Macbeth And Coriolanus Comparison

In the films Macbeth by Orson Welles and Coriolanus by Ralph Fiennes, characters and scenes are adapted by both directors to convey their opinions on their socio-political atmospheres. This explains why the films adaptations are incredibly violent compared to the plays written by William Shakespeare, this occurs because both directors are drawing inspiration from their environments at the time. Fiennes and Welles use themes in Coriolanus and Macbeth as a means to criticize the state of the world.

Macbeth was directed by Welles in 1948, three years after WW2 and right at the beginning of the Cold War era. The world had seen almost a decade of war, and Welles uses translates the anger and fear of the people into a film. The same is seen in

Fiennes’ inspiration is shown by the war torn metropolitan of Voltius, a city that eerily mirrors Syrian conflict zones. From the first scene both director’s use the setting of the films to convey the underlying themes of the films. Welles favors outdoor scenes, set in dark and treacherous terrain, as shown in his use of expressionism, by filming Macbeth’s literal descent into darkness. In comparison, Fiennes’ Coriolanus uses city landscapes, indoor and outdoor settings to show the divide between people, for instance the politicians and the people are separated by soldiers and a building during Coriolanus’ confrontation with the people. A similar divide occurs between Macbeth and his people as he watches them flee the approaching army from on top of the castle walls. In both scenes Fiennes and