Enjoying "Macbeth", by William Shakespeare
by Ed Friedlander, M.D.
efriedlander@wmcarey.edu
Warning: Macbeth is supposed to upset people.
It shows
life at its most brutal and cynical, in order to ask life's toughest question.
This page deals with all this without apology.
I have a high regard for truth and I talk plain.
If you want something nice, please leave
now. Please note: I am the author of all the material on this page. My work has been used without my permission or acknowledgement by around a dozen other people (Google search September 26, 2009), including several sites offering it for sale. This one is the original site.
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If you are a student assigned to read or see Macbeth, or
an adult approaching it for the first time, you
are in for a lot of fun.
Everybody brings a different set of experiences to a book, a theater, or a classroom. Although I've tried to help, ultimately you'll need to decide for yourself about Shakespeare and Macbeth. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
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The Real Macbeth and His Times
I've read that Holinshed's section on Macbeth was largely derived from the work of one Hector Boece, Scotorum Historiae ("Chronicles of Scotland", 1526-7, translated from Latin into English by a John Bellenden in 1535).
It is evidently not online. I've also read that Boece's sources include the Chronica gentis Scotorum ("Scotichronicon") by John of Fordun in the early 1500's (he also writes about William "Braveheart" Wallace and Robin Hood), and Andrew of Wyntoun (1400's). John of Fordun seems to have been the first to record the story of the dialogue on kingship between Macduff and Malcolm. You may be able to find this book in an old university library, but I could not find it online. By the time the story of Macbeth had reached Holinshed, it was already mostly fiction.
Here's what we think really happened with Macbeth and the other characters.
In a barbaric era, population pressures made war and even the slaughter of one community by another a fact of life. Survival depended in having a capable warlord to protect life and property, prevent infighting, and protect from distant enemies. Groups of warlords would unite under the nominal leadership of one king to promote their common interests and war on more distant nations. While people pretended to believe in "the divine right of kings" and "lawful succession", continuing effective leadership was assured by warlords killing off the less capable family members.
The name "Macbeth" means "son of life", and is a Christian name rather than a patronymic (hence the "b" is lower case.) Macbeth would have signed his friends' high school yearbooks "Macbeth mac Findlaech" (McFinley). There are MacBeth families in Scotland and Nova Scotia.
Macbeth's father Findlaech was ruler ("mormaer", high steward) of Moray, at the northern tip of Scotland. Macbeth's mother's name is unknown, but she is variously said to have been the daughter of King Kenneth II or the daughter of King Malcolm II. In 1020, Findlaech was killed and succeeded by his nephew Gillacomgain. In 1032, Gillacomgain and fifty other people were burned to death in retribution for the murder of Findlaech, probably by Macbeth and allies.
The historical Mrs. Macbeth was not named "Lady", but "Gruoch" (GROO-och). She was the daughter of a man named Biote (Beoedhe), who was in turn the son of King Kenneth III "the Grim" who Malcolm II had killed to become king. (Some say that Biote was the son of Kenneth II instead.) She was originally married to Gillacomgain. Their son was Lulach the Simple (i.e., stupid; no, Lady Macbeth didn't brain him.) After Macbeth killed Gillacomgain, he took his widow Gruoch for his own wife, and raised Lulach as their stepson. What a guy!
Centuries before Macbeth, King Kenneth MacAlpin, "founded Scotland" by uniting the Picts and the Scots, i.e., getting them to fight foreigners rather than each other. In this era, Gaelic custom required that the succession go via the male line, and that if an heir was not yet old enough to reign when the king died, the kingship went to whatever male adult was next in line. Since the succession was designed to ensure some stability in a world of warlords and infighting, this made sense. Kenneth MacAlpin's male line continued to King Malcolm II, who had at least two daughters but no sons, and he killed the last member of the male McAlpin line. One daughter, Bethoc, (Holinshed calls her Beatrice) married Abbanath Crinen, the secular hereditary abbot of Dunkeld, and gave birth to Duncan.
In 1034, Malcolm II was murdered at Glamis by his fellow warlords, possibly including his grandson Duncan. Then Duncan managed to kill his rivals and seize the throne. Duncan married Sibylla Bearsson and they had Malcolm and Donald "Bain".
