This is Macbeth

This is Macbeth has a running news ticker at the bottom of the screen throughout the interview portions of the film.  The ticker, or the "crawl," as is often called, presents fictional Scottish weather reports, medieval news updates, and humorous advertisements for other Macbeth-related programming on television.  It also presents views of prominent Shakespeare critics on the scene at hand, and can be a valuable resource for getting deeper into the themes and challenges of the play.  Although it's a challenge to read the crawl while you are watching the film for the first time, students can return to the text of it either as they watch the film again, or they can refer to it as they are reading the play itself.  Below is the text of the crawl, broken up by the interview scenes as they appear in the film.

The Crawl

1. (TV #1) INTRODUCTION
 
ELIZABETH I, QUEEN OF ENGLAND, DIED IN 1603, LEAVING NO HEIR TO THE THRONE.

THE NEAREST RELATIVE, JAMES VI, KING OF SCOTLAND, SUCCEEDED TO THE THRONE, BECOMING JAMES I OF GREAT BRITAIN.
 
JAMES I’S BROTHER-IN-LAW, CHRISTIAN IV (KING OF DENMARK), VISITED IN 1606.  SOME CRITICS THINK MACBETH WAS WRITTEN IN HONOR OF THE OCCASION.
 
MACBETH IS SHAKESPEARE’S ONLY PLAY DEALING WITH SCOTTISH HISTORY, IN HONOR OF KING JAMES’S SCOTTISH ORIGINS.

EVEN THOUGH MACBETH SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN TO HONOR A KING, ITS PROTAGONIST IS A MURDERER AND "USURPER" (USURPER: SOMEONE WHO BECOMES KING BY KILLING THE PREVIOUS KING).  THE PLAY WORKS AS A COUNTER-EXAMPLE - IT HONORS KING JAMES PARTLY BY CONTRASTING HIS REIGN WITH MACBETH, AN EVIL RULER.

MACBETH IS THE SHORTEST OF SHAKESPEARE’S TRAGEDIES.  OF ALL THE PLAYS, ONLY THE COMEDY OF ERRORS AND THE TEMPEST ARE SHORTER.  HAMLET IS SHAKESPEARE’S LONGEST PLAY.  WAR AND PEACE IS MUCH LONGER, BUT IS NOT WRITTEN BY SHAKESPEARE, SO THIS IS IRRELEVANT.

2.  (THEATRE #1) WITCHES ALONE (I, 1)
 <NO TICKER>

3. (TV #2A) DUNCAN ALONE (I, 2-4) 
 
THE HISTORICAL KING DUNCAN BECAME KING OF SCOTLAND IN 1034, WHEN SCOTLAND WAS FORMING INTO A NATION, FROM ITS PREVIOUS STATE AS A LOOSE COLLECTION OF TRIBES.
 
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MACBETH, ALL KINGS OF SCOTLAND FROM THIS POINT ON WILL BE DESCENDANTS OF DUNCAN.
 
HISTORICALLY, MACBETH WAS PROBABLY OLDER THAN DUNCAN.

IT IS LIKELY THAT THE REAL DUNCAN WAS FAIRLY YOUNG – ABOUT 36 AT THE END OF HIS SIX-YEAR REIGN, WHEN HE WAS ASSASSINATED.

OFF THE AIR, DUNCAN REVEALS HIS SECRET TO STAYING YOUNG AND FIT: “UP AT 7 AM, QUICK BREKKIE, BOAR HUNTING TILL 11.  NO KINGDOM BUSINESS TILL YOU’VE BROUGHT DOWN A NICE BOAR!”
 
IT IS LIKELY THE HISTORICAL DUNCAN WAS “TOO SOFT” TO RULE WELL IN THOSE HARD TIMES.  RAPHAEL HOLINSHED’S HISTORIES, THE MAJOR HISTORICAL SOURCE THAT SHAKESPEARE USED FOR DETAILS OF HIS PLOT, STATES THAT MACBETH CRITICIZED DUNCAN'S "OVERMUCH SLACKNESS IN PUNISHING OFFENDORS."

ONLINE POLL RESULTS: 68% OF MEDIEVAL SCOTS SAY DUNCAN’S TOO EASY ON HIS THANES.  HOWEVER, 84% THINK HE’S THE BEST KING IN RECENT MEMORY TO SIT BACK AND HAVE A PINT OF HONEY MEAD WITH.  11% ABSTAIN FROM HONEY MEAD, BUT STILL THINK DUNCAN MAKES GOOD JOKES ON THE TELLY.
 
THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF MACBETH IS CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF HAMLET: THE MIDDLE OF THE 11TH CENTURY.
 
FOR A LONG TIME, THE VIKINGS DOMINATED THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. MACDONWALD’S TREASON IS TO SIDE WITH THE VIKINGS; THIS WAS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD STRATEGY, GIVEN THE VIKING TRACK RECORD UP THERE.

TONIGHT AT 9: EXPOSE ON KING SWENO - THE EARLY DAYS OF THE TYRANT OF NORWAY

JAMES I CONSIDERED HIMSELF A DESCENDANT OF BANQUO AND DUNCAN.  HE ALSO CONSIDERED HIMSELF AN EXCELLENT POOL PLAYER, BUT WE LACK HISTORICAL EVIDENCE ON THIS POINT.
 
“THANE” IS FROM A WORD THAT MEANS “FOLLOWER” OR “SERVANT.”  DUNCAN HAS SEVERAL THANES UNDER HIM, EACH NOMINALLY IN CHARGE OF A CERTAIN AREA OF SCOTLAND.

SCOTLAND WEATHER: STORNAWAY: COLD, BITING WIND.  HORIZONTAL FREEZING RAIN.  JOHN O’GROATS: YOU THOUGHT STORNAWAY WAS COLD! SLEET THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

THE THANE OF CAWDOR ALSO HELPED THE VIKINGS, PROBABLY THINKING THAT THE VIKINGS WOULD WIN THE WAR.   TURNS OUT HE WAS WRONG.

DUNCAN, ON THE OLD THANE OF CAWDOR: “THERE’S NO ART TO FIND THE MIND’S CONSTRUCTION IN THE FACE.  HE WAS A GENTLEMAN ON WHOM I BUILT AN ABSOLUTE TRUST.”  (I, IV)

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “THE FACE IS NO INDEX TO THE MIND.”  ("ELIZABETHAN" REFERS TO THE PERIOD OF ENGLISH HISTORY DURING THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH I, WHICH SPANNED MUCH OF SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE.)

JAMES'S REIGN WOULD BE NAMED "JACOBEAN."  KING ELDRIDGE'S REIGN WOULD BE CALLED "ELDRIDIGIAN," IF THERE WERE EVER A KING ELDRIDGE.

4. (TV #2B) DUNCAN WITH MACBETH (I, 4) 

MACBETH ALSO CALLS DUNCAN HIS "LIEGE," A SUPERIOR TO WHOM HE OWES HIS SERVICES.

MACBETH SPELLED BACKWARDS DOESN’T REALLY SPELL ANYTHING AND WOULD BE HARD TO PRONOUNCE.  DUNCAN SPELLED BACKWARDS IS SLIGHTLY MORE SATISFYING.

MACBETH'S CHARACTER IN THE FIRST FEW SCENES IS CENTERED AROUND HIS COURAGE AND PROWESS IN BATTLE, HIS VALOR.

EUGENE WAITH, SHAKESPEARE CRITIC: "TO THE 'BLEEDING SERGEANT' HE IS 'BRAVE MACBETH,' TO DUNCAN 'VALIANT COUSIN, WORTHY GENTLEMAN;' ROSS CALLS HIM 'BELLONA'S BRIDEGROOM'... IN ALL THESE COMMENTS THERE IS ONE IMPLIED IDEAL--THE SOLDIER'S, OR AS PLUTARCH SAYS, THE ROMAN'S IDEAL--OF WHAT IT IS TO BE A MAN."

