![]() It may not be accurate history but it tells us something dark about ourselves we need to keep hearing every now and then. Several film versions have been made of Macbeth, as well as operas by Verdi and Bloch. Often referred to as "the Scottish play" to avoid speaking theĬursed word "Macbeth", as any fan of the Blackadder TV The play has a reputation in the theatre for bringing bad luck. Tragedy, is actually an abridged version of a longer play. Some think Macbeth as we know it, Shakespeare's shortest Shakespeare's company, King James I of England, was considered a This prediction may have been included in the play because the patron of It is also understood that Banquo's heirs eventually become rulers. Macduff, who was born by Caesarian section (and thus not "born of The Malcolm-Macduff armyĪdvance on Dunsinane, using branches of Birnam Wood as camouflage. Lady Macbeth goes mad with guilt and dies. While Macduff is away, MacbethĪttacks Macduff's castle and has Lady Macduff and her children killed. Macduff joins Duncan's son Malcolm toįorm an army in England to fight Macbeth. Power to harm him and that he never will be defeated until Birnam WoodĬomes to Dunsinane (his castle). He is told to beware Macduff, but also that no one born of woman has Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo. Murder of his friend Banquo and his son Fleance, but Fleance escapes. Some guards are set up to take the blame for the murder andįearing the second part of the prophecy, Macbeth also orders the Macbeth convinces Macbeth to murder the king while he is visiting theirĬastle. Immediately after the predictions, the men receive news the They also predict Banquo's heirs will someday rule The witches prophesy Macbeth will become thane of CawdorĪnd then king. Three witches, or "weird sisters", are visited by MacbethĪnd Banquo, who on behalf of Scottish king Duncan have just defeated Macbeth may be Shakespeare's bleakest tragedy-unrelentingly dark, without those moments of comic relief or frivolity found in Hamlet or King Lear. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player Not to mention the famous monologue of the despairing king in the last act:Ĭreeps in this petty pace from day to dayĪnd all our yesterdays have lighted fools Just look at the many dark and tumultuous expressions remembered from Macbeth (see "Great lines"). It's also strangely appropriate that the play should misrepresent history so drastically, for its central theme is the reversal of good and bad. ![]() Historians consider Macbeth and his wife to have been relatively good and decent rulers, far from the guilt-ridden tyrants of Macbeth.īut the factually true story would have made far less effective drama and told us fewer truths of human nature. Macbeth was actually king of Scotland for seventeen years, though you would never get this from Shakespeare's most popular play. THE PLAY | THE TEXT | THE MOVIES The Scottish play rewrites history
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