Macbeth allied with Thorfinn of Orkney, a Norseman. Thorfinn was the son of Sigurd the Fat and Bethoc, apparently the same Bethoc who was Duncan I's father. Thorfinn Sigurdsson is variously called "Thorfinn I", "Thorfinn II", "Thorfinn Skull-Smasher", "Thorfinn the Black", and "Thorfinn Raven-Feeder" (ravens eat dead meat, including human corpses). Thorfinn and Macbeth defeated and killed Duncan I in a battle in Elgin in August 1040. Thorfinn ruled northern Scotland, and Macbeth ruled southern Scotland. According to accounts, Macbeth was a good king, strict but fair, for the first decade of his reign.
In 1054, Earl Siward of Northumberland, who spirited Malcolm to England after Duncan's death, invaded Scotland. According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, he met and defeated Macbeth at the battle of Birnam Wood / Dunsinane (July 27). Most of Macbeth's army were killed, but Macbeth escaped. Siward's son and nephew were also killed. According to the Chronicles of Ulster, Macbeth continued to reign and was actually killed in 1057 by Duncan's son Malcolm at Lumphanan near Aberdeen. Thorfinn II survived until 1064.
After Macbeth's death, Lulach claimed the kingship and had some supporters. Lulach was ambushed and killed a few months later by Malcolm.
Malcolm went on to reign as Malcolm III "Canmore" ("big head" or "great ruler"). He took Thorfinn's widow Ingibiorg for himself, and they had a son Duncan, who later ruled as Duncan II. After Ingibiorg died, Malcolm Canmore married Margaret, a princess of the old English royal family. Margaret was a woman of great personal piety, and is now honored as a saint by Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Three of their sons became kings in their turns.
Malcolm Canmore was an aggressive and successful warrior who invaded England several times. He was finally killed in Northumberland. The story is that a treacherous soldier, pretending to hand him a key on a spear, put the spear through his eye socket.
Donald Bane, was king twice (deposed for a time by Duncan II, who he later defeated and killed). Donald Bane was finally defeated, imprisoned, and blinded by King Edgar, one of the sons of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret.
Boece, from a Roman Catholic source
Banquo and Fleance Never Existed
Banquo
(Banquho, "Thane of Lochabar") and Fleance are supposed to be
the ancestors of the Stewarts (Stuarts), including some kings of Scotland
and later Scotland-and-England. After Banquo's
murder by Macbeth's assassins,
Fleance fled to North Wales,
and married one Nesta / Mary, daughter
of Gryffudth ap
Llewellyn, Prince of Wales.
Walter
the Steward, first
"High Steward of Scotland" and the
historical founder of the Stewart
line, was supposedly their son. This is all bunk. Walter's real name was "Walter Fitz Alan Dapifer", son of Alan Dapifer, the sheriff of Shropshire. The sheriff was the son of some ordinary folks. For some reason, perhaps to give his own Stuart king some more glamorous ancestors, Boece made up Banquo and Fleance. Check out the old Scottish genealogies online. You'll find nobody matching their descriptions. |
Joe Cochoit explains how we know Banquo and Fleance are fictitious.
Mr. Jensen explains explains how the riddle was solved, and the true ancestry of the Stuarts became clear. As usual, the truth is far more interesting than fiction.
According to Holinshed, Macbeth's parents were Sinel, Thane of Glamis (whose existence is otherwise unattested) and a daughter of Malcolm II named Doada (again, modern genealogies mention no such person.)
Some Story Details
If you're here, you already know the plot of Macbeth, or can find it from the links. Here are some things to notice.Lady Macbeth's lie 'What, in our house?' would have given the game away to even the stupidest detective, but somehow no-one picks up on it.
-- Chao Mugger
The three witches remind English teachers of the three Fates of Greek mythology and the three Norns of Norse mythology. "Weird" (as in "weird sisters") used to mean "destiny" or "fate". Perhaps in an older version they were.
At the beginning, Duncan I is not leading either of his people's armies. He is not even present for Cawdor's execution. This is a good way for a king to get himself replaced quickly.
A blood-drenched captain reports that Macbeth and Banquo have just defeated the rebellious Macdonwald (MacDonald, E-I-E-I-O). Ross and Angus then enter and announce that "Bellona's bridegroom, lapped in proof" has defeated the Thane of Cawdor and the Norwegians at Fife. Holinshed credits Macbeth with both of these victories, but let's think. Macbeth cannot have fought two battles 500 miles apart at the same time, and in the next scene he knows nothing about the Thane of Cawdor's disloyalty. Macduff is thane of Fife. If "lapped in proof" is a mistake for "brave Macduff" or "Lord Macduff", then the whole scene makes more sense, and Shakespeare introduces the conflict between the two men early. (In Holinshed, Macbeth does fight both battles. Shakespeare is, as he often does, telescoping time. For the stage, perhaps "brave Macduff" does work better.) Duncan gives Cawdor's title and property to Macbeth. (If Macduff defeated the Thane of Cawdor, then Macduff should have gotten the title. Is Duncan again showing incompetence?)
