Macbeth by William Shakespeare - Research Paper Example

Suzana Zdravkovska 23 November 2009 “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare All interpretations of Macbeth since its first production up to the present days have had one single purpose: to see the play from its objective side, that is, to bring it into accord with the times of its creation and throughout the four hundred years of its existence with the present times. The essence of this play, the constant battle between good and evil, makes it interesting and exciting for many producers, directors and actors alike even today. As a play seen from the disintegration, alienation, and self-destruction point of view, one must realize the everlasting value of it, as all these elements combined with ill ambition, craving for high political position, becoming enormously rich in a dishonest way, etc., characterize modern societies in our time. Mac Bethad mac Findlaich or Macbeth for short in English was a Scottish king (1040-1057) who ruled successfully and wisely after killing his predecessor Duncan (1034-1040), who on the other hand was a weak and terrible leader. Macbeth was killed in 1057 in a battle led at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on 15th August against Malcolm, Duncan’s rightful heir to the throne. The events that took place shortly before Duncan’s murder and until Macbeth’s defeat were described in Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” written sometime between 1604 and 1606. (“Mala Enciklopedija Prosveta” Belgrade, 1970, vol.2, p.15). Having a broad knowledge of Raphael Holinshed’s “Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland” (1587), Shakespeare apparently used it as a main source for writing this play. According to Holinshed, Duncan, the king of Scotland was a young and incapable ruler, but Shakespeare deliberately depicted him as an old and almost saint person in order to darken Macbeth’s crime even more than it actually was. Shakespeare used this chronicle to write a tragedy, not a historic play. George Buchanan’s “History of Scotland in Twenty Books” (2 volumes, 1733) written originally in Latin could have been another source for some scenes in the play. There are also things which must have been products of Shakespeare’s fantasy (the scene with the banquet and the appearance of Banquo’s ghost or Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking). Some critics even claim certain scenes were influenced by the Roman history, and some give credit to the legends Shakespeare knew so well. Yet, whatever the sources, “there is no doubt that the tragic status of Macbeth would be far weaker, were it not for the facts given in the Holinshed’s chronicle that Duncan was weak, reluctant, indecisive and deserved to be killed and overthrown as a ruler, which on the other hand poses another question, that is, what was that Macbeth accomplished by killing Duncan, was it for the benefit of his country and people or for his own benefit, and was it worth the self-destruction he suffered” (Güzel, B. “Review” ,Shakespeare, W. “Macbeth”. Makedonska Kniga, 1981. p.137). What is of a very big importance for the first production of the play is the period when Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth”, which would be after 1603 and before 1610, probably 1605-6, after the accession of King James I. It seems that “Macbeth” was written especially to be performed for the King himself, as King James I (who was already King James VI of Scotland when Queen Elizabeth died) was obsessed with witchcraft and he himself wrote a book “Demonology” about the hidden world of the wicked witches. Through “Macbeth” and the witches that symbolize Macbeth’s conscience and cosmic dark forces, meaning that the Devil coexists with God, probably Shakespeare wanted to describe human stupidity on one hand, and on the other, they may symbolize different cultural heritage and customs with which King James wished to unite the people against any enemy. “Macbeth” is one of the shortest plays maybe just because King James I hated long plays. For the first time Macbeth was performed in 1606 in front of King James I at Hampton Court. The decoration was full of candles probably to create both tension and a link between natural and “supernatural”. It was also performed in the Globe Theatre in 1611, with a raised stage at the centre and to the back of the courtyard. Above them was there was a blue roof with golden stars that symbolized heavens. A door on the stage served as a passage through which ghosts could appear and the souls of the damned could disappear. Before first playhouses were erected, during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, actors wondered and traveled throughout the country, performing in inns, halls, and the houses of the nobility. The first professional theatre was built by James Burbage in 1576 north of the city walls of London. The theatres in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed during the Elizabethan period differed a lot from theatres we know today not only in the way they were built, but more importantly, they had no actresses. All women’s roles were performed by boys usually recruited from the boys’ choirs of the London churches. Shakespeare belonged to the theatrical company The Globe, which was the most celebrated of Elizabethan theatres. In this period theatres were constructed to match the playwright’s main goal, that is, to please the audience. Although the architecture is not of our concern here, a copy of a drawing of the Swan Theatre about 1596 is presented below (Kennedy, X.J. & Gioia, D. “Literature; An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama”. HarperCollins College Publishers, New York, 1995, p.954). The period