THIS SCENE TAKES PLACE AT DUNCAN’S COURT, LOCATED IN FORRES, NEAR NAIRN.  FORRES MEANS "LITTLE SHRUBLAND” IN GAELIC.  THERE IS A STONE IN FORRES, CALLED “WITCHES’ STONE” WHERE WITCHES WERE LIKELY BURNED AT THE STAKE IN MEDIEVAL TIMES.

ANOTHER ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “VIRTUE IS ITS OWN REWARD.”

MACBETH COMPARES HIS LOYALTY TO THAT OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS AND SERVANTS TO THEIR MASTERS--ONE NATURAL AND ONE SOCIAL RELATION.  HIS SUBSEQUENT CRIMES WILL TRANSGRESS AGAINST THESE RELATIONS, AND MACBETH WILL BRING UP THESE COMPARISONS AGAIN IN THE PLAY.

DOES MACBETH BELIEVE HIS OWN OATHS OF LOYALTY?

BATTLE SCORES: UPSET IN OSLO!  VIKINGS TRUMP NORWEGIANS IN AFTERNOON SKIRMISH.  “HEADS WILL ROLL” IN SECOND MATCH, SET FOR THE MORNING.

PAUL JORGENSEN, SHAKESPEARE CRITIC:  “DUNCAN IS SIMPLY FOOLED BY FALSE APPEARANCES.  MACBETH IS TORMENTED BY THEM, TRYING TO TELL WHICH SIDE IS RIGHT AND WHICH IS WRONG.”

WHEN DOES MACBETH FIRST BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT KILLING THE KING?  DOES IT COME INTO HIS MIND WHEN HE AND BANQUO MEET THE WITCHES?  OR HAS MACBETH BEEN SCHEMING TO KILL DUNCAN EVEN BEFORE THE PLAY BEGINS?

H.N. HUDSON, SHAKESPEARE CRITIC: "THE WEIRD SISTERS... PUT NOTHING INTO MACBETH, BUT ONLY BRING OUT WHAT WAS ALREADY THERE.  THEY SEEM DRAWN TO HIM, INDEED BY THE SECRET SYMPATHY WHICH EVIL NATURALLY HAS WITH EVIL."

WAYNE BOOTH, ANOTHER CRITIC, DISAGREES: "THE EVIL OF MACBETH'S ACTS IS BUILT UPON THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE IS NOT A NATURALLY EVIL MAN, BUT A MAN WHO HAS EVERY POTENTIALITY FOR GOODNESS."

LATER IN THE PLAY, ANOTHER CHARACTER, ROSS, MAKES A RELEVANT COMMENT: “BUT CRUEL ARE THE TIMES, WHEN WE ARE TRAITORS, AND DO NOT KNOW OURSELVES...” (IV, II)

DUNCAN ANNOUNCES THAT HE WILL GO TO INVERNESS, WHERE MACBETH HAS HIS CASTLE.  BUT THE SCENE MAKES IT LIKELY THAT HE DOESN'T KNOW MACBETH THAT WELL, AND THAT HE'S PROBABLY NEVER BEEN TO MACBETH'S CASTLE BEFORE.  GUESS THAT WAS DUMB, HUH?

LATER THIS AFTERNOON--GUNPOWDER PLOT: KING JAMES’ CLOSE CALL.  UPDATE AT 5.

5. (TV #3A) BANQUO JOINS MACBETH (I, 3)

DEREK JACOBI, FROM THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, COMMENTS ON THIS SCENE: “THE FIGHTING, THE BLOOD-LUST, THE VICTORY HAVE PUT MACBETH ON A HIGH, WHICH HE SHARES WITH BANQUO.  THEY ARE TOGETHER IN THIS MOMENT - TOGETHER IN COMPANIONSHIP, IN VICTORY, IN BLOOD.”

MEDIEVAL SCOTTISH WARRIORS WOULD HAVE USED SWORDS AND DAGGERS, BUT ALSO AXES AND PIKES (LONG, HEAVY SPEARS), AS WELL AS BOWS AND ARROWS.  LARGER MACHINES OF WAR LIKE TREBUCHETS WERE USED IN SCOTLAND, BUT PROBABLY NOT UNTIL AFTER MACBETH’S TIME.

EMBROIDERED TAPESTRIES FREQUENTLY TOOK FAMOUS BATTLES AS THEIR SUBJECT.  THE FAMOUS BAYEUX TAPESTRY RECOUNTS THE NORMAND INVASION OF ENGLAND IN 1066.  THE MUCH LESSER-KNOWN "EASTERN CINCINNATI TAPESTRY" DOCUMENTS A 3RD GRADER'S MINOR VICTORY OVER SOME NEIGHBORHOOD BULLIES IN CARTHAGE IN THE MID-NINETIES.

6.  (THEATRE #2) MACBETH, BANQUO, WITCHES (I, 3)
 <NO TICKER>

7.  (TV #3B) MACBETH, BANQUO: WITCHES RECAP (I, 3)

“WEIRD” IN “WEIRD SISTERS” IS FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON WORD ‘WYRD,’ MEANING ‘FATE’.

DEREK JACOBI: "‘SO FOUL AND FAIR A DAY’ DOES NOT, IT SEEMS TO ME, REFER TO THE WEATHER: ‘FOUL’ IS ABOUT THOSE HEADS HE’S CUT OFF AND BOWELS HE'S RIPPED OUT; 'FAIR' IS BECAUSE IT WAS ALL WORTH IT, FOR THIS GREAT VICTORY."

NEAR THE END OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE WITCHES, MACBETH SWEARS: “BY SINEL’S DEATH…”  SINEL WAS THE HISTORICAL MACBETH’S FATHER.

THE FIRST WITCH CALLS MACBETH WHAT HE WAS (THANE OF GLAMIS), THE SECOND WITCH CALLS HIM WHAT HE’S JUST BECOME (THANE OF CAWDOR), AND THE THIRD WITCH CALLS HIM WHAT HE WILL BE (KING).

MACBETH IS THE ONLY SHAKESPEARE PLAY WITH A HEAVY DOSE OF WITCHCRAFT. JAMES I WAS FASCINATED WITH WITCHCRAFT AND WROTE A BOOK CALLED DEMONOLOGY IN 1597, ADVOCATING SEVERE MEASURES AGAINST WITCHES.
 
DID WITCHES REALLY EXIST?  YES, IN THE SENSE THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE WITH PRE-CHRISTIAN BELIEFS WHO THOUGHT THEY COULD CULTIVATE MAGICAL POWERS - OTHER PEOPLE ALSO BELIEVED IN THE MAGICAL POWERS OF THESE WITCHES.
 
MANY SUCH WITCHES WERE PERSECUTED IN EARLY MODERN TIMES (“THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE” EXODUS 22:18).
 
SHAKESPEARE DID NOT INVENT THE WITCHES IN THE MACBETH STORY... THEY ARE MENTIONED IN RAPHAEL HOLINSHED’S HISTORIES.
 
ANTHONY HARRIS, CRITIC: “AS IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM SHAKESPEARE REVOLUTIONIZED THE CENTURIES-OLD VIEW OF FAIRIES … SO IN THE WEIRD SISTERS HE PRODUCED A UNIQUE CREATION.”

WITCHES RECEIVED ‘FAMILIARS’ – EVIL SPIRITS IN THE SHAPE OF ANIMALS – IN EXCHANGE FOR SELLING THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL.  “GRAYMALKIN” IS A CAT AND “PADDOCK” IS A TOAD.

A NUMBER OF PLANT ROOTS ARE POWERFUL NARCOTICS; PLANTS LIKE HENBANE, HEMLOCK, AND MANDRAKE COULD BE THE ‘INSANE ROOT’ OR ROOT THAT CAUSES INSANITY.
 