Update 2010: The Folger "supernatural horror" production available on DVD uses
"brave Macduff".
Malcolm was not yet of age, and Duncan's declaring him heir was an impediment to Macbeth's claim on the throne via his mother. Holinshed points this out.
As soon as Macbeth thinks of murdering Duncan, he says to Banquo, "Let's talk about this confidentially." This happens again before the dagger scene. However, Shakespeare's Banquo only becomes Macbeth's accomplice by his acquiescence afterwards.
Nothing is what it seems. This begins with Macbeth's beautiful castle and gracious hostess. When Duncan talks about the nice air and the nice birds at Macbeth's castle, Banquo -- very much the butt-kisser -- immediately agrees in a way that will make the king think that Banquo thinks that the king is a good observer of nature.
You'll have to decide for yourself whether Macbeth begins the play as a "nice guy." Unlike Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, no one seems to genuinely admire or love him except as a warlord. Lady Macbeth famously says he is full of the milk of human kindness, which she dislikes. In considering the murder, Macbeth seems most worried about the dangers and disadvantages to himself. You may enjoy listing these. ("Maybe destiny will make me king without murdering anyone." "It would be more fun to enjoy my current success and popularity for a while." "I'll go to hell." "Duncan is a good man and people won't like his killer." "I might get caught red-handed." "Somebody will assassinate me in turn.") Do you think he's also considering that what he's doing is wrong? Different people will reach different conclusions.
Notice that on the morning of the day Banquo gets murdered, Macbeth asks him three times where he is going and whether his son will be with him. Banquo should have been more suspicious. After the banquet, every one of the other warlords in Scotland knows that Macbeth killed Banquo for no good reason, and that he is mentally imbalanced, and that they are themselves in danger. My friend Ian Brown offered an idea that seems ingenious. Much of what goes on in this short play is what is NOT said. In the scene after the banquet, the Macbeths have become distant from one another. They say little of consequence, as in a marriage that both parties know has failed. Brown suggests that Lady Macbeth writes a letter warning her friend, Lady Macduff, about her husband. This explains the appearance of the messenger to warn Lady Macduff just before she is killed -- this episode does not contribute otherwise to the drama -- and afterwards, Lady Macbeth's repetitive writing during her sleepwalking.
My cyberfriend Kyle Reynolds wrote to remind me that most (all?) of the actual murders occur off-stage, since without any between-act curtains, the story had to be written so that somebody would remove a dead body from the stage. Thanks.
People suspect Malcolm and Donalbain because they ran away. No white Bronco though.
-- Rodger Burnich (link is now down)
The Background
James Stuart was already King James VI of Scotland when Queen Elizabeth's death made him James I of England as well. In the late 1500's, Scotland had a witch craze, with many people convicted of wicked secret practices without physical evidence. James I, who believed the witch hysteria, wrote a book about the supposed hidden world of wicked witches, entitled Demonology.
The witch persecutions were a monument to human
stupidity. James may have really believed that there was a secretive
sect devoted to malicious evil. Or he may have been just another
cynical politician trying to unite people against a common
imagined enemy with different cultural practices.
Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Whatever indigenous/pagan beliefs and practices
may really have existed in Macbeth's Scotland,
the "witches" of the play are obviously there for their role in
Macbeth's fictionalized story.
Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World" (highly recommended,
a book about Shakespeare's times and how he must have been
influenced by contemporary events) explains some puzzling features
of our play.
Macbeth deals with the fictional ancestors of the Stuart line (Banquo, Fleance) and presents Banquo more favorably than did the play's sources. (In Holinshed, Banquo is Macbeth's active accomplice.) The procession of kings ends with a mirror (probably held by Banquo rather than another king, as in some notes.) James could see himself, thus becoming part of the action. Macbeth says he sees more kings afterwards. Shakespeare has turned the nature spirits of his sources into witches for the witch-hunting king's enjoyment.
Evil? Predestination?
