This time around I read The New Penguin edition, which
was first published in 1967. My copy of the book is a reprint from 1987. This
edition was edited by G.K. Hunter, and includes a forty-page introduction. In
this introduction, Hunter writes: “But as a crime-does-not-pay story it is less
concerned with the uncovering of the crime to others than with the uncovering
of the criminal to himself” (p. 7).
And then: “Macbeth falls, but does not do so primarily because of the processes
or power of his enemies. His black tyranny produces the engines of his own
destruction; the movement that carries Malcolm, Macduff and Seyward above him
is generated first by his own downward tendency and only secondarily by their
efforts” (p. 8). “When we first hear of Macbeth he is a great warrior,
marvelously steeped in blood… The stage-horror of the messenger’s account of
the extraordinarily bloody series of battles in Act I is being used at the
explicit level to suggest that Macbeth is a hero. But I think that we are also
aware (and meant to be aware) that this horrifying potentiality (even penchant) for destruction is held inside
human morality only by bonds of loyalty that are easy to snap” (p. 9). About
Macbeth, Hunter writes: “Macbeth fears
to do evil; but what he fears is the image of himself committing the evil deed,
rather than the evil deed itself. What is startling by its absence from this
moral landscape is any sense of positive love
for good, any sense of personal involvement in virtue, loyalty, restraint” (p.
10). On evil in the play, Hunter writes: “The play begins with the Witches, and
the Witches must be supposed to be evil; but the mode of evil they can create
is potential only, not actual, till the human agent takes it inside his mind
and makes it his own by a motion of the will” (p. 11). Hunter also writes: “The
deed is done, for reasons that he does not understand; the rest of his life is
the attempt to live with the deed as well as the self that his social existence
might seem to imply. The deed itself is a denial of all social obligations, all
sharing, all community of feeling, even with his wife; but it is only gradually
that the complete divorce between self and society is realized and accepted,
where realization means total sterility, and acceptance requires moral death”
(pages 16-17). Regarding performance, Hunter writes: “It has been supposed that
the last figure in the dumb-show of kings in Act IV, scene 1, who is said in
the text to have ‘a glass in his hand’, represented Mary, Queen of Scots; and
used the glass to reflect the figure of James himself, the principal spectator
of the play. No doubt it would have been improper to represent James in any
other way; but it is difficult to see how the glass operated, or how the
audience knew it was operating” (p. 30). And then: “Most modern Macbeths are of
this breed – anxious, dismayed, hysterical, but lacking in the stature that
would terrify us. It is worth noticing that the final duologue of Act III, scene
4, which is the emotional highlight of many modern productions, was hardly
mentioned in the accounts of eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century
productions” (p. 36).
The notes in this edition are presented after the play
rather than at the bottom of the page, and there are no marks in the text to
indicate when a note is present.
A note on the line “Hover through the fog and filthy air”
reads, “This may be taken to imply that the witches depart by flying” (p. 139).
The note on Ross’ line “Point against point-rebellious, arm ‘gainst arm” reads,
“F reads ‘Point, rebellious’; most editors suppose that this makes rebellious qualify arm. I take the comma to be here (as often) equivalent to the
modern hyphen, so that the first phrase means ‘sword raised against rebellious
sword’” (p. 141). On Macbeth’s line “So foul and fair a day I have not seen,”
Hunter notes: “catching up the ‘Fair is foul’ exit of the witches in I.1; so
that, on entering, Macbeth seems to be entering into their world, in mind as well as body” (p. 142). Regarding Macbeth’s
lines “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent but only/Vaulting
ambition which o’erleaps itself/And falls on the other,” Hunter notes, “The
horse imagery of ‘Striding’ and ‘horsed’ leads now (1) to a view of Macbeth’s
intention to murder as a horse that must be spurred, and (2) to a view of
ambition (which could be a spur or stimulus) as a rider vaulting into his
saddle, but overshooting the mark and falling on the other side” (p. 149).
