Macbeth
Mac…The Scottish Play The works of famed English poet and playwright William Shakespeare are unquestionably some of the most studied, scrutinized, and analyzed pieces of literature in the world; Shakespeare’s Macbeth is certainly not an exception. While “texts change in meaning and value over time, as the conditions under which they are interpreted change and new social forces and intellectual paradigms supplement their formal structures and patterns of meaning,” the key themes, values, and ideas observed throughout Macbeth are truly eternal—so much so that the word “Macbeth” is almost interchangeable with the word misfortune in regards to any play production, and is therefore barred from utterance by actors upon the stage of many theaters (Carr 837). A concise, yet bloody tragedy written in the early seventeenth century about an internally chaotic Macbeth, who, in response to a prophesy told by witches, ultimately takes his future into his own hands and fulfills the prophesy that he would become the future Thane of Cawdor and eventually the King of Scotland. However, egged on by Lady Macbeth and his own uncontrollable self-conscious, he becomes “dagger-happy” and effectively tries to kill off anyone who stand in his way of power; his own paranoia ultimately becomes his downfall. While this is obviously an intricate piece of literature, the original way that it was to be presented, as an acted-out play, adds much to the dynamic and the major themes of the story as well. Interestingly enough, the story of King Macbeth seems riddled with mystery, confusion, and irony, even from its background. Many believe that the play seems to revel at the lives of King James’ descendants, and that James, himself, thought that he was in the line of ancestry of Banquo; however, this claim is somewhat trivial, as much of the text, its background, and even Shakespeare himself are shrouded in unknowing. Macbeth, along with parts of King Lear and Cymbeline, is actually sourced to
Cited: Carr, Stephen L. "Seeing Through Macbeth." Modern Language Association 96.5 (1981): 837- 47. JSTOR. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. Dischell, Stuart. "Macbeth." Ploughshares 13.1 (1987): 43-44. JSTOR. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. Ramsey, Jarold. "The Perversion of Manliness in Macbeth." Studies in English Literature, 1500- 1900 13.2 (1973): 285-300. JSTOR. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. Documentation C4C Jeremy Etling and C4C Kamryn Williams reviewed my essay for grammar and edited for style/diction.