You may be asked, "What is the nature of evil in
"Macbeth"? Again, you'll need to decide for yourself. Shakespeare only uses the word "evil(s)" in the England scene, and only uses it to refer to bad deeds and bad character traits. (The "King's Evil" for which Edward touches people was scrofula, a mycobacterial infection of the cervical lymph nodes. There was an old superstition that it could be cured by the touch of a king. James I, for whom the play was probably performed, also touched for scrofula because his English advisors told him the people wanted it. William III told a man who asked for his touch, "May God give you better health and better sense.") Some people will decide that the Macbeths are victims of supernatural forces beyond anybody's control. Other people will decide that the talk about predestination simply reflects the folk-tale, or that the Macbeths' era and/or their outlook on life guarantee that something really bad will happen to them. Perhaps despite the supernatural trappings of witches and talk about devils, "evil" for Shakespeare is nothing more or less than bad human habits and behaviors. You decide. |
Are You a Man?
Macduff leaves his wife and children in danger while he goes (as everybody must realize) to plot against Macbeth with Malcolm and the English. Lots of people talk about Lady Macbeth being "unnatural". but Lady Macduff complains about her husband leaving his family for the sake of his country as being "unnatural" (he lacks "the natural touch") and his unmanly flight against "against all reason." For her, he's dead, or less of a man than a wren is. What do you make of this?
Who Was the Third Murderer?
People have had lots of fun trying to figure out who the Third Murderer really is. It's evidently somebody who knows Banquo and Fleance. The usual suspects include Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, or a servant or thane. All these people are supposed to show up momentarily at Macbeth's dinner party, without bloodstains.
My ingenious cyberfriend Tanner Campbell suggested it is one of the witches. She can blow out a torch by supernatural means, and their participation could assure the survival of Fleance and thus the success of her prophecy.
Shakespeare actually needed to set the scene for a murder. He does not have a modern filmmaker's repertoire. (Macbeth's mutterings would be today's voice-overs.) So to set the scene, he had to use dialogue.
Macbeth pays spies in each of his warlords' castles, so he has other people available. It seems reasonable that he would send somebody knowledgeable to help two disenfranchised persons (not professional hit men) kill a mighty warrior and his teenaged son. It is also unlikely that he would want to introduce the assassins to each other ahead of time.
The Third Murderer does not come back with the others to collect his fee, because he was probably played by one of the minor actors who were party guests and would need to be changing costume.
My correspondent Matthew Houston reminded me that the Third Murderer is someone familiar with Banquo's habits ("... he usually does ... ") and suggests the First Murderer put out the light because he answers evasively when the Third Murderer asks "Who did strike out the light?" I am wondering whether the First Murderer was reluctant to kill a child. In other words, you will have to decide for yourself!
A correspondent in 2002 reminded me that failing acting companies would produce "Macbeth", which was very popular, as a last-ditch, not-always-successful way of staying in business. A correspondent in 2003 told me that saying the name of the play was bad luck but that people avert this by a prayer/apology to the "Muse of the Theater", i.e., Melpomene (mell-POMM-eh-neh or --eeny; portfolio is tragedy, Thalia is comedy). "Did the Greeks really believe in their mythology?" Who knows? If you would like a different counterspell, let me suggest this. Those wishing to participate join hands in a circle, and one member says, "May those who work on this production, and those who see it, be guided to choose peace over violence, love over vanity, and hope over despair." All say, "Amen." |
Of course, the Macbeths end up miserable. They do not suffer primarily from conscience (which is not much in evidence in any character, though Malcolm at least claims to live clean to test Macduff). They do not suffer from fear of the afterlife (which Lady Macbeth b-tches out of her husband; he talks about giving up his "eternal jewel", i.e., his soul, to the devil simply as an accomplished fact). Their fear of human retribution merely drives them to additional murders.
Shakespeare's insight goes far deeper. So far as I know, this is the first work in English that focuses on the isolation and meaninglessness that result from selfishness and cruelty. By the end, Lady Macbeth dissociates from the horror of what she has become. Shakespeare uses insanity as a metaphor for actually gaining insight in "King Lear" and maybe elsewhere. Lady Macbeth's insanity is really nothing more than her realizing the nature and consequences of the horrible thing she has done. Macbeth verbally abuses and bullies the people who he needs to defend him (and who are abandoning him), while reflecting to himself on the emptiness and futility of it all. Of course, the couple no longer have a relationship, and Macbeth is merely annoyed when she dies.
Kids... this is true to life. Try to live better than the Macbeths did.
What Does It All Mean?
Shakespeare chose his subject matter and some plot details to please James I. But as always, his deeper purpose seems to be to show us our own lives and make us think.
The key question that Shakespeare seems to ask is this. Is human society fundamentally amoral, dog-eat-dog? If so, then Macbeth is right, and human life itself is meaningless and tiresome.