Hunter notes, regarding Macbeth, “We heard much about the loyally bloodstained
Macbeth in I.2. The first time we see
him bloodstained it is with the blood of his rightful King” (p. 152). Regarding
the line “I pray you remember the porter,” Hunter notes: “Returning to his role
as the company clown, the Porter begs for a tip” (p. 155). Hunter notes,
regarding the line “Ring the bell,” “This is sometimes supposed to be a stage
direction added by the prompter, and accidentally printed as part of the text”
(p. 156). Regarding Macbeth’s lines “Ay, in the catalogue he go for men…”
Hunter notes, “Macbeth now uses the taunt of unmanliness which was so effective
when used against him” (p. 160). Regarding the Apparitions, Hunter writes that
the Armed Head is “presumably that of Macbeth himself, cut off by Macduff”
(pages 173-174), and that the Bloody Child is “presumably Macduff, ‘from his
mother’s womb untimely ripped’” (p. 174), and that the Child crowned is “Malcolm,
advancing with a branch of Birnan Wood” (p. 174). Regarding the spelling of “Birnan,”
Hunter writes: “F has ‘Byrnam’ here; the correct form in modern geography is Birnam. But Elizabethan authorities
spell the word with an n (‘Bernane’
in Holinshed; ‘Brynnane’ in Wintoun’s Original
Chronicle); and this is the form the Folio uses on every other occasion
when the name appears (IV.1.97; V.3.2 and 60; V.4.3; V.5.34 and 44; V.6.69). We
must assume that the m is an error
here, and that Birnan is the correct
Shakespearian form” (p. 174). Regarding the word farced in Macbeth’s line “Were they not farced with those that
should be ours,” Hunter notes: “The F word ‘forc’d’ is sometimes defended as
having the sense of ‘reinforced’; but this meaning is only doubtfully attested.
In view of the food images in the line before it seems best to take ‘forc’d’ as
the common Elizabethan variant of farced”
(p. 185). Regarding Macbeth’s line “There would have been a time for such a
word,” Hunter writes: “His mind moves back from the meaninglessness of any
future to the meaningfulness of the past. ‘At one time I could have responded
to such a word (announcement).’ The transition to the following line implies
the transition from that past to this present” (p. 186). And then regarding the
line “in this petty pace,” Hunter writes: “in the petty manner of this pace. I
assume that he paces as he speaks” (p. 186).
For those who are interested, here are links to my other Macbeth-related blog posts:
- Shakespeare Study: The Tragedy Of Macbeth (Part 1: Books)
- Shakespeare Study: The Tragedy Of Macbeth (Part 2: Films and Television Programs)
- Duel Scene From Macbeth (1905) DVD Review
- Macbeth (1948) DVD Review
- Macbeth (Independent Shakespeare Company 2013 Production)
- Macbeth (A Noise Within 2014 Production)
Related Books:
- Macbeth Before During After by Ben
Crystal - This is a volume in the Arden Shakespeare’s
Springboard Shakespeare series, and works as an introduction and study guide
for students and those new to the play. Regarding the theatre in Shakespeare’s
day, Crystal writes, “The legal fiction was that any performance at a public
theatre was technically a rehearsal and preparation, before showing the play to
the royal patron” (p. 5). And about current productions, Crystal writes: “Recently,
some productions have placed a break at the beginning of Act 3, before Macbeth
and Lady Macbeth’s entrance as King and Queen, though many more run the play
without an interval at all (but with cuts made to the text). Indeed, the
ferocious action can make the play feel like it wants to sprint on to the end
without pause” (p. 9). Regarding the Porter, Crystal writes: “The Porter is a
famous character in the play who has a speech calling on ideologies and gags
well known the Shakespeare’s audience. He jokes that he’s the porter to the
gate to Hell, and perhaps he is. By killing the King in their castle, the
Macbeths have essentially opened the doors to Hell” (p. 9). Crystal adds: “On a
practical level, the scene gives an opportunity for the blood-soaked actors
playing the Macbeths to change and wash. On a more symbolic level, if the
Porter represents Macbeth’s castle as Hell then he reinforces the unsettling,
supernatural element in the play. Indeed, some productions extend the part of
the Porter to include the lines later used by the servant character Seyton. To
an audience’s ear, it might sound as if Macbeth has grown so evil that even a
minion of Hell is serving him” (pages 9-10). Regarding Shakespeare’s style,
Crystal writes: “A speech full of longer thoughts indicate a mind more settled.
