The Banquet Scene of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

The Banquet Scene of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Interpretations on Video

Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, has been portrayed in

various different ways on film: in the more traditional style of Roman

Polanski’s 1972 film and in the more contemporary 1998 film, made by

Channel 4 and directed by Michael Bogdanov. One of the most

interesting scenes in the play is the ‘Banquet Scene’ in which King

Macbeth is publicly and supernaturally confronted by his sins – the

ghost of his former friend Banquo, who was present when first Macbeth

learned of his destiny from the Weïrd Sisters. Macbeth feels that

Banquo knows too much and suspects him for the murder of King Duncan

as shown by ‘and I fear/ Thou played’st most foully for’t’. Macbeth’s

only answer is to have Banquo murdered by paid assassins. Since the

murder of Duncan, Macbeth has entrenched himself in even more

murderous means of achieving his aims – such as the murder of Banquo

and the murderers - the ends justify the means in a very

machiavellian way.

In Roman Polanski’s film, the Banquet Scene is interestingly cut up

into four separate consecutive scenes: firstly the beginning of the

banquet, with all the customary entertainments, then Macbeth leaves

the room to speak with the murderers, and the murderers are

dispatched, next the main ‘Banquet Scene’ followed with the Macbeths

in bed. The staging is quite different: all the people appear in

medieval dress, and the scene is set in a castle replete with

battlements and moat. Polanski has remained faithful to the script in

most respects, particularly paying attention to Shakespeare’s use of

imagery. The scene s...

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...The 1998 version

portrays the all-important ‘Banquet Scene’ as a contemporary dinner

party that goes horribly wrong, and the horror-movie quality of the

ghost gives the film a really good way of expressing the play in all

its glory. The 1972 version remains mostly faithful to the text and to

the original staging of the play and is as Shakespeare would have

wished his play to be staged. The sheer, unadulterated goriness of the

ghost piques most viewer’s interest, and the traditional costume as

well as the breaking up of the scene give the film a more realistic

sequence, instead of the 1998 sophisticated, and yet carefully staged

acting. Both films are, however, very well directed and staged and

give a really good interpretation of the text, which is enjoyable to

people who have both read the text and those who have not.