after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, when James I became her successor became known as the Jacobean period (Jacobus, the Latin form of the name James). This period is abundant in literary activity as King James I was a great admirer of arts. However, speaking of drama, we must note that the plays in this period (including the ones written by Shakespeare, became more violent than the plays during the Elizabethan period. “Macbeth” is just one of those plays that deal with evil, crime, corruption, etc. It is interesting to mention though that Shakespeare died only three years before King James I wrote the Land Charter (Vellum Charter) in 1619. Ever since the first production up to present days, producers, directors, movie makers have given much thought to employing various ways, special effects on the stage, and carefully choosing the actors and actresses to present ghosts, demons, witchcraft, hell and religious interpretations. What they have been after for all the time can be answered in the reviews of many critics. Writing about the structure of “Macbeth” and the two worlds (the natural and supernatural world) Ludowyk says: “The other world of reality, just as carefully recreated on the stage, is that of the reality of the evil of witchcraft, or spirits. This becomes the world of the two main characters drawn into it from the other. To most of us at the present time the actuality of this world might be questionable. But to Shakespeare’s audience it was a valid world, strongly presented on the stage. If neither Shakespeare’s poetry nor our imaginative apprehension can realize it for us, then an important part of the play must be taken on trust” (Ludowyk, 1964). Writing about the first productions during the Jacobean period, in her “The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations”, Diane Purkiss says:”…Pandering shamelessly to the noveltry-hungry news culture of Jacobean London and to a court and intellectual elite increasingly eager for narratives of folklore which would demonstrate their separation from a credulous peasantry, the witch-scenes brazenly refuse any serious engagement with witchcraft in favor of a fourthright rendering of witches as a stage spectacular. These all-singing, all-dancing witches bear about as much relation to the concerns of village women as “The Sound of Music” does to women’s worries about childcare in the 1990s…” (Purkiss, 1996, p.207). Between 1674 and 1744 the play was performed as an adaptation of D’Avenant with a few added scenes, though with poor poetry but interesting special flying witches effects (Güzel, 1981). After Garrick, maybe the best performance of “Macbeth” was done in 1773 by John Kemble and his sister Sarah Siddons (who played Lady Macbeth and had an accident on stage while acting the sleepwalking scene, which is related to the much believed curse, spelled on the play. This production of the play was the first in which Banquo’s ghost did not appear on stage. In a later production in 1820 at Covent Garden, W.C. Macready had the leading role and this was the first production in which the witches had no supernatural power whatsoever. Macready is also believed to be responsible for a riot in front of Astor Place Opera House in New York in 1849. This event is also related to the everlasting curse on the play. At Sadler’s Wells Theatre Phelps was the one who gave the witches their original lines and roles from the folio. Macbeth was widely produced during the XX century almost all over the world. Laurence Olivier played a great Macbeth in 1955 at Stratford-upon-Avon, and his performance was best noted for the intensity with which he performed the scene confronting Banquo’s ghost (Huggett, R. “Supernatural on Stage: Ghosts and Superstitions in the Theatre”, Taplinger, NY, 1975). Orson Welles used a totally new approach to “Macbeth” and his first stage production was called “Voodoo Macbeth” because of his use of dozens of African drums in a “Haitian version in Harlem with all-black cast”. Then he “adapted it to a screenplay… emphasizing the witchcraft… then adapted the screenplay to the stage for the Utah performances. The film he produced (1948) was finally released in the States and “received almost hostile reception” (“Moving Pictures: The Shakespeare Films of Orson Welles”, The Berkeley Daily Planet, 2008). Roman Polanski (“Macbeth” 1971) and Akiro Kurosawa (“Throne of Blood”, 1957) produced movies using highly accentuated special effects, tricks and costumes in order to create an atmosphere of the dominating supernatural elements of the play. As this is a very extensive subject to explore and research the theatres’ and film studios’ archives, it seems impossible to place them all in an essay. However, it will be only fair to close this part of the essay with extracts from two articles as a proof of the wide production but in the eastern and western world. On Friday, October 28, 2005, The Japan Times Online published an article titled as “Macbeth back, darker than ever”. An extract of it follows: “The International Theatre Company London (ITCL) returns to Japan with a revival of its acclaimed 2001 production of the Shakespeare tragedy "Macbeth". Formerly known as the TNT, the company has been touring Japan since 1992, performing adaptations of classic works by Charles Dickens and Tennessee Williams among others. The ITCL will bring "Macbeth" to universities and public halls throughout Japan. Unlike some previous productions of the play, director Paul Stebbings does not shy away from the shamanistic elements of "Macbeth," placing the three witches (who can often be heard echoing the dialogue of the other characters), and the witchcraft beliefs of Lady Macbeth, as integral to the drama” (The Japan Times Online, 2008, “Macbeth back, darker than ever”, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fq20051028a1.html ). The second extract is taken from an article published on Thursday, 26 February, 2009 by Kevin Bourke under the title “Macbeth at the Royal Exchange – but, where is the witchcraft?” Rid of all the witchcraft "He said, very earnestly, he wasn’t trying to be funny ‘I love collaborating. My favourite three collaborators are Chekhov, Beckett and Shakespeare.’" I remember thinking ‘that’s brilliant!’