Or do the hints of a better life such as King Edward's ministry, Malcolm's clean living, the dignified death of the contrite traitor, and the doctor's prescription for pastoral care, display Shakespeare's Christianity and/or humanism?
It's a dark play. The light of goodness seems still fairly dim. But evil always appeals more to the imagination, while in real life, good is much more fun.
Is the message of Macbeth one of despair, or of hope?
I don't know. You decide.
Citing this page:
To include this page in a bibliography, you may use this format: Friedlander ER (1999) Enjoying "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare Retrieved Dec. 25, 2003 from http://www.pathguy.com/macbeth.htm
For Modern Language Association sticklers, the name of the site itself is "The Pathology Guy" and the Sponsoring Institution or Organization is Ed Friedlander MD.
Links
Sigmund Freud on the Macbeths. Today's psychiatrists will almost all tell you that Freud's actual contribution was taking emotions seriously, listening and trying to understand. Much of his "theory" is only of historical interest, but you might decide that some of the "psychoanalytic" writings -- like this one -- are just common sense described in unfamiliar terms. Thanks to Caitlin Monesmith for finding this link.
Homework Resources
Real History and Shakespeare's Sources
There are scrappy bits of information on Macbeth's actual reign. It would appear he was a strong ruler who helped unite Scotland, without any contemporary writers describing him as tyrannical. In 1045, Duncan's father Crinan was killed in "A battle between the Scots themselves", (Annals of Ulster) and this event probably represented an attempt to oust Macbeth. In 1050, Macbeth is reported to have "scattered money like seed to the poor at Rome." (Marianus Scottus) From 1054 onwards, Macbeth was probably occupied in a struggle with Duncan's son Malcolm to retain the throne. Earl Siward of Northumbria invaded Scotland in 1054, probably with the intention of placing Duncan's son Malcolm on the throne in an attempt to effect a friendly Scotland. Siward inflicted a costly defeat on the Scots; Siward's son and nephew were both killed in the battle. (Anglo-Saxon Chroncle) In 1058, the Annals of Ulster and other sources record Macbeth's death at the hands of Malcolm. Macbeth was first succeeded by his stepson Lulach, the son of Grouch and Gillacomgain. He had a reign ranging from four to seven months according to the sources, until he in turn was also killed by Malcolm, who then took the kingship. Descendants of Lulach survived into the twelfth century, and continued their hostility to the descendants of Duncan until the death of Lulach's grandson in 1130, which probably extinguished the line of the rulers of Moray.
The Historical Macbeth -- Wikipedia
Macbeth's burial site on Iona, along with many other old Scottish kings;
also here
and here.
Macduff's
Cross -- ancient monument in Fife
There is even less reliable information about the historical Macduff.
The character was invented, and reported by Holinshed.
Clan MacDuff was the most powerful clan in the Fife region at the time.
A website for Clan MacDuff, which reports that
our MacDuff was just called "Duff", is now down.
The
Historical Macduff [link is now down] -- According to this source, the first
Earl of Fife was one Ethelred, so designated in 1057, shortly after Macbeth
was finally killed. Some sources claim he is a son of Malcolm Canmore;
others say this is a monk's error (which it seems to be) and he is indeed
our MacDuff, and that the Saxon title of Earl was his
reward for meritorious service (i.e., helping get rid of Macbeth.)'
The
Historical
Macduff -- This source repeats the (probably wrong) story
that the first Earl of Fife was Ethelred, and that he was a son
of Malcolm. The page is most interesting for its description of
the famous descendant
Gillemichael:
According to tradition [Shakespeare's] Macduff lost his first wife by the cruelty of Macbeth, but after the restoration he married again and was succeeded by his son Duffayon, [Second] Earl of Fife, who in turn was succeeded by Constantine and Gillemichael. Gillemichael was witness to several charters by King David to the Monastery of Dumfermline, including the foundation charter of the abbey of Holyroodhouse in 1128. He died about 1139 and was succeeded in the Earldom by his eldest son Duncan who vanished on the tide of time while his second son Hugo succeeded to the lands of Markinch and other lands later a part of the estate of Wemyss.