COLERIDGE, ON BANQUO: "O HOW TRULY SHAKESPEAREAN IS THE OPENING OF MACBETH'S CHARACTER GIVEN IN THE UNPOSSESSEDNESS OF BANQUO'S MIND... AN UNSULLIED, UNSCARIFIED MIRROR.... [BANQUO], AND NOT MACBETH HIMSELF, DIRECTS OUR NOTICE TO THE EFFECT PRODUCED IN MACBETH'S MIND."

UNSCARIFIED?  LOOK IT UP!

A RELEVANT PASSAGE FROM KING JAMES’S DEMONOLOGY: “FOR THAT OLD AND CRAFTY SERPENT BEING A SPIRIT, HE EASILY SPIES OUR AFFECTIONS, AND SO CONFORMS HIMSELF THERETO TO DECEIVE US TO OUR WRACK.”
 
SCOTLAND WEATHER: ORKNEY ISLANDS: BONE-CHILLING COLD, WIND ADVISORY FOR REST OF MONTH.  TOURISTS ADVISED TO STAY INDOORS AND AVOID VIKING RAID LOCALES.

STAY TUNED--THURSDAY AT 8: “COVEN” - AN INSIDE LOOK!

STEPHEN ORGEL, CRITIC: “LIKE THE GHOST IN HAMLET, THE REALITY OF THE WITCHES IN MACBETH IS NOT IN QUESTION; THE QUESTION, AS IN HAMLET, IS WHY THEY ARE PRESENT AND HOW FAR TO BELIEVE THEM.”

8.  (TV #3C) MACBETH ALONE (I, 3) 

VIKING RAID UPDATE AT 7.

‘ILL’ MEANS SICK, BUT ALSO UNWHOLESOME OR EVIL: “DOING OR TENDING TO DO HARM; HURTFUL, INJURIOUS, PERNICIOUS, NOXIOUS, MISCHIEVOUS, PREJUDICIAL” (OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY)

THE IDEA OF KILLING THE KING WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE HORRIFYING TO SHAKESPEARE’S AUDIENCE THAN TO THE HISTORICAL MACBETH’S PEERS.

ONLINE POLL RESULTS:  80% OF MEDIEVAL SCOTTISH VIEWERS FIND REGICIDE MORE SHOCKING AND REPULSIVE THAN STEALING CATTLE, WEARING WHITE SLACKS AFTER LABOR DAY, OR THE WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS. ONLY 17% FELT CONCERN ABOUT HAND-WASHING BEFORE FEASTING ON WILD BOAR, AND ONLY 6% RESPONDED STRONGLY TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T FLOSS.

“SURMISE”: IMAGINATION, CONJECTURE.

“NOTHING IS / BUT WHAT IS NOT”: A DESCRIPTION OF THEATER ITSELF? PUTTING IN PLACE OF ACTUAL EVENTS THE ILLUSION OF PERFORMANCE ON STAGE.

H.N. HUDSON, CRITIC: "MACBETH IS SURPRISED AND TERRIFIED BY HIS OWN HELL-BEGOTTEN CONCEPTION.... LIKE OTHERS, HE KNOWS NOT, HE SUSPECTS NOT, THE INNATE AND ESSENTIAL EVIL OF HIS HEART UNTIL PROSPECT AWAKENS IT INTO PURPOSE OR OCCASION DEVELOPS IT INTO PERFORMANCE."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “THE DEVIL SOMETIMES SPEAKS THE TRUTH.”

IF MACBETH KILLS THE KING BECAUSE THE WITCHES FORETELL IT IN THEIR PROPHECY, IS IT ANY LESS HIS FAULT?

C.J. SISSON, CRITIC: "MUCH PLAY HAS BEEN MADE WITH THE ARGUMENT THAT THE WEIRD SISTERS DO NOT IN FACT TEMPT MACBETH TO EVIL DESIGNS ON DUNCAN, BUT ONLY PROPHESY A FUTURE IN WHICH HE RISES TO THE KINGSHIP.  TO THE ELIZABETHAN, THIS IS MERE HAIR-SPLITTING, AND THE LAW WAS DECISIVE ON THE QUESTION.  TO 'IMAGINE' THE DEATH OF THE SOVEREIGN... WAS A CAPITAL OFFENCE, INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM CONSPIRACY TO BRING ABOUT SUCH DISASTROUS EVENTS."
   
WE LEARN OF THE WITCHES’ PROPHECY, AND OF DUNCAN NAMING MALCOLM HIS HEIR, BEFORE WE LEARN MUCH ABOUT WHAT MACBETH IS THINKING.  WHICH OF THESE PRONOUNCEMENTS MATTERS MORE TO MACBETH?

A.C. BRADLEY: "THIS BOLD AMBITIOUS MAN OF ACTION, HAS... THE IMAGINATION OF A POET... AND THROUGH IT, ESPECIALLY, COME TO HIM THE INTIMATIONS OF CONSCIENCE AND HONOUR.  MACBETH'S BETTER NATURE... INSTEAD OF SPEAKING TO HIM IN THE OVERT LANGUAGE OF MORAL IDEAS, COMMANDS, AND PROHIBITIONS, INCORPORATES ITSELF IN IMAGES WHICH ALARM AND HORRIFY."

SCOTLAND WEATHER: FORRES: NASTY AND WET THROUGHOUT THE DAY.  POOR VISIBILITY, STRANGE NOISES.

9.   (TV #4A) INTRO TO LADY MACBETH (I, 5) 

THE NAME OF THE WIFE OF THE HISTORICAL MACBETH WAS GRUOCH. (NO WONDER EVERYONE JUST CALLS HER LADY MACBETH!)

COLERIDGE: "LADY MACBETH, LIKE ALL IN SHAKESPEARE, IS A CLASS INDIVIDUALIZED:-- OF HIGH RANK, LEFT MUCH ALONE, AND FEEDING HERSELF WITH DAYDREAMS OF AMBITION, SHE MISTAKES THE COURAGE OF FANTASY FOR THE POWER OF BEARING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REALITY OF GUILT."

ONE POSSIBLE READING IS THAT IT'S LADY MACBETH'S IDEA TO MURDER DUNCAN, AND THAT THE IDEA HAD NOT OCCURRED TO MACBETH UNTIL SHE SUGGESTS IT.  IS THIS READING PERSUASIVE?

SARAH SIDDONS, 18TH-CENTURY ACTRESS WHO PLAYED LADY MACBETH: "IN THIS ASTONISHING CREATURE ONE SEES A WOMAN IN WHOSE BOSOM THE PASSION OF AMBITION HAS ALMOST OBLITERATED ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN NATURE."

FIRST LADIES: WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN SCOTTISH CASTLES?  THE SHOCKING TRUTH, WEDS AT 9.

LADY MACBETH RECEIVES THE MESSENGER'S NEWS WHILE MACBETH, AND DUNCAN, ARE IN TRANSIT TO INVERNESS FROM FORRES.  THIS IS A JOURNEY OF 27 MILES, WHICH WOULD HAVE LIKELY TAKEN ABOUT AN HOUR ON A FAST HORSE.  TRAVELLING BY WILD BOAR WOULD HAVE TAKEN MUCH LONGER.

10.  (THEATRE #3) LADY MACBETH, THEN MACBETH (I, 5)
 <NO TICKER>

11.  (TV #4B) MACBETH & LADY MACBETH (I, 5-7) 

MACBETH'S UNCERTAINTY BEFORE DUNCAN'S MURDER IS OFTEN COMPARED TO HAMLET'S SIMILAR INDECISION.  HAMLET'S "TO BE OR NOT TO BE" HAS A DARK ECHO IN MACBETH'S DELIBERATIONS OF "TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL."

JUST AS MACBETH RELIES ON THE WITCHES FOR PROPHECIES ABOUT HIS FUTURE, LADY MACBETH CALLS UPON DARK SPIRITS TO GIVE HER THE STRENGTH TO PLAN DUNCAN'S MURDER.

