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Macbeth Essay
The Shakespearian play Macbeth has been made into many different films throughout a course of years. Some of these films include the 1971 Roman Polanski version and even the newest version in 2015 directed by Justin Kurzel. When one reads the play and then watches the movie version, there will be many differences between them. These differences include the change of the characters, the plot, and the theme.
The change in characters is a main aspect to the people who compare both the orginal play and the movie versions. In the 1971 Polanski version, Ross is portrayed as having a part in the murder of Macduff’s family, as he leaves the door open for the murderers to enter. In the play version, this does not happen. Ross leaves
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the building before the murderers even enter. He does not let them in at any point. Also, in the Polanski version, there is a scene where Macbeth is shown the apparitions. This is also shown in the original play but in this movie there are many witches there whereas in the original there were only three. In the 2015 Kurzel version, there were four witches instead of three. These witches were portrayed as more attractive women than they were originally portrayed as in the play. In the film, Lady Macbeth does not go mad like she does in the original. Also, she is inserted into scenes where she does not originally belong in. She does not sleepwalk in front of the doctor to give her ‘out damned spot’ monologue like she did in the play. Instead, she says it while wide awake and seemingly lucid, with a child listening to her. When Macduff’s family was killed it was Macbeth himself that killed them, not the three murderers. When changing the characters, you can get an entire different feel from the play and the movie versions. Say that when reading the play one falls in love with the porter and he is not in the movie. Someone will have an entire different feel of the characters and will have a different mindset when comparing the different versions. A huge thing that tends to differ from the play and the movies are the plot.
The plot is what makes up the entire story. Once the plot changes, the entire storyline may change. In this case, it has. In the 1971 Polanski version, Macbeth’s death and Duncan’s murder had been shown on screen. The reason Shakespeare could not write these scenes in his plays was because at this time, King James would not have liked people being killed on stage right in front of him. It was portrayed as a sign of disrespect. When Macbeth killed Duncan, Duncan was awake while Macbeth kills him, therefore he knows of the betrayal and what had really happened to him while he was in the right state of mind. In the original play, it was lonely suspected that Lady Macbeth committed suicide with no mention of how she did it. In the 1971 film, it showed that she had fallen from a block of stairs. Also, at the end of this movie, Donaldbain is shown to meet with the witches where in the play he did not. In the 2015 version, at the very beginning, it makes the common speculation that the Macbeth’s had a child who had died. There was no child mentioned in the original play. Another difference was that Duncan was killed in a tent on the way back from battle, not in Dunsinane like in the original play. The big key difference between the original play and the films was that death and intercourse were made throughout the films whereas the original never had any words that described extensive death or …show more content…
intercourse, but the readers knew what had been happening. The plot plays an important role in all stories and once it has changed the story changes. Another important aspect to the play was the theme.
In the original version, the major theme involved the destruction when ambition goes unchecked by moral deeds. Macbeth is a Scottish thane who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he becomes a heartless mad man. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, had a goal set, yet doesn’t fall through with them. She talks Macbeth into killing Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth’s repeated bloodshed on her conscience. This is all because of the witches and what they had told Macbeth in the beginning. The problem is that once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne. This includes Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff. It is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them until everything caught up to him and he ended up dying. What makes the original theme of the play different from the films was that the theme of the films was more focussed on violence. Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but this is not the case for the films. To make the audience more captivated with the story, the pattern seemed to be to make Macbeth a more and
more violent person. This brings the characters more alive. By the end of the films blood seems to be everywhere and there are definitely no happy endings. It is no secret that Hollywood likes to mix things up when they bring books to the big screen. Whether they are adding, taking away or replacing, there is always something that is always going to be different. The big points that shaped Shakespeare’s Macbeth were the characters, plot, and the theme. Once people turned it into a film, lots of things changed. The only decision that can be made is whether or not people like it.
Often times, directors take timeless works of literature and make them more relatable to modern audiences. Creating a good adaptation is very difficult, the new product must be different from the original to make it relatable, however still be similar enough to recognize as the first edition. Due to changing times, many of Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted into movies. One of the most adapted plays by Shakespeare is Macbeth. This classic sets a high standard to live up to, however the film Scotland, PA comes close.
The major difference between the two works is presentation and context. This relates directly to the representation of the main characters. By keeping the premise but altering the way the course of events occurs gives the audience a different insight into the development and representation of the characters, particularly Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both adaptations were very well done, particularly Scotland, PA. It shows that, with a little tweaking, comedy can be found in even the bloodiest and most tragic of stories.
William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Macbeth, is a tragedy brilliantly brought to the 21st Century by Rupert Goold. Although Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play set in 16th Century Scotland, Rupert Goold modernizes the play by changing the setting to a Soviet-styled country and implementing modern elements into the characters and theme. Although Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Rupert Goold’s film adaptation share many ideologies and a general storyline, a difference exists in the setting, the characters, and the overall ambience of the story.
...th allows for much more accessibility in understanding the movie due to its rich and detailed text. The two mediums of exchange share a lot of similar aspects, but many of them are better understood in the context of the movie with having read and understood the play. Although the movie stays true to many occurrences in the play, however small changes have been made. The words or phrases used in each are the greatest difference because of the separate time frames. Phrases that are brought up from one to the other are for the purpose of better understanding the text. For example, the witches refer to Macbeth’s presence as “something wicked this way comes” which is altered in the movie as “It’s wicked out there.” Even though they have different meanings, the word “wicked” ties them together. The overall action of the movie follows right along with that of the play.