Macduff's Castle, which is now in ruins and is the older castle of the family, is located in East Wemyss. It was the seat of Gillemichael Macduff from whom it got its name. Today the ruins of the Macduff Castle primarily consist of two square towers, and portions of the walls of the fortress, on the eminence overlooking the firth. But it was at one time a powerful maritime fortress for the Earls of Fife. The site of this fortress is described as such as would commend itself to the military engineer of the medieval day. It sat on an isolated and steep rocky eminence which rose from the water's edge almost abrupt to the height of a hundred feet. Its position provided for a view to survey both the wide Firth of Forth, and far inland. It had the additional protection of strong natural caves beneath.
"Clan Duff originated from the Royal Scotto-Pictish line,
of which Queen Gruoch stood as its senior representative" (!)
"Duff" means "black", i.e., dark-complected, as in Shakespeare's sonnets
and descriptions of Beethoven and Pushkin.
So far as I know, no radical Afrocentrist
has claimed "MacDuff was black".
Dub, King of Scotland,
once the chief warlord of Fife, is known mostly from legends.
Clan MacDuff. "Clan
Macdubhich". "Dubh", dark-complected or "black", is Gaelic
from the Indo-European. There is a legend that MacDuff, Thane of Fife,
refused to help build Macbeth's castle, saying he would "not be ridden
with a snaffle". Macbeth got angry, and MacDuff wet to England
to encourage Malcolm come back and take the throne. Upon returning,
MacDuff found his wife
and several of her children murdered by Macbeth. MacDuff drove Macbeth
from Dunsinane "into the hills above the Dee River, where MacDuff
slew the Pretender on a slope above Lumfannaine, and carried his head
to Prince Malcolm." I could not find any independent confirmation of
this appealing legend, or where Lumfannaine might be.
Fifus Duffus -- the search for the historic Macduff
Clan Macduff -- the search for the historic Macduff
Charles A Harper graciously sent me his photos of "Macduff's castle" and Wemyss caves:
Other correspondents have told me that
A Clan MacDuff website, which is now down, mentions that the Wemyss family claims descent from our Macduff, and that according to legend, Macduff escaped from Macbeth through three miles of natural caves. Supposedly a MacDuff would crown the king of Scotland because of MacDuff's victory over Macbeth.
The Stewart Society --
nothing here on their fictitious ancestors Banquo and Fleance
Scottish Clans
Macbeth
Sources
Dr. Bill Long on Macbeth.
It was my great good fortune to know Dr. Long, now a legal scholar and
perhaps the web's most prolific writer of essays worth reading, when we were
at Brown.
Lynch Multimedia -- re-told as a storybook which even young children could enjoy. Highly recommended.
Cawdor Castle -- not Macbeth's home, it was not built until the 1400's
Theater History
ThinkQuest
The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle -- reference to Siward's
defeat of Macbeth at Dunsinane. Siward Junior's real name was Osborn.
Lincoln, Macbeth, and the Moral
Imagination -- from Humanitas. Lincoln was especially fond of the
play. A very good man like Lincoln
can wrestle with the same issues of whether life means
anything as can a very bad man like Macbeth. Thanks to Ben Buckles of Topeka
for letting me know this interesting fact about Lincoln.
Teri Bannerman -- literature site under construction
Shakespeare Illustrated
medievalscotland.org -- lots about the era, including plenty about how the Macbeths
probably lived, dressed, ate, etc., etc.
Book of Deer -- illuminated manuscript
which will give you a picture of the times a little bit before Macbeth
Lothene -- a group of people
who reconstruct Duncan's era
History has added to the ambiguity of the play. Nobody know where Macbeth's castle really was.
The porter scene is of course the origin of the popular children's "knock, knock, who's there?" jokes.
Watch Macbeth on videos
Productions
Shakespeare Cats Classical Comics -- by my cyberfriend, Karen Wenborn Modern Language Macbeth Comic Macbeth Comic -- "Infirm of Purpose" page Sam Worthington shoots Macbeth as an Australian-gangster "action film" targeting teens Sam Worthington's Macbeth -- Wikipedia, with poster Sam Worthington's Macbeth -- photos New York 2006 Dordt College Stratford 2006 German Reed Sixty-Second Macbeth Sonoma County -- modern dress Dream Puppets Bethesda Walter Tunis -- amateur production John Bell's Macbeth -- poster Tyne Theater CSU San Bernardino Arcola Theater -- setting in a contemporary lawless African nation Rollins Studio, Austin -- modern dress. "Think, as the program suggests, Pol Pot, Pinochet, and Mao Zedong." Sonoma -- modern dress Rough and Tumble Japanese production. "The great challenge for an actor playing Macbeth is to make the audience like him, despite all the dreadful acts he is involved in." English Miami Law London Santa Cruz |
Fun
How to Stab Kings and Injure People -- Chao Mugger's clever spoof
Banquo's Son -- novel Macbeth 2 -- subtext is the Iraq-Afghanistan war, and Siward's problem occupying Scotland The Seed of Banquo -- by a scholar who imagined Shakespeare continuing Holinshed's story |
More Help for Students
Warning: Every English teacher dreams of
catching a student plagiarizing. Unless your teacher is computer-illiterate,
he/she has very likely obtained some free / cheap prewritten papers.