LADY MACBETH IS MADE MASCULINE BY THE STRENGTH OF HER RESOLVE ("UNSEX ME HERE"), WHILE MACBETH IS MADE FEMININE BY HIS LACK OF IT.

SIDDONS ON THE DOMESTIC HARMONY OF THE MACBETHS: "IT IS VERY REMARKABLE THAT MACBETH IS FREQUENT IN EXPRESSIONS OF TENDERNESS TO HIS WIFE, WHILE SHE NEVER BETRAYS ONE SYMPTOM OF AFFECTION TOWARDS HIM, TILL, IN THE FIERY FURNACE OF AFFLICTION HER IRON HEART IS MELTED DOWN TO SOFTNESS."

THE HISTORICAL MACBETH LIKELY KILLED DUNCAN IN A BATTLE OF REBELLION.  AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SCOTTISH KING, DUFF, WAS KILLED IN HIS SLEEP BY ONE OF HIS NOBLEMEN, DONWALD, WHILE STAYING IN DONWALD’S CASTLE.  DONWALD WAS ENCOURAGED TO DO SO BY HIS WIFE.  SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH MERGES THESE TWO ACCOUNTS, AND DONWALD'S WIFE WAS THE HISTORICAL SOURCE FOR THE TRAGEDY'S LADY MACBETH.

VICTOR HUGO ON MACBETH AND HIS LADY: "THIS EVE TEMPTS THIS ADAM.  ONCE MACBETH HAS TAKEN THE FIRST BITE, HE IS LOST.  THE FIRST THING THAT ADAM PRODUCES WITH EVE IS CAIN; THE FIRST THING THAT MACBETH ACCOMPLISHES WITH GRUOCH IS MURDER."

A. C. BRADLEY ON LADY MACBETH: "SHARING... CERTAIN TRAITS WITH HER HUSBAND, SHE IS AT ONCE CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED FROM HIM BY AN INFLEXIBILITY OF WILL, WHICH APPEARS TO HOLD IMAGINATION, FEELING, AND CONSCIENCE COMPLETELY IN CHECK.  TO HER THE PROPHECY OF THINGS THAT WILL BE BECOMES INSTANTANEOUSLY THE DETERMINATION THAT THEY SHALL BE."

BEN JONSON: “LANGUAGE MOST SHOWS A MAN: SPEAK THAT I MAY SEE THEE.”

THE DELIGHTFUL HOSTESS AND HER TERRIFYING DARK SIDE: SPECIAL REPORT TUES 8 PM

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “THE CROAKING RAVEN BODES DEATH.”

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NATURAL ELEMENTS AND IMAGERY (WEATHER, LIGHT, ANIMALS) IN THE FIRST FEW ACTS OF THE PLAY?

SCOTLAND WEATHER: INVERNESS: THICK FOG; SWIRLING MISTS; GLOOMY AND DAMP; DARK THROUGHOUT THE DAY.  ROADS AND FOREST PATHS MAY BE TREACHEROUS.

12.  (THEATRE#4) MACBETH, THEN LADY MACBETH (I, 7)
 <NO TICKER>

13.  (TV #4C) MACBETH & LADY MACBETH (I,7 - II,3)

WAYNE BOOTH: "[LADY MACBETH] DOES NOT URGE MACBETH WITH PICTURES OF THE PLEASURES OF REWARDED AMBITION; SHE DOES NOT ALLOW HIS THOUGHTS TO REMAIN ON THE MORAL ASPECT OF THE PROBLEM.... RATHER, SHE SHIFTS THE WHOLE GROUND OF THE CONSIDERATION TO QUESTIONS OF MACBETH'S VALOR.  SHE TWITS HIM FOR COWARDICE, PLAYS UPON THE WORD 'MAN,' MAKING IT SEEM THAT HE BECOMES MORE A MAN BY DOING THE MANLY DEED."

H.N. HUDSON: "THE TRUTH IS, MACBETH HAS NOT FAITH ENOUGH IN THE WEIRD SISTERS TO OVERCOME THE SUGGESTIONS OF EXPERIENCE AND THE TERRORS OF IMAGINATION; HE CANNOT BRING HIMSELF TO TRUST THEIR WORD AGAINST THE NATURAL AND ORDINARY COURSE OF THINGS.  BY A MIRACLE, HE HAS BEEN CALLED TO AN ACT WHICH HE WISHES DONE, YET FEARS TO DO; AND HE THINKS THAT NOTHING LESS THAN A PERPETUAL MIRACLE CAN TIE UP THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH AN ACT."

G. WILSON KNIGHT ON LADY MACBETH'S WELCOME TO KING DUNCAN, AND THE FEASTING BEFORE THE MURDER: "THE DOMESTIC AND FEMININE NOTE JARS HIDEOUSLY WITH THE HORROR BENEATH... AGAINST THIS LIFE-FORCE OF FEASTING, CONVIVIALITY, SOCIAL FRIENDLINESS AND ORDER, COMES A DEATH, A GHOST, SMASHING LIFE-FORMS WITH PHANTASMS OF EVIL AND GUILT."

SCOTLAND WEATHER: BLOOD-RED SKY, HARVEST MOON.  UNUSUAL LIGHT MAY LEAD TO MIRAGES OR OTHER VISUAL ANOMALIES.  TEMPERATURES DROPPING STEADILY.

MACBETH'S VISION OF THE DAGGER IS A CATALYST, MOVING HIM FROM THE INNER WORLD OF PLOTTING AND IMAGINATION, TO THE OUTER WORLD OF ACTION.  HE SAYS: "IT IS THE BLOODY BUSINESS WHICH INFORMS THUS TO MINE EYES."

MICHAEL GOLDMAN, CRITIC, ON MACBETH'S IMAGINATION: "IT IS ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE TO EVIL, AND IT CONFRONTS MACBETH WITH VIVID AND TERRIBLE PICTURES THAT EXPRESS THE MORAL REPULSIVENESS OF WHAT HE IS DOING.... MACBETH, IN FACT, WOULD RATHER DO SOMETHING EVIL THAN IMAGINE ITS MORAL MEANING. BUT THE MORE HE ACTS, THE MORE VIVIDLY HE SEES THE MORAL HORROR."

WHY DOES MACBETH KILL DUNCAN?  IS IT REALLY FOR AMBITION, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE KING?  IS HE DRIVEN TO DO IT BY LADY MACBETH, AND WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT HER INSTIGATION?

LADY MACBETH CLAIMS THE MURDER IS HIS IDEA, NOT HERS: "WHAT BEAST WAS'T, THEN, THAT MADE YOU BREAK THIS ENTERPRISE TO ME?" (I, VII).

JOHN TURNER, CRITIC, ON THE SYMBOLIC ASPECT OF DUNCAN'S MURDER:  "THE MURDER IS A FOLIE À DEUX, CREATED BETWEEN MACBETH AND HIS WIFE WHERE NEITHER ALONE WOULD HAVE DONE IT; AND IT STRIKES TO THE HEART OF ALL THAT THEY HOLD SACRED IN THEIR SOCIETY.  IT IS THE ONE GREAT CENTRAL ACT OF VIOLATION THAT, AS ALL THE METAPHORS OF CHILD-MURDER, RAPE, BLASPHEMY AND DRUNKENNESS REVEAL, EVOKES ALL THE OTHER ACTS OF VIOLATION THAT THEY CAN IMAGINE."

EDWARD DOWDON, CRITIC, REMARKS ON LADY MACBETH'S ATTENTION TO PRACTICAL, RATHER THAN MORAL, PROBLEMS AROUND THE MURDER: "THE FEARS OF LADY MACBETH... ARE THE DEFINITE ONES. THAT THE MURDERERS WILL BE DETECTED, THAT SOME OMISSION IN THE PRE-ARRANGED PLAN MAY OCCUR, THAT SHE OR HER HUSBAND MAY BE SUMMONED TO APPEAR BEFORE THE TRACES OF THEIR CRIME HAVE BEEN REMOVED.  MORE AWFUL CONSIDERATIONS WOULD PRESS IN ON HER... BUT SHE FORCIBLY REPELS THEM FOR THE TIME."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “ALL THE WATER IN THE SEA CANNOT WASH OUT THIS STAIN.”
 
