Macbeth vs Scotland, PA

Macbeth:

The thin line between tragedy and dark humor.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth has always been considered one of the literary worlds most celebrated tragedies. It is arguably the darkest and most gruesome of his plays. The protagonist, Macbeth, is the poster child for tragic hero, “a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy” (www.dictionary.com). And until recently we were satisfied with that… At the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, a low budget comedy was unveiled. It was called Scotland, PA. This film was written by a first-time director, Billy Morrissette, and depicts the familiar story in a surprisingly different form.

The premise of the plot is held in tact but the setting is shifted several hundred years, to the 1970s. The characters’ names even remain familiar. The dialogue is contemporary English yet you can still recognize the similarities in conversation. Major themes from the original work – revenge, guilt, self doubt, fate, and prophecy still exist in this manipulated adaptation. “He (Morrissette) is able to make an interesting point about how the difference between tragedy and comedy is often how the material is viewed by the audience”.(Berardinelli)

Prior to Morrissette’s Scotland, PA, Roman Polanski brought his adaptation of Macbeth (1971) to the silver screen. This more traditional adaptation follows the plays blueprint. The setting remains unchanged, as well as the plot and dialogue. This movie was made soon after a horrifically traumatic events in Polanski’s life, the heinous murder of his pregnant wife by members of the ‘Charlie Manson family’. The film may have been a therapeutic outlet for him. The extremely gory murder scenes may have been a result of his attempts to deal with his pain and show give insight into the horror that filled his life at the time. Polanski’s adaptation definitely added a horror flick tone with the gruesome portrayal of despicable violence.

The most notable difference in the portrayal of Mac and Pat, in Scotland, PA versus the portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, is the atrociousness, or lack of, with which we view them and their crimes. Mac and Pat seem to be less despicable than Macbeth and Lady Macbeth for several reasons. One key reason is the omission of the ordered murder of Macduff’s family ...

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...ind their evil deed. Lady Macbeth is aware of her position as motivator, and even states in the play that she wishes she were a man so that she could carry out their plan herself. Even in Scotland, PA, Pat is continuously directing and instructing Mac in all of their actions pertaining to the murder and cover up. She tells Macbeth to get the safe combination, to stop him from escaping, and talks him through virtually the entire process.

The major difference in 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 most bloody and tragic of stories.

Works Cited:

Dictionary.com. 2005, Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 3/8/2005 .

Macbeth [1971] – Review @ EOFFTV. 2000, 3/8/2005 .

Phillips, Brian and Douthat, Ross. SparkNote on Macbeth. 9 Mar. 2005 .

Review: Scotland, PA. 2002, 3/8/2005 .