A speech with many mid-line endings indicate a frantic, less composed
state-of-mind – switching from subject to subject, the characters are
interrupting themselves” (p. 15). Regarding the character Ross, Crystal writes:
“Productions have reinvented Ross as Macbeth’s master spy, the man responsible
for Banquo’s and Lady’s Macduff’s murder. He has also been reimagined as Duncan’s
priest, a man who bears witness to the tragic horrors as they unfold and
(taking on the role of Doctor) called on to minister to Lady Macbeth’s
sleep-walking. Having been written in such an open-ended way, and not specified
as being particularly good or bad, it’s a party you can choose to do very
little with and ignore or one that can be given an important narrative arc
throughout the whole play” (p. 18). About the text, Crystal adds: “The Hecate
scenes (3:5 and 4:1) are now thought to have been written by Thomas Middleton,
a collaborator who worked with Shakespeare towards the end of his career. Some
productions include these scenes, some cut them” (p. 19). Crystal later adds: “Collaboration
was a common practice in theatres then, and young writers wrote to their
strengths, whether they excelled in plot, character, verse or prose. Some say
that the lines spoken by Hecate in 3:5 were written by one of Shakespeare’s
collaborators, Thomas Middleton, who is thought to have added the lines long
after the play was first performed. Most are convinced of his participation
because the song ‘Come away, come away’ (mentioned in a stage direction and
sung by the Witches to send off Hecate) is found in a later Middleton play
called The Witch” (pages 84-85). Crystal
includes an historical note: “The crown of Scotland was originally not
hereditary. When a successor was declared in the lifetime of a king, the title
of Prince of Cumberland was immediately bestowed on him as the mark of his
designation” (p. 20). Regarding the Witches’ last line of the first scene,
Crystal tells us: “But it’s a nine-syllable line (rather than ten), making a
bridge from the Witches’ tetrameter to Duncan’s pentameter which opens the next
scene, with the possible effect of their chant blending and shifting into
regular speech” (p. 30). Regarding Lady Macbeth’s line “Had he not resembled/My
father as he slept, I had done’t,” Crystal writes: “Why would she murder
Duncan, when she knows she had persuaded Macbeth to do it? And what
psychological horrors lie in wait for her if she sees her father in the man
they murder? Lady Macbeth returns the dagger to the King’s chamber; in so
doing, covering her hands in blood, and momentarily sees the image she did not
want to see – an image of her ‘father’ murdered. As we’ll see, both these
images have a tremendous effect on her state of mind later in the play” (p.
46). And then regarding Lady Macbeth seeming to wash her hands, Crystal writes:
“Witches were believed to have renounced their baptism by water; so in theory
water cannot touch a witch. For Shakespeare’s audience, Lady Macbeth has become
very witch-like” (p. 66). Regarding Macbeth’s death, Crystal writes: “Macduff
has cut off Macbeth’s head, and carries it on-stage, presumably by the hair.
Modern productions often have him carry a bloodied sack, to avoid the
complications (and possible laughter) that can be triggered by an ill-made fake
decapitated head” (p. 75). Regarding the character of Macbeth, Crystal writes: “The
last shred of sympathy for him is often used up when Lady Macbeth dies. From
thereon he feels like a man with nothing left to lose, although a form of pity
for his tragic end is often reignited if the actor lets us see a look of shock
during his final encounter with Macduff, as all the pieces of the puzzle fall
into place for him” (pages 79-80). About long-term insomnia, Crystal writes: “Other
symptoms of long-term sleep loss are menopause in women and impotence in men.
Both are fascinating possible character choices, especially considering Lady
Macbeth’s reference to losing a child. Equally so, as she lambasts Macbeth’s
manliness, prompting his I dare do all
that may become a man, and, after seeing Banquo’s Ghost, his I am a man again” (p. 83). This book was
published in 2013.