FROM THE MEDITATIONS OF SAINT BERNARD: “WELL MIGHT A LITTLE WATER CLEAR THE SPOTS OF THY HANDS, BUT ALL THE WATER IN THE OCEAN COULD NOT WASH AWAY THE BLOTS OF THY SOUL.”

LATER THIS AFTERNOON: PEASANT UPRISING?  OR JUST A DRUIDIC FESTIVAL THAT GOT OUT OF HAND?  NEWS UPDATE AT 5.

14.  (TV #4D) PORTER (II, 3)

WHAT DOES A PORTER DO? THE PORTERS, OR JANITOR, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CASTLE ENTRANCES AND GUARDROOMS.  NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE EWERER (WHO BROUGHT AND HEATED WATER),  THE FLETCHER (WHO MADE BOWS & THE FLIGHTS ON ARROWS), THE REEVE (SUPERVISOR FOR ALL WORK ON THE PROPERTY), AND THE MINSTRELS (PROVIDING CASTLE ENTERTAINMENT).

THOMAS DE QUINCY DISCUSSES THE KNOCKING AT THE GATE, IN HIS FAMOUS "CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER" (1823): "THE MURDERERS AND THE MURDER MUST BE INSULATED--CUT OFF BY AN IMMEASURABLE GULF FROM THE ORDINARY TIDE AND SUCCESSION OF HUMAN AFFAIRS... [BUT THEN] THE KNOCKING AT THE GATE IS HEARD; THE HUMAN HAS MADE ITS REFLUX UPON THE FIENDISH; THE PULSES OF LIFE ARE BEGINNING TO BEAT AGAIN; AND THE REESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOINGS-ON OF THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE FIRST MAKES UP PROFOUNDLY SENSIBLE OF THE AWFUL PARENTHESIS THAT HAD SUSPENDED THEM."

A CLUE TO HELP DETERMINE WHEN SHAKESPEARE WROTE MACBETH: THE PORTER’S REFERENCE TO PRIESTS “LYING WITHOUT LYING.”  MARCH 1606 WAS THE FAMOUS TREASON TRIAL FOR THE ‘GUNPOWDER PLOT’ – A PLAN TO BLOW UP THE KING. A PRIEST LIED UNDER OATH DURING THE TRIAL AND THEN DEFENDED HIS LYING AS JUSTIFIED BECAUSE PRIESTS CAN ‘EQUIVOCATE’: TO DELIBERATELY MISLEAD BY BEING AMBIGUOUS OR UNCLEAR. THE PRIEST WAS HANGED ON MAY 3, 1606.

LATER TONIGHT: CASTLE CHAOS: DOMESTIC STAFF AND YOUR WINE CELLAR  EXPOSE AT 10
 
16.  (TV #5A) MACBETH, LADY MACBETH, POST-DEAD DUNCAN (II, 3- III, 1)

NEWS UPDATE:  ASSASSINATION!  KING DUNCAN DEAD!  SERVANTS FOUND WITH KING'S BLOOD ON HANDS!

DEREK JACOBI ON LADY MACBETH'S FAINT: "[MACBETH'S] GETTING HIMSELF INTO A TERRIBLE STATE; HE CAN'T SPEAK (HE'S SILENT, IN FACT, FOR NEARLY TWENTY LINES): HE'S HYPERVENTILATING.  THE REST MIGHT TAKE IT AS GRIEF FOR THE KING, BUT SHE KNOWS IT'S SOMETHING ELSE AND CREATES A DIVERSION TO GET HIM OUT OF IT."

ASSASSINATION UPDATE:  SERVANTS COULD NOT HAVE ACTED ALONE, POLICE SAY.  CROWN PRINCE, RECENTLY NAMED HEIR, HAS FLED COUNTRY.

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “THE NEARER IN KIN THE LESS IN KINDNESS.”

SCOTLAND WEATHER: DARKNESS ALL DAY.  RAINING TOADS IN AFTERNOON.  30% CHANCE THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR.

IRVING RIBNER, CRITIC: THE STRANGE PHENOMENA WHICH ROSS DESCRIBES ARE ALL PERVERSIONS OF PHYSICAL NATURE WHICH INDICATE THAT ONE MAN'S CRIME HAS THROWN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OUT OF HARMONY.... THE ORDER OF NATURE IS REVERSED, THE SUN BLOTTED OUT.... MAN BY HIS SIN HAS FORFEITED HIS DOMINION OVER NATURE; HORSES TURN AGAINST THEIR NATURAL MASTER, AND 'THEY EAT EACH OTHER."

TRAIN YOUR FALCON AT HOME?  IT'S EASY!  JOIN MACGONICAL AND HIS SHARP-TALONED FRIENDS ON 'ANIMAL FIEFDOM' AT 3 PM.

ASSASSINATION UPDATE: MACBETH NAMED KING.  WILL HE BE A GOOD ONE?  CROWN PRINCE MALCOLM STILL ON LOOSE.  RUMORS ABOUND.  DETAILS AT 11.

AFTER THE RULE OF THE HISTORICAL MACBETH, THE "LAW OF TANISTRY" WAS ABOLISHED.  ELIZABETH NIELSEN, ON THE LAW OF TANISTRY: "NO SON OF A KING ON THE THRONE COULD SUCCEED HIS FATHER IMMEDIATELY; INSTEAD, THE FIRST RANKING ADULT MEMBER OF A NEAREST OR JUNIOR BRANCH OF THE ROYAL FAMILY SHOULD, BY ELECTION, SUCCEED THE ENTHRONED KING... IN OTHER WORDS, THE LINE OF SUCCESSION WAS NOT DIRECT BUT ALTERNATING AND ELECTIVE BETWEEN THE BRANCHES OF THE 'BLOOD ROYAL'."

THE LAW OF TANISTRY IMPLIES THAT DUNCAN'S NAMING HIS SON MALCOLM AS HIS HEIR WAS INDEED UNCOMMON AND AGAINST CUSTOM; MACBETH WOULD HAVE BEEN AN APPROPRIATE AND EXPECTED CHOICE.

THE HISTORICAL MACBETH HAD A FAIRLY LONG AND LARGELY PEACEFUL REIGN OF 17 YEARS.  IT WON’T TURN OUT THAT WAY HERE...

THE THEME OF ILL-FITTING CLOTHES IS RECURRENT IN THE PLAY.  WHEN ROSS GREET MACBETH AS THANE OF CAWDOR, HE REPLIES, NOT YET KNOWING THE NEWS: "THE THANE OF CAWDOR LIVES: WHY DO YOU DRESS ME IN BORROW'D ROBES?" (I, III)

CAROLINE SPURGEON, CRITIC: "THIS IMAGINATIVE PICTURE OF A SMALL, IGNOBLE MAN ENCUMBERED AND DEGRADED BY GARMENTS UNSUITED TO HIM, SHOULD BE PUT AGAINST THE VIEW... OF THE LIKENESS BETWEEN MACBETH AND MILTON'S SATAN IN GRANDEUR AND SUBLIMITY."

NEWS UPDATE: INSIDERS PREDICT MACBETH WILL BE TOUGH ON THE THRONE.  WHERE IS MALCOLM?

HOLINSHED’S HISTORIES MAKES BANQUO MACBETH’S ACCOMPLICE IN THE MURDER: "COMMUNICATING HIS PURPOSED INTENT WITH HIS TRUSTIE FRIENDS, AMONGST WHOME BANQHUO WAS THE CHIEFEST, UPON CONFIDENCE OF THEIR PROMISED AID, HE SLUE THE KING AT ENVERNS [INVERNESS]."