And you know the likelihood of one of your classmates
turning in the same paper.
In either situation, you get caught, you get expelled,
everybody makes fun of you, and you can forget about being a doctor,
lawyer, or whatever. And you'll be getting what you deserve. People
will even say it's your "tragic flaw". Ha, ha!
turnitin.com -- anti-plagiary software.
Plagtracker.com -- a new, free plagiary-catcher service
Shakespeare Playing Cards
You already know that most (not all) "clan" tartans are inventions from the 1800s (when Sir Walter Scott's novels became popular). Whatever the historical Macbeth may have worn, they are still fun. See scottishtartans.org and here for more information.
The MacBeth Tartan |
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The MacAlpin Tartan |
One of the Many MacDonald Tartans |
A Ross Hunting Tartan |
The Lennox Tartan |
In the year I was born, "Edward" was the eighth most common name for a baby boy. Today it is fairly uncommon. Winnie-the-Pooh's first name is Edward. Being an Edward, it's fun to ask other people with "Ed" on their nametags which they are. I think that "Ed" is the shortest name by which a male in the US is likely to go. I met my first "Ned", an older nickname for any "Ed" name, online in late 2002. Edmund Moriarty, who was playing the cream-faced loon at West End, pointed out an alternative explanation for why "Macbeth" is supposed to be bad luck. The play was very popular in the 1800's, and a theater company that was about to fail would produce it in a last-ditch attempt to survive. |
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Shakespeare's Sonnets. A remarkable sequence even by today's standards. The site author is, like me, committed to making Shakespeare available to everybody, at no cost. Enjoy.
shakespeare.about.com --
lots of good contemporary essays.
Teachers: Click here to begin your search for online essays intended for would-be plagiarists. "Dishonesty was your tragic flaw, kid!" Good luck.
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Words and phrases by Shakespeare -- under development
"What is there about Shakespeare that would interest a contemporary
American?" Visitors send me this question from time to time. If being a "contemporary American" means being focused on dirty TV sitcoms, greed, casual sex, big-money sports, shout-and-pout grievance-group politics, televangelism, professional wrestling, crybabies, slot machines, postmodernism, political action committees, and "war on drugs" profiteering... then the answer is probably "Nothing." If a contemporary American can still ask, "Is life just a meaningless exercise in status-seeking, or is there anything to give us hope that morality is real?" -- then the answer is maybe that "Shakespeare deals with basic human issues."
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Antony & Cleopatra -- just getting started
Hamlet
Julian of Norwich
King Lear
Julian of Norwich
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Moby Dick
Oedipus the King -- including something about the "tragic hero" business and "predestination"
You may find it more rewarding to focus on something at once more obvious and more profound. Shakespeare (even more so than Sophocles) is writing about real-life, flesh-and-blood people ("tragic flaws" -- nobody always acts smart) who live in an imperfect world ("tragic choices").
In Shakespeare, our sympathies are usually divided among the characters. For this reason, Aristotle's thoughts on tragedy (i.e., people are imperfect) really seem more useful in discussing Shakespeare than in discussing Sophocles.
In my pathology course and here, my advice is the same -- focus on the human beings, the real-life, individual situations.
The Book of Thel
Prometheus Bound
The Knight's Tale
The Seven Against Thebes
The Tyger
Timbuctoo
Twelfth Night
I've received several requests for my thoughts on Othello,
and wish I had time to put something together. For now, if you're asked to
write on the play, here are two ideas.
