the inescapability of guilt and fate.
4 stars
I don't have much to say about this. I do think the ending was rushed, but who knows, maybe I was the one who actually read it way too fast.
Mi único “pero” con el libro es la de palabras que ya no se usan y que tuve que buscar en el diccionario.
Me ayudó mucho hacerme un mapa de personajes y su relación entre ellos.
¿Porqué me gustó tanto el libro? Estaba buscando una historia así, además después del fiasco de “Cumbres Borrascosas” las muertes y traiciones en este libro al menos tienen lógica.
El toque mágico de las brujas me encantó, tanto si lo escribió Shakespeare como si no.
Definitely ‘enjoyed' this one more than Romeo and Juliet. I am a sucker for a good tragedy.
“Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”
Lady Macbeth was one of my favourite parts of this play. People can question her morality all they want but I personally admired her ambition and bravery in acting out her desires, and staying loyal to her husband. Meanwhile, Macbeth was initially too much of a coward to work towards his desires, killed his loyalty to the king, murdered his friend, went on a crazy killing spree, and then simply shrugged off his wife's death. Lady Macbeth is a freaking badass. I mean just look at this:
Come, you spiritsThat tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe top-fullOf direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.Stop up the access and passage to remorse,That no compunctious visitings of natureShake my fell purpose, nor keep peace betweenThe effect and it!
I've been thinking about reading Shakespeares' Macbeth soon, so when I saw this I thought it would be the perfect introduction to the story. And it was, it was concise and the art style was great. I especially liked how it pulled actual quotes from the play and gave food-for-thought questions at the end.
I had such high hopes going into this one. It had everything I love in a book. Betrayal? Check. Death? Check. Magic? Check.
But what it didn't have was entertainment. Good LORD was I bored. This has got to be my least favorite Shakespeare yet and I really can't even give you the reason why. By all means, I should love it. But I think it was just so wordy that I couldn't enjoy what was actually happening. I was either confused or bored the entire time.
Yawn. Pass me the next book.
The Scottish Play - Short, Violent and Dark
Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
- Macbeth, Scene III
Composed around 1606 or 1607, Macbeth is the final of Shakespeare's four tragedies. It follows on from Hamlet, King Lear and Othello. Set mainly in Scotland, the play dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. It is short and dark in nature with no major sub-plots. These are a few of the themes I noticed when I watched and read the play.
Fate and Free Will
Macbeth takes seriously the question of whether fate (destiny) or human will (choice) determines a man's future. Shakespeare explores what it is that causes a decent man (Macbeth) to commit evil acts. On the one hand, the play is set in motion by the weird sisters' prophesy that Macbeth will be king. This turns out to be true. It also often seems that outside forces (related to the weird sisters, who are in many ways associated with the three fates) control Macbeth's actions. The play goes out of its way to dramatize how Macbeth deliberates before taking action. This suggests that he alone controls the outcome of his own future. Or perhaps Macbeth's fate may be set in stone but his choices determine the specific circumstances by which he fulfils his destiny? In the end, the play leaves the question unanswered.
Ambition
Macbeth is often read as a cautionary tale about the kind of destruction ambition can cause. Macbeth is a man that at first seems content to defend his king and country against treason and rebellion. Yet, his desire for power plays a major role in the way he commits the most heinous acts with the help of his ambitious wife. Once Macbeth has had a taste of power, he seems unable and unwilling to stop killing men, women, and children alike. Acts which he believes will secure his position on the throne. Macbeth puts his own desires before the good of his country. These decisions reduce him to a mere shell of a human being.
Power
The play considers the qualities that distinguish a good ruler from a tyrant. Macbeth becomes a tyrant by the end of the play. It also dramatizes the unnaturalness of regicide. Its interesting to contrast this with the killing of another King in the play, King Macbeth. Is there a difference between the two?
The Supernatural
Witchcraft features a lot in Macbeth. The play opens with the weird sisters conjuring on the Scottish heath. The witches are also the figures that set the play in motion when they predict that Macbeth will be crowned king. They have supernatural powers but their power over Macbeth is questionable. At times, the weird sisters seem to represent human worries about the unknown. They also seem to represent fears of powerful women who invert traditional gender roles. Elsewhere, the witches appear rather harmless, despite their malevolent intentions. In the end, the weird sisters are ambiguous figures as they raise more questions than they answer.
Violence
To call Macbeth a violent play is an understatement. It starts off with a battle against rebel forces in which Macbeth distinguishes himself as a valiant and loyal warrior. The play soon moves onto the the murder of men, women, and children. Macbeth's murder of King Duncan is condemned as an unnatural deed. Then play raises the question of if there's a difference between killing a man in combat and murdering for self gain. Lady Macbeth kills herself before Macbeth gets his head lopped off. This highlights that every violent act, even those done for selfless reasons, seems to lead to the next. Violence in all forms is associated with masculinity. The play is full of characters that must prove their “manhood” by killing. Even Lady Macbeth asks to be “unsexed” so that she may be “filled with direst cruelty.” The play suggests that unchecked violence may lead to a kind of emotional numbness that makes a person inhuman.
In summary, this is one of the most powerful and darkest of Shakespeare's plays and is probably one of my favourites. Short, direct, layered and to the point. The themes are timeless and still resonate in the modern world:
:: the problems that come with a bloody rise to power,
:: how evil breeds evil,
:: the corrupting effects of ruthless ambition, and
:: the differences between fate (destiny) and human will (choice).
Una obra que en relectura me sirvió más para ver la perversión de una mente y un corazón sano, llevado por la avaricia aún sabiendo que tendría un costo grande, conociendo el peligro de sus decisiones, se dejó llevar por el susurro dulce y melodioso del poder y la grandeza, sin siquiera poder disfrutar realmente de ello.
Macbeth nos enseña a no confiar a primera vista en las personas, a prestar más atención a quienes nos rodean, y especialmente que algunas victorias no son tan dulces ni duraderas cuando se consiguen por el camino equivocado.
Es una obra de arte a mi parecer, pues como cada lectura que tengo de Shakespeare, siento que me trasmite y enseña demasiado en tan pocas y cortas palabras.
Sigue siendo un gran recomendado de mi parte.
The best thing about Macbeth is that it would eventually lead to Kurosawa's adaption: Throne of Blood.
So much better than Bill's version.
3.5 stars.
Hamlet is still my favorite. This was eh.
Read this for my English class
I love Shakespeare. I love every word that he put on his books. Macbeth is one of my favourites characters besides Hamlet. He represents mankind with all his defects and virtues.