IN OTHER NEWS: BARLEY YIELD UP 4% FROM LAST QUARTER.  OLDEST MAN IN SCOTLAND CELEBRATES 48TH BIRTHDAY.

VICTOR HUGO, ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF DUNCAN'S MURDER: "THE FIRST STEP TAKEN, THE GROUND BEGINS TO CRUMBLE; IT IS THE AVALANCHE.  MACBETH ROLLS HEADLONG; HE IS PRECIPITATED; HE FALLS AND REBOUNDS FROM ONE CRIME TO ANOTHER, EVER DEEPER AND DEEPER."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “EITHER MEND OR END.”  OUCH!

MAURICE MAETERLINCK: "IS LADY MACBETH THE DRY, MANNISH FURY, THE HARSH, ROUGH, VAIN MISTRESS OF INVERNESS CASTLE, THE DETESTABLE BUSINESS WOMAN...OR RATHER SHALL WE NOT SEE IN HER THE WIFE WHO LOVES TOO WELL UNDER THE STIFLED WORDS, THE VICTIM TOO SEVERELY PUNISHED FOR A HORRIBLE THOUGHT BORN IN WEDLOCK?"

THE MACBETHS AT HOME: THE IDEAL POWER COUPLE? OR FRUSTRATED BY LACK OF CHILDREN?  AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT, PREVIEWS TOMORROW AT 9 PM

SIGMUND FREUD, ON THE CHILDLESSNESS OF THE MACBETHS: "IT MIGHT BE SAID TO LAY BARE THE ESSENTIAL MOTIVE WHICH NOT ONLY FORCES MACBETH TO GO FAR BEYOND HIS OWN TRUE NATURE, BUT ALSO ASSAILS THE HARD CHARACTER OF HIS WIFE AT ITS ONLY WEAK PLACE."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “HE THAT HAS NO CHILDREN KNOWS NOT WHAT LOVE IS.”

TERENCE EAGLETON: "MACBETH'S ACTION IN KILLING DUNCAN IS MARRED BY A LITERAL STERILITY: HE WILL HAVE NO SONS TO MAKE HIS ACHIEVEMENT PERMANENTLY FRUITFUL."
 
LADY MACBETH IS AN EQUAL PARTNER IN THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF DUNCAN'S MURDER.  BUT MACBETH PLANS BANQUO'S MURDER ALONE.  WHY DOESN'T HE BRING LADY MACBETH IN ON THE PLOT?

IRVING RIBNER, CRITIC: "THE GRADUAL SEPARATION OF MAN AND WIFE FIRST BECOMES APPARENT JUST BEFORE THE MURDER OF BANQUO.  NO LONGER DOES MACBETH CONFIDE IN HER: 'BE INNOCENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE, DEAREST CHUCK, TILL THOU APPLAUD THE DEED' (III,II)."

DEAREST CHUCK?

MACBETH'S MANIPULATION OF THE MURDERERS REVEALS HIS CHANGING CHARACTER: "MACBETH [IS] SO DEEPLY COMMITTED TO INSTRUMENTALISM THAT MEN, LIKE DOGS, ARE FOR HIM ONLY 'VALUED' IN SO FAR AS THEY WILL SUBSERVE HIS MURDEROUS INTENT.... [HE IS] A MAN WHO IS RAPIDLY PASSING OUT OF THE RANGE OF ANY VERY INTENSE SYMPATHY."

MACBETH ON BANQUO’S SOUL:"BANQUO, THY SOUL'S FLIGHT, IF IT FIND HEAVEN, MUST FIND IT OUT TO-NIGHT." (III, I)

17. (TV #5B) MAC, LADY M, BANQUET, BANQUO’S GHOST (III, 2-4) 
WHAT MOTIVATES MACBETH?  AMBITION?  FEAR?  BOTH?

G. WILSON KNIGHT, CRITIC: "THROUGHOUT [MACBETH] IS DRIVEN BY FEAR--HE FEARS EVERYONE OUTSIDE HIMSELF BUT HIS WIFE, SUSPECTS THEM.  EVERY ACT OF BLOOD IS DRIVEN BY FEAR OF THE HORRIBLE DISHARMONY EXISTENT BETWEEN HIMSELF AND HIS WORLD.  HE TRIES TO HARMONIZE THE RELATION BY MURDER."

IS MACBETH FORCED TO KILL BANQUO?  WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES, IF HE WISHES TO STAY ON THE THRONE?  IS IT MORE IMPORTANT TO KILL BANQUO BECAUSE OF HIS HEIRS (THE FUTURE) OR BECAUSE OF HIS IMMEDIATE THREAT TO MACBETH (THE PRESENT)?

ROBERT LANIER REED: "THE MURDER OF MACBETH'S 'CHIEFEST FRIEND' IS ACT 3 IS MOTIVATED NOT BY FURTHER ASPIRATION TO GREATNESS, BUT BY RIVALROUS ENVY OF A BROTHERLY ALTER-EGO"

A.C. BRADLEY, ON MACBETH'S INSECURITY: "THAT SLEEPLESS TORTURE, HE TELLS HIMSELF, IS NOTHING BUT THE SENSE OF INSECURITY AND THE FEAR OF RETALIATION.  IF ONLY HE WERE SAFE, IT WOULD VANISH.  AND HE LOOKS ABOUT FOR THE CAUSE OF HIS FEAR; AND HIS EYE FALLS ON BANQUO."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “WHERE THERE IS NO REMEDY IT IS FOLLY TO CHIDE.”

ROBERT WATSON, ON BANQUO'S MURDER: "BANQUO AND FLEANCE REPRESENT THE FINAL FORCE OF DAYLIGHT, THE LAST GLEAM OF HOPE: AS THE MURDERERS CLOSE IN ON THEM, ONE COMMENTS THAT 'THE WEST STILL GLIMMERS WITH SOME STREAKS OF DAY' (III, III)."

WAYNE BOOTH: "WE KNOW QUITE A LOT ABOUT [BANQUO].  WE KNOW HIM TO BE VERY MUCH LIKE MACBETH, BOTH IN VALOR AND IN BEING THE SUBJECT OF PROPHECY.  HE THUS HAS OUR LIVELY SYMPATHY; HIS DEATH IS A PERSONAL, RATHER THAN A GENERAL LOSS... WE ARE FORCED TO THE PROPER, THOUGH ILLOGICAL, INFERENCE: IT IS MORE WICKED TO KILL BANQUO THAN TO HAVE KILLED DUNCAN."

MACBETH HIRES TWO MURDERERS.  BUT WHEN BANQUO IS KILLED, THERE ARE THREE.  WHO IS THE THIRD? WHY HAS THE NUMBER CHANGED?  ARE WE TO WONDER WHETHER THE THIRD MURDERER IS MACBETH HIMSELF?  COULD HE BE MACBETH HIMSELF?

HAROLD C. GODDARD: "THE THIRD MURDERER SPEAKS SIX TIMES... EVERY ONE OF THESE SPEECHES EITHER HAS SOMETHING IN IT TO REMIND US OF MACBETH, OR MIGHT HAVE BEEN SPOKEN BY HIM, OR BOTH."

HOLINSHED, ON TOUGH SCOTTISH WOMEN: "IN THOSE DAYS ALSO THE WOMEN... WERE OF NO LESS COURAGE THAN THE MEN; FOR ALL STOUT MAIDENS AND WIVES.... MARCHED AS WELL IN THE FIELD... AND THEY SLEW THE FIRST LIVING CREATURE THAT THEY FOUND, IN WHOSE BLOOD THEY NOT ONLY BATHED THEIR SWORDS, BUT ALSO TASTED THEREOF WITH THEIR MOUTHS."

IF NOBODY KNOWS MACBETH ORDERED THE MURDER OF BANQUO, WHY DOESN’T BANQUO’S SON, FLEANCE, GO TO MACBETH FOR HELP?

