Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The supernatural is vital to the plot and the actions of the

characters in Macbeth. As a director of a film version, how would you

put across this influence to your chosen audience?

In this essay I am going to explain how I would go about directing the

first two witches' scenes in Macbeth. I will sum up why I am doing a

certain action, for example the symbolism it has and what relevance it

has to the witches. First of all I need to know some background about

the impact of witches on peoples lives at the time in which it was

written.

Macbeth was written in 1606 in the time of the Elizabethans when the

supernatural was in the forefront of many peoples' minds. Witches were

the objects of morbid and fevered fascination. In each village of

Elizabethan England the 'evil' goings on were blamed on the old

spinster who owned a black cat and never came out of the house. The

witch. They were punished or interrogated by being forces to sit on a

stool and then 'ducked' in the river. If they floated then they were a

witch and if they sank then they weren't a witch but most died of

drowning anyway. There were many famous witch hunts at this time and

everyone was scared of them.

In 1604 an act of parliament decreed that anyone found guilty of

witchcraft would be executed. Many people who watched Macbeth saw the

witches as a sign of evil and hatred. This was apparent in many of

their lives. Shakespeare's audience would hear Macbeth as an echo of

the Christian faith. The religious imagery would remind them of the

challenges on earth of Christian beliefs.

In Macbeth the two witches' scenes that I am studyin...

... middle of paper ...

...kings.... You shall be king." This

of course is confusing to the viewer because they can't both be the

king.......

............................

Shakespeare coursework - Macbeth. Rob Jones

The supernatural is vital to the plot and the actions of the

characters in Macbeth. As a director of a film version, how would you

put across this influence to your chosen audience?

Apart from the background music and scenes that I have mentioned,

there won't be many extra special effects, i.e. I will be keeping it

simple, and I won't have any extra characters apart from the ones

mentioned in the text.

They are:

Witch 1

Witch 2

Witch 3

MACBETH

BANQUO

This of course is only a part of the whole book, but I think that it

gives a lasting impression of the witches and the rest of the story.