Why should you read "Macbeth"? - Brendan Pelsue

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There’s a play so powerful that an old superstition says its name should never be uttered in a theater. A play that begins with witchcraft and ends with a bloody, severed head. A play filled with riddles, prophecies, nightmare visions, and lots of brutal murder. But is it really all that good? Brendan Pelsue explains why you should read (or revisit) "Macbeth."

Lesson by Brendan Pelsue, directed by Silvia Prietov.

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There's a play so powerful
that an old superstition says

its name should never
even be uttered in a theater,

a play that begins with witchcraft
and ends with a bloody severed head,

a play filled with riddles, prophesies,
nightmare visions,

and lots of brutal murder,

a play by William Shakespeare sometimes
referred to as the "Scottish Play"

or the "Tragedy of Macbeth."

First performed at the Globe Theater
in London in 1606,

"Macbeth" is
Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.

It is also one of his most action-packed.

In five acts, he recounts a story
of a Scottish nobleman

who steals the throne,

presides over a reign of terror,

and then meets a bloody end.

Along the way, it asks important questions
about ambition,

power,

and violence

that spoke directly to the politics
of Shakespeare's time

and continue to echo in our own.

England in the early 17th century
was politically precarious.

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603
without producing an heir,

and in a surprise move,

her advisors passed the crown
to James Stewart, King of Scotland.

Two years later, James was subject
to an assassination attempt

called the Gunpowder Plot.

Questions of what made
for a legitimate king

were on everyone's lips.

So Shakespeare must have known
he had potent material

when he conflated and adapted the stories

of a murderous 11th century
Scottish King named Macbeth

and those of several
other Scottish nobles.

He found their annals
in Hollinshed's "Chronicles,"

a popular 16th century history
of Britain and Ireland.

Shakespeare would also have known
he needed to tell his story

in a way that would
immediately grab the attention

of his diverse and rowdy audience.

The Globe welcomed
all sections of society.

Wealthier patrons watched the stage
from covered balconies

while poorer people paid a penny
to take in the show

from an open-air section called the pit.

Talking, jeering, and cheering
was common during performances.

There are even accounts of audiences
throwing furniture when plays were flops.

So "Macbeth" opens with a literal bang.

Thunder cracks and three witches appear.

They announce they're searching

for a Scottish nobleman
and war hero named Macbeth,

then fly off while chanting a curse
that predicts a world gone mad.

"Fair is foul and foul is fair.
Hover through the fog and filthy air."

As seen later, they find Macbeth
and his fellow nobleman Banquo.

"All hail Macbeth," they prophesize,
"that shalt be king hereafter!"

"King?" Macbeth wonders.

Just what would he have to do
to gain the crown?

Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth

soon chart a course of murder,
lies, and betrayal.

In the ensuing bloodbath,

Shakespeare provides viewers with some
of the most memorable passages

in English literature.

"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"
Lady Macbeth cries when she believes

she can't wipe her victim's blood
off her hands.

Her obsession with guilt is one
of many themes that runs through the play,

along with the universal tendency
to abuse power,

the endless cycles of violence
and betrayal,

the defying political conflict.

As is typical with Shakespeare's language,

a number of phrases
that got their start in the play

have been repeated so many times
that they now feel commonplace.

They include "the milk of human kindness,"

"what's done is done,"

and the famous witches' spell,

"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble."

But Shakespeare saves the juiciest
bit of all for Macbeth himself.

Towards the end of the play,
Macbeth reflects on the universality of death

and the futility of life.

"Out, out, brief candle!" he laments.

"Life's but a walking shadow,

a poor player that struts
and frets his hour upon the stage

and then is heard no more.

It is a tale told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury

signifying nothing."

Life may be a tale told my an idiot,
but "Macbeth" is not.

Shakespeare's language and characters
have entered our cultural consciousness

to a rare extent.

Directors often use the story
to shed light on abuses of power,

ranging from the American mafia

to dictators across the globe.

The play has been adapted
to film many times,

including Akira Kurosawa's
"Throne of Blood,"

which takes place in feudal Japan,

and a modernized version
called "Scotland, PA,"

in which Macbeth and his rivals

are managers of competing
fast food restaurants.

No matter the presentation,

questions of morality,

politics,

and power are still relevant today,

and so, it seems,
is Shakespeare's "Macbeth."