April, 2 2014 Perspectives
As far as we’re aware, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, making it roughly 400 years old and in desperate need of a revival. While setting an adaptation of the play in modern day Melbourne in the midst of a gangland war may have seemed comical a decade ago, with corpses piled high from St Kilda to Sunshine in the real gang war of the Victorian city, it now seems 100% plausible. The difficulty of course, is finding a way to accurately transform noble lords of Scotland into underworld gangsters and still maintain Shakespeare’s true intentions. It’s quite simple really, you can’t.
Despite Geoffrey Wright’s efforts in producing the twenty-first century adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in 2006, and his attempt to depict the concept of stereotypical gender roles and relations in a modern context, he has served only to make a mockery of this powerful tragedy. On the contrary, Roman Polanski’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, produced in 1971, is now considered to be one of the most influential filmic illustrations of the Shakespearean play, while closely following the themes and threads of the original text.
Polanski’s Macbeth was produced in accordance with the socio-political background of the 1970s. Thus, prior to embarking on an analysis of the film it is imperative to first gain an understanding of the era within which is was released. The turn of the 1960s established a period of immense change and development within society; the age of The Man on the Moon, Communism and Women’s Liberation.
Roman Polanski intertwined several of these pressing concepts into his production and more specifically, opted to highlight the stereotypical role of women and the appropriate way of conduct, through c...
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...ginal text; the same cannot be said for modernised versions that have been reconstructed time and time again. Instead they have construed conflicting attitudes and values, through which Shakespeare’s true intentions have been lost in translation.
Bibliography
HubPages Inc. 2014, “The Concept of Femininity in Shakespeare’s Macbeth”, http://barbarahend.hubpages.com/hub/The-Concept-of-Femininity-in-Shakespeares-Macbeth > 30/3/14
Macbeth (DVD), 2006, Directed by Geoffrey WRIGHT: Martin Fabinyi, Australia.
Shmoop University, Inc. 2014, “Macbeth Theme of Fate and Freewill”, http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/fate-free-will-theme.html > 31/3/14
SparkNotes LLC, 2014, ‘Analysis of Major Characters”, http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/canalysis.html > 29/3/14
The Tragedy of Macbeth, (DVD), 1971, Directed by Roman POLANSKI: Playboy Enterprises, United Kingdom.
Imagining the similarities between one of the most famous Shakespearean plays and a new animated Disney movie is difficult, until you look deeply into the characters. From the Shakespearean play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is extremely similar to Mother Gothel from the Disney movie Tangled. Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife that has strong desires and personality. The movie Tangled created a similar character with Mother Gothel, she is Rapunzel's mother and believes in going after what you want. The two characters are not the exact same, they differ in their desires and in their ending demise. They are much more similar in their motives and their actions which reveal their shared character traits.
Set in present day New York in 1991, "Men of Respect" is a story of New York gangsters, in particular a mad-dog thug, Mike Battaglia, and his ambitious, highly unscrupulous wife Ruthie. “Macbeth” created by William Shakespeare was re-created into this modern day movie version. The various warring kingdoms of the play become organized crime factions in the film: King Duncan becoming the padrino or godfather of the main family, Charlie Di'Mico; Banquo becomes his buddy, Bankie Como; Macduff becomes Irish capo, Duffy. Screenwriter Reilly makes Macbeth over into ambitious Mafia underling, Mikey Battaglia, who is King Duncan’s lieutenant chief driven by a fortuneteller's prophecy and the influences of his even more treacherous wife to knock off the head of the D'Amico crime family and claim the top title for himself. The most significant aspect of the film is its total loyalty and devotion to the text of the play. The film follows the play scene for scene, at times line for line. A closer analysis of the characters and lines will compare the many differences and similarities between William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and William Reilly's "Men of Respect."
Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays Macbeth as a kinsman, subject and trusted friend to King Duncan I of Scotland. A trusted friend, that is, until Macbeth has a chance encounter with the “three witches” (Shakespeare) or the “Weird Sisters”. The witches predict that Macbeth will become the next King and that his fellow companion, Banquo, will be the father of a line of kings. A change comes over Macbeth after his meeting; he is no longer content to be a follower of the King, he will “be” King at any cost. After killing the King and his friend Banquo, losing his wife to madness and ordering the execution of many, Macbeth is killed in much the same fashion as he has killed. But does this really reflect the real King MacBeth of Scotland? While examining the characteristics and actions of the two Macbeths and decide if Shakespeare’s writing was historically sound or was it just “double, double, toil and trouble” (4.1.22-26) playing with MacBeth’s character.
The story of Lady Macbeth throughout Macbeth is one unlike those of its time in its unusually forward-thinking portrayal of a woman with thoughts and actions which would have been considered indecent. This is seen through the representation of her relationship with Macbeth and how they interact. It is also illustrated through Lady Macbeth’s morals and their effect on how she acts and reacts in situations which would weigh heavily on most peoples’ conscious. Her power-hungry attitude is one often reserved for men, especially in this era of literature. All of these factors create a character in Lady Macbeth which is dissimilar to the classic portrayal of women in the seventeenth century.