(1) Look at the short story that provided the plot (click here or here), and notice how Shakespeare has portrayed racism as it really is in our world. Ordinary decent folks (i.e., the Venetian government) care only who a person is and what that person can do. They consider Brabantio a jerk for accepting a person of another race as a friend but not as a son-in-law. Iago, who for whatever reason has a chip on his shoulder, spews racial venom for his own dark reasons. Desdemona is originally frightened by someone who looks different, but quickly learns to love that person so that race become indifferent. (2) It is very common for special-forces operatives who return to civilian life and/or who try to sustain a marriage to have terrible difficulties. Those who are successful deserve our special admiration. Too many become terribly confused and end up in self-destructive behaviors, both loving and hating. It's one of our world's strangest ironies that romantic love is more treacherous and incomprehensible than war. |
Likewise, it'll be a while before I can put anything online about "The Merchant of Venice." I do want to take a minute to ask people considering Shakespeare's presentation of Shylock to consider his era. In all but Shakespeare's earliest plays, our sympathies are always divided. Shakespeare's English contemporaries would seldom or never see a real Jew (they had been expelled from England in 1280), and the "stage Jew" of the time was an evil, comic figure. Nevertheless, Shakespeare is the first writer to present a Jew as a human being. And it is easy to understand why Shylock is bitter and angry. Even at the beginning, the protagonists of the play talk trash to him simply because he is a Jew, obviously without even thinking. It's impossible not to notice this. They invite Shylock to their party simply so that his daughter can rob him, and afterwards they are only amused when his feelings are trampled. The play is actually about anger -- and Shakespeare has chosen a Jew to represent somebody who is right to be angry. This is more than a progressive choice -- it must have taken a great deal of courage. Defending himself, Shylock points out the evils of slavery, which the Jews did not practice but which was accepted at the time by some Christians. (It was illegal in Shakespeare's England but would soon re-emerge in the colonies.) The most famous speech ("The quality of mercy...") anticipates what I've found to be Shakespeare's greatest theme, i.e., in a godless universe, our only hope is to be kind to one another. No matter what your grievance is, why not be the first to take the brave step to end the stupid hatreds that darken our world? |
Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" may have been spoiled for you as required reading in high school, and/or by parodies of the balcony scene and/or a bad (left-wing, right-wing) college "Western Civ" course. Think: The play's about godawful teenaged murder-suicide. (Juliet is 14, Romeo 16.) Shakespeare's plot-source was a warning to teenagers to obey their parents. The themes of the play, which were pretty-much new with Shakespeare and very radical in his time, are (1) young people ought to be allowed to marry for love, not just whoever their parents choose for them; (2) young people's tragedies likely result from their parents' stupidity and meanness; (3) love matures people, and gives dignity, meaning, and beauty even in the worst of circumstances. By the way, did you notice that Papa Capulet is an old guy ("past [his] dancing days", thirty years since he was "in a mask"), but Mama Capulet was pregnant with Juliet at age 13. In other words, she was the old lecher's forced child-bride and she is setting up the same thing for Juliet. Forced marriage is still common (and the typical cause for a young girl's suicide) in much of our world. Did you also notice that the Capulets are not terribly surprised to find Juliet dead on her wedding day? The fact that forced marriage is illegal in the United States and England may be due, at least in part, to the fact that we listened when Shakespeare showed us who we are. For this, I'm thankful. |
I'm Ed. I'm an MD, a pathologist in Kansas City, a mainstream Christian. a modernist, a skydiver, an adventure gamer, the world's busiest free internet physician, and a man who still enjoys books and ideas.
Have you a weird sister? An odd brother? -- Richard Armour on MacbethI hope you like Macbeth, and that I've been of some help.
Visit my home page
E-mail me
Brown University,
Department of English -- my home base, 1969-1973.
Fellow English majors -- Okay, okay, I know the commas are "supposed" to go inside the
quotation marks and parentheses. This became standard to protect fragile bits of movable type. My practice lets me know I'm the one who's
typed a particular document. And yes, I know it's supposed to be "I talk plainly."
Taser Video 83.4 MB 7:26 min |
Click here to
see the author prove you can have fun skydiving without being world-class. Click here to see the author's friend, Dr. Ken Savage, do it right. |
New visitors to www.pathguy.com reset Jan. 30, 2005: |
Teens:
Stay away from drugs, work yourself extremely hard in class or
at your trade, play sports if and only if you like it,
and get out of abusive relationships by any means.
If the grown-ups who support you are "difficult", say and act
like you love them even if you're not sure that you do.
It'll help you and them.
The best thing anybody can say about you is, "That kid likes to
work too hard and isn't taking it easy like other young people." Health and friendship.
Lady Macbeth may or may not have taken her
own life. But suicide is almost certainly a bad idea.
Among young people who made serious attempts and
failed, 99% said a year later that they are glad they failed.
If you have a Second Life account, please visit my teammates and me at the Medical Examiner's office. |
Travis Morgan -- gym buddy, skydiver, long-term friend --
has a new site to help ordinary folks catch computer misbehavior. |