- Macbeth: Language And Writing by Emma
Smith - This volume is aimed at students, and focuses
on the language of the play. Regarding the belief that Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to please James, Smith writes:
“Perhaps, as has been suggested, the play addressed its depiction of regal
tyranny to the increasingly absolutist James in a more satiric or subversive
spirit, marking his unpopularity rather than toadying to his wishes. If
contemporary references to the play are an index of its popularity, then Macbeth seems to have been markedly less
favoured than Shakespeare’s other tragedies: maybe this suggests it was not a
success” (p. 7). And then: “Macbeth
is less about a simplistic identification of Catholicism as the enemy and more
about the effects of fear, terror and guilt on a population and an individual.
If it is not directly ‘about’ the Gunpowder Plot in any obvious way, then, Macbeth is marked by its legacy of
political and social unease” (p. 9). Regarding the text, Smith writes: “It is
generally assumed that the underlying text from which the printers worked was a
theatre prompt-book (evidence for this includes the directions for offstage
noises and the relatively complete entry and exit stage directions, which
suggest a text prepared for use in the theatre)” (pages 15-16). Regarding
Middleton perhaps having a hand in the text, Smith writes: “In addition, the
stage direction formula ‘enter X meeting Y’ has been identified as distinctive
to Middleton: it appears in Macbeth at
the beginning of 2.1 and in 3.5. Gary Taylor has suggested that Middleton wrote
about 11 per cent of the text of Macbeth
as printed in the Folio (Middleton, 1165) including 3.5 and parts of 4.1, and,
further, that he may have been responsible for cuts to the text that have
produced so notably compressed a play” (p. 29). Regarding Macbeth’s “If it were
done when ‘tis done” speech, Smith writes: “One noticeable feature of Macbeth’s
soliloquy here is his inability to name the deed he contemplates. The witches
later will claim that they do ‘a deed without a name’ (4.1.49): but that
namelessness is anticipated here. The deed that is contemplated is so terrible
as to be unnameable. We can see that Macbeth begins his speech here with
pronouns rather than nouns: ‘If it were done when ‘tis done’ begins without the
noun to which ‘it’ refers. In part we catch his thought here in mid-flow, as if
he is continuing an internal conversation begun when he left Lady Macbeth with
the words ‘We will speak further’ at 1.5.70” (pages 35-36). Regarding Banquo’s
ghost, Smith writes: “The scene, 3.4, opens with the stage direction ‘Banquet
prepar’d’ (3.4.0SD): although the word ‘banquet’ is never spoken in the scene,
its presence in the stage direction is a submerged echo or anticipation of
Banquo’s name (a pun anticipated by Duncan: ‘True, worthy Banquo: he [Mabeth]
is full so valiant,/And in his commendations I am fed;/It is a banquet to me’
(1.4.54-6))” (page 56). Smith also writes: “and even in death Banquo pushes him
from his usurped throne, which is only ever a stool” (p. 59). Regarding the
shift toward Malcom near the end, Smith writes: “With the Macduff murders, the
play tries to wake up our outrage as part of its shift towards the new order of
Malcolm’s reign. It is followed immediately by the scene between Malcolm and
Macduff, then that of the doctor and the gentlewoman observing Lady Macbeth’s
sleepwalking, then the scene with the thanes leading their soldiers towards
Dunsinane. Thus, it is one of the means by which the play changes gear,
aligning itself with Macbeth’s victims rather than, as before, with his own
tortured psyche” (p. 70). Regarding the Witches, Smith writes: “Most ominous
about the witches’ opening scene is their plan ‘to meet with Macbeth’ (1.1.7).
Does this suggest they control him? Or merely know where he will be and can
intercept him? Directing the play in 1934, Tyrone Guthrie cut 1.1 entirely,
precisely because he felt it gave the witches undue influence: ‘by making the
three Weird Sisters open the play, one cannot avoid the implication that they
are a governing influence of the tragedy…Surely the grandeur of the tragedy
lies in the fact that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are ruined by precisely those
qualities that make them great’ (Braunmuller, 32)” (p. 112). Regarding the
order of the opening scenes, Smith writes: “This sequence retrospectively turns
the greeting ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor’ into a prophecy,
and further, suggests that the next statement, ‘All hail, Macbeth, that shalt
be King hereafter’ is another prophecy and one that will, similarly, be fulfilled.