. So, what I’ve decided to do and what I’ve said to the cast is ‘let’s collaborate with him’. Where we think he would benefit from our contemporary eyes saying ‘we don’t need that, that’s no use to us’, we’ve just got rid of it. So what we’ve really got rid of is all the witchcraft. I don’t even think Shakespeare wrote those spells“. But we’ve replaced those ‘weird sisters’ with the idea that they are victims of conflict and we observe them very much in the way we might observe iconic images of children who’ve been brutalized by war.” (City Life, 2009, “ Macbeth at the Royal Exchange – but where is the witchcraft) http://www.citylife.co.uk/theatre_dance/features/12626_macbeth_at_the_royal_exchange___but_where_s_the_witchcraft_?rss=yes ). Whether we believe in ghosts, demons or witchcraft, it has been a common belief and a superstition that to produce Macbeth means bad luck because of many circumstances and events that took place during the past 400 years of the play’s existence and production. It is said and believed that the spells the witches throw in the play were actually taken from an authentic black-magic ritual as a part of the people’s folklore. As such, these spells were sacred for the people and they spelled a curse on the show and all its productions. It is spooky that while researching I have found out about all the misfortunes and accidents that accompanied the performances at different periods. To name but a few, let’s start with the death of the boy who was supposed to play Lady Macbeth in 1606 at the opening of the play. In 1672 in Amsterdam, the actor who played Macbeth used a real dagger and committed real murder on stage. In 1721 the theatre was burned down by the militia and 23 people were killed, 36 were wounded and hundreds were injured when the militia fired at the crowd in front of the Astor Place Opera House in New York in 1849 as a result of a riot provoked by the appearance of the British actor W.C. Macready in the leading role. In 1928 a large set fell down at the Royal Court Theatre in London and injured some of the actors. In 1955 the actor who played Macbeth in a production in St. Paul, Minnesota died on stage of heart failure. Many other accidents (some fatal, others minor) have followed the productions all the way to the present days. Superstitious people say the curse is only active in theatres while it has no power outside theatres (1. Huggett, R. “Supernatural on Stage: Ghosts and Superstitions in the Theatre”, Taplinger, NY, 1975; 2. AustinChronicle.com. Austin Arts: “The Curse of the Play”, http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A78882 ). Here comes the part of the essay I love the best – my own story of “Macbeth” through my production concept. As a person who deeply hates violence, I’d rather produce some comedy. However to produce and direct “Macbeth” is certainly a challenge I believe no one can resist, especially if it means to put on the play seen as global evil. Politics, pollution, drugs, they all seem to be inter-related and deciding on one of them for my story has been one of my major concerns. I have come to a decision: it is going to be a story that uses all of these elements. Each of the elements will be presented by one witch. My goal is to convince the audience that each one of us must be very careful when voting for political candidates on elections, everyone must do one’s best to protect the environment (this planet is the only place for us to live in, at least for the time being), and of course, to make the audience realize and understand the effects of the evil hidden in drugs (natural or synthetic) related to drugs production, drug dealing and everything else in regards to drug addiction. A total chaos encompasses the globe. People go wild; there are riots everywhere. The action of my play takes place in a picturesque village in the mountains of AnyWhereLand with a tectonic small lake in its district sometime about mid XXI century. The village that has been deserted by the end of XX century due to migration processes, has now become a place where those tired of everyday’s obligations and hard work come to rest, relax and enjoy the beauty of this untouched nature, almost paradise. The roles will be given to the actual people involved in the country’s social and political life, who although amateurs will eventually manage to deliver the message properly. The actual Minister of Finance will play the role of the first witch, the owner of “Thor-alloys” will have the role of the second witch, and the role of the third witch will be played by a local newborn businessman everybody knows as a big narco-boss. The Mayor of the Municipality will perform the role of Dragan (Duncan) and a greedy member of the Municipality Council and his wife will play the roles of Marko (Macbeth) and Marika (Lady Macbeth). As for the rest of the characters in the play, other less important figures from the region will play the roles. My main goal to be achieved by such casting is to awaken the conscience of those people and I sincerely hope that given the chance to experience people’s suffering on stage, they will come to understand the evil dark forces they use and impose on common people. The play will be performed at the city stadium because of the