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.
Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons and Contrasts. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare uses comparison and contrast to bring out characteristics of his main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare uses comparisons with Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo to bring out aspects of Macbeth's character. After hearing of Macbeth's courageousness on the battlefield, Duncan, a good and honest king, bestows the title of Cawdor on Macbeth.
Among the greatest gifts that the renaissance produced was the eloquent and incredible Shakespearean plays. Written mostly in the 1590s these plays have been performed and admired countless times; entertaining mass audiences by providing interesting tales that explore the depth of human insights and the different universal themes. Among the many Shakespearean plays Macbeth, written in 1606, stands out with its short composition but multiple themes. This tragedy narrates the tale of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quest to grasp ultimate power by ignoring their morals and succumbing to their dark desires, which ultimately leads to their downfall. This tragic play portrays the desires, needs, and temptations that accompany ambition in men and women. However the ambition in Macbeth is blind, it does not abide to the morals, but it allows space for dark actions as means necessary for accomplishment. Blind ambition serves as the main driving force that drives Macbeth to subdue to his dark desires, defy his noble behavior, and ultimately his downfall.
William Shakespeare, one of the greatest English play writers, has had a profound influence upon different societies globally since the fifteenth century, for his plays inspire many contemporary artists to present new scopes reflecting their societies. Considered as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Macbeth has a completely disparate interpretation of the movie Scotland, PA, which translates the original play into a black comedy. A Scottish royal and general, Macbeth the protagonist undergoes a demonic transformation in personality, in which he unethically takes the crown by murdering numerous characters. The director of the movie alters the plot while maintaining the basic semblance of power, ambition, and masculinity from Shakespeare’s work. In the movie, the alteration of the process Macbeth usurps the power of Duncan, including his internal and external incentives, gives the audience a fresh perspective on one of the English classical plays.
In understanding the art form of expression in various ways like music and play writes, it brings together this sense of self identity that the artist wants to fulfill. Having this understanding about the life behind the scene, screen, and/or stage. My paper will present two art forms music by 50 cent “Many Men” and William Shakespeare play “Macbeth” in which I will describe similarities among the characters. My four categories for 50 cent and Macbeth are as follow Greed, Savage, Survivor and Success.
During the Elizabethan era, a woman did not have any say in the relationship with her husband, but Shakespeare’s Macbeth changes this accepted theory. Lady Macbeth is a woman ahead of her time; she is caught between today’s ambitious, powerful woman and a fragile, powerless creature of the Elizabethan era. At the beginning of this tragedy, she is vicious, overly ambitious, without conscience, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, Lady Macbeth loses control of her husband, but mostly of herself. She is so wrapped up in the greedy world Shakespeare creates that she fails to consider the consequences of her actions more realistically. Lady Macbeth lives as if she is a woman ahead of her tiime, but she dies like she is from the “golden age of drama”.
Macbeth is a play revolving around many key ideas observed in Shakespeare’s time with various messages communicated to the audience successfully, despite the lack of the cinematic effects present in today’s literature entertainment. The interweaved themes of immoral ambition and corruption are displayed throughout the text, unveiling the corruptive nature of one’s excessive greed for supremacy, affecting both themselves and others. This idea in Macbeth is successfully conveyed to the audience in Shakespeare’s time through the literary devices of characterisation, soliloquy and plot.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564. One of the most influential writers of all time, still remembered today for his enigmatic plays. The zeitgeist of England in the 17th century did nothing but intensify his success. In an age of acute paranoia and a morbid fascination surrounding the supernatural, plays like Macbeth' were the forbidden fruit craved for by the public of that era. Also as feminism was yet to be invented Macbeth' was also controversial in relation to the character of Lady Macbeth, and her almost masculine temperament. In a time where men were the dominant gender, Lady M's domineering character was intriguing. Shakespeare's plays are grouped into three categories; histories, tragedies and comedies. Macbeth is ultimately a tragedy. He was thought to have written The Scottish Play' for King James I, who had a personal interest in witchcraft and the supernatural. In this essay I intend to explore Macbeth and Lady Macbeths fall from grace and the deterioration of their relationship throughout the play.
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.
The essence of Macbeth lies not only in the fact that it is written by the universal talent William Shakespeare; the royal-conspiracy, the political unethical activity, the killin...
There was a common saying, “Behind every great man there's a great woman”. The men, Macbeth and Winston Smith in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and George Orwell’s 1984 may not be considered as the “great man” however, both Lady Macbeth and Julia are good examples that can be presented as the “great woman” behind the men. Both Lady Macbeth and Julia do an excellent job of pretending to be someone who they are not, they are not only affecting the men in their lives to rethink their previous position but also have a bad ending accompanied with physical and psychological issues.