In fact the tense of the witches’ second greeting is not phrased as a future
prediction but as a present fact – perhaps the witches simply know what has
happened, rather than being able to predict the future. But that precise
distinction is overwhelmed by the speed with which Macbeth is awarded the title
of Cawdor” (pages 114-115). About Banquo, Smith writes: “He has heard that his
children shall be kings, and appears to undertake no action to bring that
about. His behaviour is not apparently changed by the prophecy in order to make
it self-fulfilling” (p. 115). And then: “But the point is that Banquo hears a
prophecy and does not obviously change his behaviour to meet it, and thus shows
that this is a possible alternative to Macbeth’s chosen course of action” (p.
116). Regarding the first scene between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Smith writes:
“He replies, ‘Tomorrow, as he purposes.’ So far, so innocent, as if the room
were bugged. But why add ‘as he purposes’? A simple ‘Tomorrow’ would have done.
In the husband-and-wife telepathy this added phrase means: ‘At least that is
what he thinks,’ and that is enough of a cue for Lady Macbeth to pounce in
with: ‘O! never/Shall sun that morrow see!’” (p. 131). Regarding the Porter
scene, Smith writes, “But the echo of ‘king’ in the repeated word ‘knocking’ (4
times in 20 lines at the end of 2.2) may suggest that Duncan is half-remembered
as a verbal ghost” (p. 140). And about Lady Macbeth, Smith writes: “The extent
to which she still transgresses norms of female behaviour is striking, although
it is also noticeable that, while her behaviour has been dominant in criticism
of the play, no one within it, apart from Malcolm in the closing lines, ever
expresses any condemnation of her” (p. 153). This book was published in 2013.
- The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents:
Macbeth by Ian Lendler and Zack Giallongo - This
children’s book is presented in a comic book style, and is of animals putting
on a production of Macbeth for an
audience of other animals, who occasionally comment on the action. Macbeth is a
lion, and Duncan is an owl. When Macbeth wins a battle, he’s not made Thane of
Cawdor, but rather given the world’s largest hot dog. In this version, Banquo
is named Banksy. Macbeth is bored, and his nose leads him to the three Weird
Sisters. Next to their cauldron is a sign: “Today’s Special: King Stew! Free
Wi-Fi” (p.9). The witches urge Macbeth to eat the king, telling him, “He tastes
like chicken” (p. 10). Macbeth realizes what he wants is power. Macbeth tells
his wife about the witches, rather than write a letter. He soon decides it isn’t
right to eat the king, “So Lady Macbeth started nagging” (p. 14). Some cute
lines result, like “Night, night, sleep tight. Be sure to eat the king tonight”
(p. 15). Rather than a dagger, he sees a knife and fork, leading him to say, “Is
this silverware I see before me?” (p. 19). He doesn’t carry out the utensils,
so Lady Macbeth does not enter the king’s chamber in this version. The Porter
is cut, as are Malcolm and Donalbain. Macduff is presented as a detective (and
as a bird). Because there is no prophecy regarding Banksy’s heirs, Macbeth
kills him simply to keep him quiet about the witches’ prediction that he’d eat
the king. In this version, Macbeth kills Banksy before being crowned king. (A
member of the audience says: “I’m confused. I thought Macbeth was the hero of
the story. Is he a good guy or a bad guy?” (p. 33).) Lady Macbeth’s hands
become stained when washing Macbeth’s dirty clothing. Rather than seeing a
Ghost in the banquet scene, Macbeth believes he hears Banksy talking to him
from his stomach. As this is presented as a play, there is an intermission. It’s
positioned soon after the banquet scene, but first Macbeth takes a walk at
night and says a line from his speech in Act V: “Out, out, brief candle.” After the intermission he returns to “Out,
out, brief candle,” until the audience calls out for the witches, and so the
book then goes to Act IV Scene i, when the Witches warn him about Macduff. The
other predictions are worded thus: “Macbeth cannot be killed by another person
who’s been born from a mother. Macbeth won’t taste defeat or hassle until the
trees march toward his castle” (p. 46). It lacks Shakespeare’s poetry, of
course, but leads to some humorous lines, like “And I want you to chop off the
feet of every tree in the forest. That’ll stop them from coming any closer” (p.