STEPHEN SPENDER, CRITIC: "THE PRESENT DISGORGES THE PAST.  THE HORROR OF NOT BEING ABLE TO LIVE DOWN HIS DEEDS IS SYMBOLIZED BY THE APPEARANCE OF BANQUO'S GHOST."

KAY STOCKHOLDER, CRITIC: "THE BANQUET SCENE DEPICTS... MACBETH'S SEPARATION FROM HIS WIFE, HIS ISOLATION OF HIMSELF FROM THE REALMS OF CREATURELY AND SOCIAL PLEASURES... IN BANQUO'S GHOST, HE EXPERIENCES FOR THE LAST TIME AN EMOTIONALLY LADEN IMAGE OF HIS INNER STATE, AN IMAGE THAT OCCASIONS THE LAST REBUKE FOR LACK OF MANLINESS HE WILL HEAR FROM LADY MACBETH."

NEWS UPDATE: ROYAL BANQUET GOES AWRY.  KING MACBETH GONE CRAZY?  OR JUST TOO MANY GOBLETS OF ALE?  PLUS: SPECIAL UPDATE ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BANQUO AT 5 PM.

ELIZABETHAN SAYINGS: “HAVING WET HIS FEET HE CARES NOT HOW DEEP HE GOES” AND “OVER SHOES, OVER BOOTS.”

MACBETH ON BANQUO’S SOUL, AT THE END OF ACT III, SCENE I: BANQUO, THY SOUL'S FLIGHT, IF IT FIND HEAVEN, MUST FIND IT OUT TO-NIGHT."

18.  (TV #6) MAC, LADY M - VISIT WITCHES AGAIN (III, 5-IV,1)

COLERIDGE: "THERE IS AN ENTIRE ABSENCE OF COMEDY, NAY, EVEN OF IRONY AND PHILOSOPHIC CONTEMPLATION IN MACBETH - THE PLAY BEING WHOLLY AND PURELY TRAGIC."

ENTIRE ABSENCE OF COMEDY?  C'MON COLERIDGE!

A.C. BRADLEY: "THE WHOLE FLOOD OF EVIL IN HIS NATURE IS NOW LET LOOSE.  THE WITCHES HAVE DONE THEIR WORK, AND AFTER THIS PURPOSELESS BUTCHERY HIS OWN IMAGINATION WILL TROUBLE HIM NO MORE.  HE HAS DEALT HIS LAST BLOW AT THE CONSCIENCE AND PITY WHICH SPOKE THROUGH IT."

"I AM IN BLOOD STEPP'D IN SO FAR..." (III, IV).  ROBERT C. HEILMAN, ON THIS PASSAGE: "SINCE NO EXPECTABLE RESPONSE TO GUILT INHIBITS HIS ARRANGING THE MACDUFF MURDERS, IT SEEMS MORE PRUDENT TO SEE IN THESE WORDS ONLY A TECHNICAL SUMMARY OF HIS POLITICAL METHOD."

STONEHENGE: SACRED SPOT FOR DRUIDS, OR VIKING PRANK?  FIND OUT TOMORROW NIGHT AT 8
 
THE WORD 'FEAR' APPEARS 48 TIMES IN THE PLAY - MACBETH SPEAKS ROUGHLY 2/3 OF THESE HIMSELF.  THE WORD 'SAUCY' APPEARS TWICE.  NEITHER TIME IS IT SAID BY MACBETH.

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “THE MORE A MAN HAS THE MORE HE DESIRES.”

IS MACBETH BEING CONTROLLED BY THE WITCHES?  OR JUST MISLED BY THEIR AMBIGUOUS PROPHECIES?

J. MIDDLETON MURRY:  "THE WEIRD SISTERS... DO NOT HATE OR CONTRIVE OR ENTANGLE.  THEY MERELY REVEAL A FUTURE TO HIM WHO WILL BELIEVE IT.... IF IT HAS BEEN GRANTED [MACBETH] TO READ A LITTLE IN THE BOOK OF DESTINY, AND HE HAS FOUND ITS FIRST SENTENCE TRUE, THERE IS NOTHING THAT COMPELS HIM TO BE ASSISTANT AND ACCOMPLICE TO THE WORKING OF THE SECOND."

L.C. KNIGHTS: "AFTER THE INITIAL CRIME THERE IS SOMETHING COMPULSIVE IN MACBETH'S MURDERS; AND AT THE END, FOR HIS 'VALIANT FURY,' HE IS CERTAINLY NOT A FREE AGENT.  HE IS LIKE A BEAR TIED TO A STAKE, HE SAYS; BUT IT IS NOT ONLY THE BESIEGING ARMY THAT HEMS HIM IN; HE IS IMPRISONED IN THE WORLD HE HAS MADE."

ALTHOUGH MACBETH DOES MONSTROUS THINGS, WE NEVER SEE THEM REPRESENTED ONSTAGE, AND MANY OF HIS CRIMES ARE CARRIED OUT BY ACCOMPLICES.  WAYNE BOOTH, CRITIC, ON THE KILLING OF LADY MACDUFF AND HER SON: "EVEN HERE MACBETH IS KEPT AS LITTLE 'TO BLAME' AS POSSIBLE.  HE DOES NOT DO THE DEED HIMSELF, AND WE CAN BELIEVE THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO, HAD HE SEEN THE WIFE AND CHILD AS WE HAVE SEEN THEM... HE IS MUCH FURTHER REMOVED FROM THEM THAN FROM HIS OTHER VICTIMS; AS FAR AS WE KNOW, HE HAS NEVER EVEN MET THEM."

JACOBI ON MACBETH'S CHANGING CHARACTER: "MACBETH DIDN’T SEEM TO ME, AT THE START, TO KNOW MORE OF EVIL THAN ANY OTHER SOLDIER OF HIS TIME WHO IS USED TO KILLING PEOPLE.  WHAT CAUGHT MY IMAGINATION WAS THE EFFECT OF EVIL ON HIM, THE CHANGES IT BRINGS ABOUT."

ELIZABETHAN SAYING: “GRIEF PENT UP WILL BREAK THE HEART.”

ROBERT N. WATSON, ON LADY MACBETH'S SLEEPWALKING: "SHE IS PROPELLED THROUGH AN ENDLESS NIGHT BY A DRIVING NOSTALGIA FOR THE MOMENT BEFORE THE AMBITIOUS CRIME THAT RENDERED HER BOTH LITERALLY AND SYMBOLICALLY INELIGIBLE FOR REST.  HER SLEEPWALKING THUS COMPLEMENTS HER HAND-WASHING: BOTH REPRESENT A FUTILE EFFORT TO ERASE THE CONSEQUENCES OF A DEED THAT MURDERED SLEEP BOTH IN DUNCAN AND IN HER."

SCOTLAND WEATHER: ARDGOUR, MORVERN AND MOIDART UNSEASONABLY COLD.  ROADS AND PATHS TREACHEROUS.  MURDEROUS WINDS.  ANIMALS FLEEING AREA.

19. (THEATRE #6) LADY MACBETH GOES MAD (V, 1)
 <NO TICKER>

20.  (TV #7) POST-LADY M DEPARTURE (V, 2-5) 

ELIZABETH NIELSEN, ON LADY MACBETH: "JUST WHAT CAUSED HER FINAL BREAKDOWN WE ARE NOT TOLD, BUT THE MURDERS THAT SHOW UP IN HER TORTUOUS CRIES ARE THOSE OF DUNCAN, BANQUO, AND FINALLY LADY MACDUFF AND HER CHILDREN.  THIS LAST MAY HAVE TOUCHED HER MOST DEEPLY... BUT THE PITIFUL THING TO NOTE, FIRST AND LAST, IS THAT HER NOW UNCONTROLLED MIND ALWAYS RETURNS TO THE NIGHT OF DUNCAN'S MURDER WHEN SHE AND HER HUSBAND WERE STILL ONE IN BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT."

