Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare): Volume 1

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es una especie de antepasado de Henry Jekyll y considero que Shakespeare dotó a este personaje de los clásicos elementos que distinguen a aquellos que luchan consigo mismos y que poseen claras características que definen a la temática del doble en la literatura, puesto que lo que Macbeth debe hacer (aunque no quiera) recae en su conciencia quien le juega malas pasadas puesto que está anclada en el bien: "Creí escuchar una voz que me decía: Macbeth, tú no puedes dormir, porque has asesinado al sueño." This play is getting dark and it's all going dark for me because somewhere mid-monolouge I both passed out and threw up allllllll over my fancy cloak (choose-your-own-adventure which came first). La scelta shakespeariana di Polanski non entusiasmava i suoi produttori: il regista polacco veniva da successi di tutt’altro tipo. E così il budget fu chiuso solo grazie all’intervento di Hugh Hefner, il boss di Playboy. Strani percorsi, strani incroci.

MACBETH: Hey there, nice witches, I need some help. I just saw Duncan's ghost and I’ve been killing a lot of people and my wife’s losing what few marbles she had to begin with – Lo fantástico y sobrenatural también están presente en esta como en otras tragedias del bardo inglés, especialmente los fantasmas, como el del asesinado Banquo, cuya misión es atormentar a Macbeth. La vida de Macbeth es un verdadero suplicio: débil, influenciable, traidor, asesino y atormentado.Lady Macbeth learns of the witches' prophecies, and she worries Macbeth won't take the steps necessary to make himself king. Duncan is coming to spend the night at the castle, so she plots Duncan's death. Il film di Polanski squarciò un velo: fu il primo a mostrarmi il fango e lo sporco del Medioevo, corti reali incluse, e fu il primo a non censurarsi sulla violenza di questa tragedia (un numero di morti impressionante) e sul nudo. Mi fece vedere per la prima volta in azione un attore che non conoscevo, Jon Finch, che all’epoca del film non aveva ancora trent’anni (grande intuizione di Polanski aprire a volti giovani), e che una dozzina d’anni dopo ho conosciuto. You only committed in halves to the witches advice. You needed to go the full way or not at all. For you are bloody. Your butcher’s work in King Duncan’s tent saw to that. Your soldier’s work on the battlefield also saw to that. You weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty and in this you were bold and daring, but none would ever call one such as you resolute. Your conscience got the better of you, it made you weak and vulnerable, and because of this you failed. Your rule failed. Your sword arm failed. You needed to go the full way or not at all.

Now that Lady Macbeth’s machinations have wrought their result, Lady Macbeth begins to recede from center stage and Macbeth takes her place as the most compelling character in the play. The clipped, halting sentences with which Macbeth speaks to Macduff and Lennox indicate his troubled mind and trepidation about the impending discovery of Duncan’s body. For example, while Lennox offers a lengthy speech about the wild weather of the previous night, Macbeth’s only response is a terse “’Twas a rough night” (2.3.57). And when Lennox asks Macbeth, “Goes the King hence today?” Macbeth almost gives away his knowledge that Duncan is dead (2.3.49). “He does,” answers Macbeth, before he realizes that his answer is incriminatingand changes it to: “[H]e did appoint so” (2.3.49). Poor old Macbeth. You were doomed from the very first act. Your mistake was believing in hearsay, prophecy and half-truths. You were an excellent Thane, noble and strong. But you were never meant to be King. You should never have told your wife about the witches, that way the fires of your ambition would never have been fanned. As she sleepwalks, Lady Macbeth bemoans the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo. She speaks of blood on her hands that can never be washed away. People widely regard William Shakespeare (baptized 26 April 1564) as the greatest writer in the language and the pre-eminent dramatist of the world. They often call him simply the national "bard of Avon." Surviving writings consist of 38 dramas, two long narratives, and several other books. People translate them into every major living language and performed them most often. That night, somewhere in Scotland, Lennox walks with another lord, discussing what has happened to the kingdom. Banquo’s murder has been officially blamed on Fleance, who has fled. Nevertheless, both men suspect Macbeth, whom they call a “tyrant,” in the murders of Duncan and Banquo. The lord tells Lennox that Macduff has gone to England, where he will join Malcolm in pleading with England’s King Edward for aid. News of these plots has prompted Macbeth to prepare for war. Lennox and the lord express their hope that Malcolm and Macduff will be successful and that their actions can save Scotland from Macbeth.

My Book Notes

Desperation, paranoia and butchery are what followed your indecisiveness. You killed those that could have been loyal; you killed those that could have remained friends. And it was your doom. You created your own haunting, your own end. You listened to the advice of the witches when you should have followed your own path, your own mind. Their words killed you. Your faith in them killed you. Macduff was defeated at your feet, but your fear conquered you. Their words unmanned you. The banquet is simultaneously the high point of Macbeth’s reign and the beginning of his downfall. Macbeth’s bizarre behavior puzzles and disturbs his subjects, confirming their impression that he is mentally troubled. Despite the tentativeness and guilt she displayed in the previous scene, Lady Macbeth here appears surefooted and stronger than her husband, but even her attempts to explain away her husband’s “hallucination” are ineffective when paired with the evidence of his behavior. The contrast between this scene and the one in which Duncan’s body was discovered is striking—whereas Macbeth was once cold-blooded and surefooted, he now allows his anxieties and visions to get the best of him. La storia, o forse leggenda, dice che Polanski e il suo amico critico teatrale Kenneth Tynan scrissero la sceneggiatura reclusi in un appartamento affittato nel quartiere di Belgravia: i due decisero di provare le scene man mano che le scrivevano, Roman nel ruolo del titolo e Tyran in quello di Banquo.