48). Macbeth eats Macduff’s wife and children. Lady Macbeth says, “Out! Out!
Dumb spot!” (p. 56). Then she scrubs herself so hard that she, as Macbeth says,
“rubbed herself out” (p. 61). It is due to a lack of armor that the soldiers
cut down branches from the trees in this version. Macbeth gives the “tomorrow”
line, but in a different context: “I bet tomorrow will be lousy too. And
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…” (p. 65). Macduff says: “But I wasn’t born
from a mother. I was delivered… By a stork!” (p. 68). Macduff doesn’t
decapitate Macbeth in this version. In fact, none of the characters are
actually dead. Macduff jumps on Macbeth’s belly, and all the characters that
were eaten are suddenly freed. It ends with the animals planning a production
of Romeo And Juliet. This book was
written by Ian Lendler, and the art was done by Zack Giallongo. Alisa Harris is
credited with the color. This book was published in 2014 by First Second, an
imprint of Roaring Brook Press.
- Exposure by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes - This
is a volume in the Twisted Lit series, and is a modern adaptation of Macbeth, setting the events in a high
school in Alaska. Alaska really works for the Macbeth tale, as this description shows: “This was home, but there
was a bleakness and foreboding atmosphere that made you cling more tightly to
the people in your life” (p. 52). After the prologue, the story is told from
the perspective of Skye Kingston, a high school student who is into photography
and is a bit of an outsider. Skye has a crush on Craig Mackenzie, this
version’s Macbeth. But Craig is dating Beth Morgan, the book’s Lady Macbeth.
Beth wants desperately to be prom queen (the high school equivalent of queen of
Scotland), and even Craig describes her as “ambitious” (p. 24). Duncan Shaw is
the senior hockey team captain. Duff Wallace is this telling’s Macduff, and
Kristy Winters is Lady Macduff, Duff Wallace’s girlfriend. When the story
begins, Duff is already out of town, away in Scotland on a student exchange
program, and Kristy believes that Beth is somehow responsible for his exile. Each
of the chapter titles comes directly from the play. For example, the first
chapter is “Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair.” And in that chapter, Craig says,
“Foul is fair, fair is foul,” referring to the referee not calling a foul on
him during a game. The second chapter is titled “I Dreamt Last Night of the
Three Weird Sisters,” and this chapter introduces this book’s version of the
three witches: Cat Ayuluk, Kaya Gilbert and Tess Littlefish. When introduced,
they are wearing demonic-looking masks, which they created for a class project.