Despite neither of the productions following the original physical characteristics of the witches, both modernistic interpretations allow for a new angle on the play. The young, attractive witches in both productions embody the central theme of Macbeth “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” Their deceivingly alluring looks only hide the real evil they are capable of. In the live production, the seductive, manipulative young witches draw Macbeth into their evil schemes, leaving him and his ambition to be his own downfall. Their ethereal, misty look makes them clearly supernatural creatures. Furthermore in the live play, the witches only appear when necessary – when Shakespeare intended for them to. By keeping a minimalistic, classic approach, the live play places only a portion of the responsibility on the witches, instead focusing on Macbeth.
Macbeth begins on a bloody note: a battle rages from which Banquo and Macbeth survive bloodied, but heroes. They are the generals of Scotland; the country’s future is in their hands and in their blades. However, when one clutches once to such power, it is hard to let go. Macbeth cannot let go. Macbeth also ends on a bloody note: Macbeth’s head is cut off and presented to Malcolm, his replacement. Peace is restored through war; bloody injustice is righted finally with bloody justice. What falls between these two notes—the beginning and end of the tragedy—is a symphony of treachery, deceit, and murder. The images of nature gone awry spread all through the play—from the gardens that have turned to weeds to the horses that have turned to cannibalizing each other—for murder of one’s king is so unnatural that the entire landscape, all that is natural, is affected. Macbeth, by killing Duncan, is himself made an enemy of nature. Macbeth murders sleep, the ultimate embodiment of peace and nature, when he murders Duncan. However, the title character is not as evil as is first suggested; Macbeth is only led to his evil deeds by those who surround him. Macbeth’s only crime may be that he is weak minded and afraid. Macbeth was lured and cajoled into his mistakes by his wife and the weird sisters.
Although most of Shakespeare's play " Mac Beth " is not historically accurate, MacBeth's life is the subject of the tragedy. There are characters and events that are based on true events and real persons but, Shakespeare's "MacBeth " differs significantly from history's MacBeth. The first example of a difference between the Shakespeare "MacBeth" and historical Mac Beth is the death of Duncan I. In Shakespeare's " Mac Beth ", Duncan I was murdered by MacBeth.
Film Adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. “When we ask students about films they have seen and films they like. they almost invariably talk about the narrative or action, with little sense of how the visual composition conveys the story. In teaching them to ‘read’ the film, we have to draw their attention to the various. elements of film language.
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
The biggest change Shakespeare made to the play was the details of Macbeth’s death. In the play it is Macduff who murders Macbeth in Dunsinane. The truth is that Duncan’s son, Malcolm Canmore (later Malcolm III)is the one who defeated and killed Macbeth in Lumphanan with the help of the English army. However, Malcolm’s attempt for the crown was ruined, when the king followers placed Macbeth’s stepson, Lulach, on the throne. After ruling for only a few months, Macbeth’s stepson Lulach, was assassinated by Malcolm ultimately seizing the throne("Bio.com").
Macbeth is a true Shakespearian tragedy, in which mast murders take place, in order for one man and women to take the throne and become king and queen. It starts with Duncan’s murder, which is done because Macbeth did not want to see Duncan’s son next in line for the throne and the only way to prevent that was by eliminating Duncan. The nest murder was that of Banquo. Banquo is a friend of Macbeth and his murder is un-predictable. Macbeth may have feared that if he did not kill Banquo, Banquo would kill him in order to gain a position power seeing that the witch’s just informed both Macbeth and Banquo that Macbeth will be the next King of Scotland and Banquo will never have the chance to hold the throne. Once Banquo is out of the way, Macbeth turns his attention to his real target, King MaCduff. Although at first hesitant about killing MaCduff, Macbeth chooses to murder MaCduff, a man who Macbeth himself said was a good man and a fine leader. The last murder is of MaCduff’s family. Macbeth can not take any chances and must kill any associated with the former king (King MaCduff). The murder of MaCduff’s wife and son is the most vicious crime of them all because for one we see the killing on stage and number two a child is murdered, the most vicious and horrific thing one can show. Macbeth murders for personal gain and has no regrets or else he would not have continued his mass slaughtering. Macbeth is responsible for these murders because he commits them himself, without any assistance, he kills everyone out of necessity, and because all these acts were done out of free will.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth tells the story of a general who commits regicide in order to become king. Early in the play, Macbeth is conflicted as to weather or not he wants to kill his kinsman the king. In the first two acts Macbeth is not portrayed as a ruthless killer; he is a sympathetic character who succumbs to the provocation of his wife and a prophecy foretold by three mysterious witches. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, immoral woman. Her ambition is so strong that she is willing to do anything to see her husband succeed. However, in the third act things begin to change. The death of the king and lord and lady Macbeth’s rise to power catalyze profound transformation in their personalities.
At the start, Lady Macbeth was the one pushing on Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth takes her life right before the battle against the English is about to begin. This taking of her own life demonstrates her fear and in the end what that fear can do to a person. Now we come to the witches prophecies, these are a main source of fear for Macbe With each new vision, Macbeth falls deeper and deeper into an evil spiral.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
First, the similarities between both plays are, both were planned murders. For example, Brutus and his friends planned together to kill Julius Caesar. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were all involved in the planning to kill King Duncan. “Stars hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires" (Macbeth 29). This shows the desires of Macbeth to become king. "Out, out brief candle! 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." (Macbeth 177-179). This indicated, Macbeth says upon hearing the news of the death of his wife. He is depressed and desolate after what has happened. He is now full of remorse for what they both have done out of greed for the crown. Macbeth now acknowledges the fact that life is just like a brief candle that ha...