huge green area and the hundred-years-old oaks surrounding it that resemble the village and its surroundings. There will be a stage on each of the four sides of the stadium and one in the centre, and each stage will serve the purpose of one act only from the play. Light, smoke, music and any other special effects will be used to add up to the atmosphere with ghosts, witches, murders, etc. All of the performers will be dressed in costumes that reflect the latest style of the period. Finally, as I am only a locally known director, to put on the play the way I see and plan it I will need funds. Since there are still some successful companies in the country managed and run by some decent people who hate violence as much as I do, I will try to raise the funds through sponsorships from these companies and I have no doubt whatsoever that it will be a successfully accomplished mission. Part of the funds will be spent on erecting the stages, on costumes, props, etc. Another part of the money will be paid to the National TV Channel, which is to broadcast the play worldwide through all the existing satellites. The third part will go to organizations that are well known for their work in the area of environmental protection. There will be no cost of admission. “Free entrance” will be printed on the leaflets distributed all around the country as part of the propaganda campaign. The Minister of Finance (the first witch), the owner of “Thor-alloys” (a plant for production of alloys from thorium) who is a very rich and powerful industrialist (the second witch) and a “big boss” who becomes rich in a short time by undertaking suspicious business-like operations, extortion, drug dealing, etc., (the third witch), join their powers and money to bribe the Mayor to do everything possible in order to provide the industrialist with a license for dumping the nuclear (thorium) waste in the lake or for burial grounds for nuclear waste. The Mayor Dragan (Duncan) does not want to pollute the environment as he is a great lover of nature and therefore a protector of the village from invaders” who want to pollute the nature and destroy the village. A member of the Municipality Council, Marko (Macbeth), whose ambition is to become the new Mayor, is easily bribed to kill the actual Mayor who prevents the industrialist’s planned operations. The “fourth witch” Lady Marika (Lady Macbeth) helps her husband to commit the murder at some Charity Ball organized at the Municipality Hall. Unfortunately, he is seen by two other respectful guests at the Ball and has to kill them, too. He becomes the new Mayor but his crimes do not stop here. He kills his colleague - another member of the Municipality Council, Branko (Banquo) because he wants the police to investigate the Mayor’s murder. On the other hand, to please the witches he orders several other people to be killed. The wife and son of the detective who investigates Dragan’s murder are murdered not by weapons but with overdoses of cocaine. Marko starts having nightmares troubled by his conscience, and Lady Marika commits suicide for the same reason. In the end, all the people from the village district and the municipality district are stirred up and decide to get rid of the evil people around them led by the village judge who is the next of kin to Dragan. The village judge kills Marko, the Minister of Finance, the industrialist and the narco-boss, i.e. the three witches flee the country with all their money aware of the danger of being arrested and sentenced to life in prison, maybe even death in a gas chamber for all the crimes they have committed and for all the dead young boys and girls who have died of drugs consummation. Finally, there is no better way to end this essay but with the words said by Christopher Morley in his “A Letter to a Reader”, IV: The story of Shakespeare and humanity’s subsequent dealings with him has no easy consolations for the sharpened mind. It needs not so much a study of documents (though that too is precious) as an intuition of the inward quality of genius…” (“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare”, Oubleday & Company, Inc. NY,1936, p.xvii). MLA formatted: The Purdue OWL. 26 Aug. 2008. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 23 April 2008 . Works cited: 1.“Mala Enciklopedija Prosveta” Belgrade, 1970, vol.2, p.15 2. Güzel, B. “Review” ,Shakespeare, W. “Macbeth”. Makedonska Kniga, 1981. p. 137 3. Kennedy, X.J. & Gioia, D. “Literature; An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama”. HarperCollins College Publishers, New York, 1995, p.954 4. Ludowyk, E.F.C., “Understanding Shakespeare”- “The Plays: Macbeth: Structure”. Cambridge UP, 1964 5. Purkiss, D. “The Witch in History: early Modern and Twentieth-century Representations”. Routledge, London, 1996. part III “Witches on stage” ch.8 “The all-singing, all-dancing plays of the Jacobean witch-vogue: The Masque of Queens, Macbeth, The Witch” p.p. 199-230 6. Huggett, R. “Supernatural on Stage: Ghosts and Superstitions in the Theatre”, Taplinger, NY, 1975 7. “Moving Pictures: The Shakespeare Films of Orson Welles”, The Berkeley Daily Planet, 2008 8. The Japan Times Online, 2008, “Macbeth back, darker than ever”, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fq20051028a1.html 9. City Life, 2009, “ Macbeth at the Royal Exchange – but where is the witchcraft) http://www.citylife.co.uk/theatre_dance/features/12626_macbeth_at_the_royal_exchange___but_where_s_the_witchcraft_?rss=yes 10. AustinChronicle.com. Austin Arts: “The Curse of the Play”, http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A78882 11. Morley, C. “Preface: A Letter to the Reader”, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare”, Dubleday & Company, Inc. NY, 1936, p.xvii Read More