BEFORE SIDDON’S LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE OF LADY MACBETH IN 1785, ACTRESSES IN THE ROLE CARRIED THE CANDLE THROUGH THE WHOLE SCENE.  SIDDON PUT THE CANDLE DOWN IN ORDER TO MIME WASHING HER HANDS; THIS CHOICE WAS MUCH CRITICIZED AT THE TIME.

SIGMUND FREUD: "LADY MACBETH IS INCARNATE REMORSE AFTER THE DEED, MACBETH INCARNATE DEFIANCE -- TOGETHER THEY EXHAUST THE POSSIBILITIES OF REACTION TO THE CRIME, LIKE TWO DISUNITED PARTS OF THE MIND OF A SINGLE INDIVIDUALITY."

SCOTLAND WEATHER: BIRNHAM: HIGH WIND ADVISORY.  FOREST AREAS VOLATILE.  WATCH FOR FALLING OR MOVING BRANCHES.

MACBETH'S RESPONSE TO THE NEWS OF HIS WIFE'S DEATH IS ODD: "SHE SHOULD HAVE DIED HEREAFTER."  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

BEN JOHNSON: "HER DEATH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEFERRED TO SOME MORE PEACEABLE HOUR; HAD SHE LIVED LONGER, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A MORE CONVENIENT TIME FOR SUCH A WORD, FOR SUCH INTELLIGENCE..."

J. MIDDLETON MURRY: "'HEREAFTER,' I THINK, IS PURPOSEFULLY VAGUE.  IT DOES NOT MEAN 'LATER'; BUT IN A DIFFERENT MODE OF TIME FROM THAT IN WHICH MACBETH IS IMPRISONED NOW... FOR HIS WIFE'S DEATH TO HAVE MEANING THERE NEEDS SOME TOTAL CHANGE - A PLUNGE ACROSS A NEW ABYSS INTO A HEREAFTER."

EUGENE WAITH: "WHEN SHE DIES, TORTURED BY THE CONSCIENCE SHE DESPISED, MACBETH IS SO HARDENED, SO COMPLETELY THE SOLDIER THAT SHE WANTED HIM TO BE, THAT HE IS NEITHER FRIGHTENED BY THE 'NIGHT-SHRIEK' NOR GREATLY MOVED BY THE NEWS OF HER DEATH."

NEWS UPDATE: BRITS ON THE MOVE: MALCOLM RETURNS AND JOINS THANES.  ARMIES HEAD FOR INVERNESS, LARGE CLASH ANTICIPATED.

HOW DOES LADY MACBETH'S FINAL FATE COMPARE TO MACBETH'S?

CAROLYN ASP: "AS LADY MACBETH COLLAPSES UNDER THE ONSLAUGHT OF AN INFECTED MIND, MACBETH SUCCUMBS TO THE ASSAULTS OF EXTERNAL FOES."

"A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT, FULL OF SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING NOTHING."  DOES SHAKESPEARE SHARE MACBETH'S DARK VIEW OF THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE?

ALAN HOBSON: "THE WORLD MACBETH SEES AND CONDEMNS IS A PROJECTION OF HIMSELF.  HIS WORDS DESCRIBE, NOT THE EXTERNAL WORLD OR THE NATURE OF MAN, BUT THE LAST STATE OF ONE WHO HAS LIVED THE LIFE MACBETH HAS LIVED AD MADE THE CHOICES MACBETH HAS MADE."

HAROLD BLOOM: “MACBETH HIMSELF EXCEEDS US, IN ENERGY AND IN TORMENT, BUT HE ALSO REPRESENTS US, AND WE DISCOVER HIM MORE VIVIDLY WITHIN US THE MORE DEEPLY WE DELVE.”

MAYNARD MACK: "IN OUR LAST GLIMPSE OF MACBETH BEFORE THE FINAL BATTLE, WE SEE THE MAN WHO HAS EMPTIED THE WORLD AND, ALONG WITH IT, HIMSELF.... LIKE THE PRISONERS IN SATAN'S MOUTH IN THE NINTH CIRCLE OF DANTE'S HELL, HE IS FROZEN SPIRITUALLY IMMOBILE, ETERNALLY TRAPPED."

QUOTATION FROM PRAYER BOOK ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD: “MAN THAT IS BORN OF WOMAN HATH BUT A SHORT TIME TO LIVE, AND IS FULL OF MISERY … HE FLEETH AS IT WERE A SHADOW.”

ROBERT WATSON: "TIME, WHICH MACBETH WOULD NOT TRUST TO BRING THE PROPHECIES TO FRUITION, THUS BECOMES HIS ENEMY.  FOR HIM... THE FACT THAT THE CYCLES OF DAYS, SEASONS, AND GENERATIONS CONTINUE ALL AROUND HIM ONLY MAKES HIS OWN STEADY DECAY MORE PAINFUL."

21.  (THEATRE #7) MACBETH’S DEATH (V, 7-8)
 <NO TICKER>

22.  (TV #8) MACDUFF AND MALCOLM, END OF TV INTERVIEW (V,8)

IN AN EARLIER SCENE (IV, III), MALCOLM PRETENDS TO BE AS HORRIBLE AS MACBETH.  MACDUFF IS HORRIFIED, AND SAYS HE'LL BE FORCED TO LEAVE SCOTLAND RATHER THAN WATCH MALCOLM RULE.  MALCOLM THEN REVEALS HE WAS MERELY TESTING MACDUFF'S VIRTUE.   CLEVER?  OR JUST MEAN?

SCONE, USED HERE, DOES NOT REFER TO A FLAKY, DELICIOUS BREAKFAST TREAT.  RATHER, SCONE IS THE TRADITIONAL CORONATION SITE FOR SCOTTISH KINGS.  IT IS LOCATED NEAR PRESENT-DAY PERTH, WHICH REMAINS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE BANKING AND INSURANCE INDUSTRIES THAN FOR PASTRIES.

SAMUEL JOHNSON: “LADY MACBETH IS MERELY DETESTED; AND THOUGH THE COURAGE OF MACBETH PRESERVES SOME ESTEEM, YET EVERY READER REJOICES AT HIS FALL.”

TERENCE EAGLETON, CRITIC: "SCOTLAND MOVES FROM HEALTH TO SICKNESS AND BACK INTO HEALTH, MALCOLM REPLACES DUNCAN, AND THE WHEEL COMES FULL CIRCLE WITHOUT MACBETH HAVE MADE ANY PERMANENT ACHIEVEMENT.  THE ENERGY HE EXPENDS IN TRYING TO SECURE HIS POSITION CONTRASTS IRONICALLY WITH THIS LACK OF ATTAINMENT".

G. WILSON KNIGHT, CRITIC: "THE DELIRIOUS DREAM IS OVER.  A CLEAR DAYLIGHT NOW DISPERSES THE IMAGINATIVE DARK THAT HAS ECLIPSED SCOTLAND.  THE CHANGE IS REMARKABLE... THOUGH THEY OPPOSE EACH OTHER IN FIGHT, MACBETH AND MALCOLM SHARE EQUALLY IN THIS RELIEF, THIS AWAKENING FROM HORROR."

SCOTLAND WEATHER: SCONE: SUNNY DAYS AHEAD!  STORM CLEARING BY MORNING.  BRIGHT AND BRISK, HIGHS IN THE LOW 60S.

MACDUFF IS DRAWN AS A VIRTUOUS OPPOSITE OF MACBETH; WHEREAS MACBETH WAS INFLUENCED TO DO EVIL BY HIS WIFE, MACDUFF IS INFLEXIBLE AND 'MANLY'.  HE SAYS "I COULD PLAY THE WOMAN WITH MINE EYES AND BRAGGART WITH MY TONGUE!  BUT, GENTLE HEAVENS, CUT SHORT ALL INTERMISSION.  FRONT TO FRONT BRING THOU THIS FIEND OF SCOTLAND AND MYSELF" (IV, III).