And this book’s version of the prophecy involves handing Craig a mask. Cat
tells him: “The red color signifies royalty and power” (p. 19). And Kaya warns
him: “Red can also signify blood and death” (p. 19). The fourth chapter is
titled “Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing,” and in it the students are
assigned to read Faulker’s The Sound And
The Fury, whose title of course comes from Macbeth’s famous speech. For
Halloween, the three girls wear witch hats, and Craig is dressed as Elvis (get
it – the King). Later, Tess says, “It’s a cauldron in here” (p. 109), a nice
little reference to the Witches’ famous prop. Duncan Shaw does die in this
version, but it may be the result of an accident, rather than Craig
deliberately murdering him. Skye overhears Beth say, “What’s done is done,
Craig” (p. 54). She then continues: “It was an accident. I’m just as freaked
out about this as you are, so just get a grip!” (p. 54). Later Craig also says,
“What’s done is done” (p. 154). The title of the eighth chapter is “Nothing in
His Life Became Him Like the Leaving It,” though in this version that line
seems to refer to Duncan, whom we learn in this chapter has died. The spot that
will later drive Beth a bit mad in this adaptation is a red dot on her white
leather coat. Like the Macbeths, Beth has trouble sleeping. “Not that I could
sleep anyway” (p. 81), she says. And later, “Beth ambled around school like she
was sleepwalking” (p. 127). Beth also says, “My hands are not clean” (p. 107),
reminding us of Lady Macbeth trying to scrub her hands in her sleep. And
moments later, seeing the red spot on her coat, Beth “started rubbing furiously
at the wool and leather coat with her bare hands until they were raw and chafed”
(p. 108). Later Skye tells us she’s heard that Beth has “been admitted to a psychiatric
facility” (p. 205). The twenty-first chapter is titled “Double, Double, Toil
And Trouble,” and in it Kaya says, “I just pricked my thumb on the pin,” a cute
reference to one of the play’s most famous lines. Craig and Beth do become prom
king and queen, as the Macbeths become king and queen in the play, and Craig
asks the three girls for more prophecies, as Macbeth returns to the Weird
Sisters. They tell him things are good, leading him to respond, “I’m out of the
woods?” (p. 160). This, of course, is a play on the Witches prediction, “Macbeth
shall never vanquished be until/Great Birnam Wood to high Duninane Hill/Shall
come against him” (from Act IV Scene i.) There is a further reference to Birnam
Wood, in that a tree on campus is fondly referred to as “Old Burny” (p. 185).
And then an environmentalist, in leading a protest against the cutting down of
that tree, has several other students march forward with construction paper
leaves on posterboard. Another student comments, “It looks like we’re being
attacked by a grove of angry trees” (p. 187). Craig and Duff do fight in this
version, but over something seemingly trivial. Craig doesn’t get decapitated,
but he does get “a gash about his left eye” (p. 168). When Skye admits having
trouble with her senior project, her teacher says, “The attempt, and not the
deed confounds you” (p. 202), a reference to Lady Macbeth’s line, “Th’ attempt
and not the deed/Confounds us,” from Act II scene ii. This book has a few
references to other Shakespeare plays. For example, Skye describes Beth: “She
brushed past me and practically leaped into Craig’s arms, clutching him with
heightened histrionics, as if he were Romeo, soon to be forever banished from
Verona” (p. 10). And later she tells us, “I didn’t want to run the risk of
running into a pack of wolves, or worse still, a beast with two backs,” a
reference to Othello. There is also a
Hamlet reference when Skye sees what
Beth wrote in memory of Duncan: “Good night, sweet prince” (p. 126). And in one
class they discuss one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The first four lines from
Sonnet 130 are quoted: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;/Coral is
far more red than her lips’ red;/If snow be white, why then her breasts are
dun;/If hairs be wired, black wires grow on her head” (p. 104). Exposure was published in 2012 by Merit
Press.
- Traffic With Macbeth by Larissa Szporluk - This
is a book of poetry whose title comes from a scene that is often cut from
productions of Macbeth, and which
some believe was actually added later by Thomas Middleton: Act III Scene v, the
Hecate scene. Hecate says to the Witches: “How did you dare/To trade and
traffic with Macbeth/In riddles and affairs of death.” The book then opens with
a couple of lines from Act I Scene iii: “Come what come may,/Time and the hour
runs through the roughest day.” The poems themselves deal with death and
witches and other elements familiar to readers of the play. Here is a stanza
from the poem titled “Traffic With Macbeth”: “or a king/with a
king-eating/fungus” (p. 5). And then in a poem titled “The Fungus,” Szporluk writes,
“The greater than we./The less than we” (. 54), which brings to mind the witch’s
line to Banquo from Act I Scene iii: “Lesser than Macbeth and greater.” Traffic With Macbeth was published in
2011, though these poems appeared earlier in various publications.
For those who are interested, here are links to my other Macbeth-related blog posts:
- Shakespeare Study: The Tragedy Of Macbeth (Part 1: Books)
- Shakespeare Study: The Tragedy Of Macbeth (Part 2: Films and Television Programs)
- Duel Scene From Macbeth (1905) DVD Review
- Macbeth (1948) DVD Review
- Macbeth (A Noise Within 2014 Production)
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