The Curse of Macbeth

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The Curse of Macbeth

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's more popular plays, and nearly everyone knows about the abundant blood and gore, the witches, Lady Macbeth's ambition, and the ghost of Banquo. However, not as many people know about the superstitions that surround this play. There's a long-standing belief that the play is jinxed, than any company that produces it is courting disaster, and that quoting from the play (or even saying the title) leads to serious bad luck.

There's no doubt that several superstitions are associated with Macbeth. Many actors refuse to say the name of the play but rather refer to it as "The Scottish Play" or even "The Plaid Play" (Gero). Some go even further, referring to it as "The Unmentionable" or even "That Play" (Demcisak 8). Actors also look unkindly on anyone who says the name of the title character or quotes from the play while in the theater. The only way to "cure" the problem created is to perform a ritual. For instance, the offending actor may be required to turn around three times and spit over his left shoulder, or turn around three times and quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Faulkner).

What's the evidence for the curse or jinx? Bad luck certainly seems to follow productions of Macbeth.According to legend, during the play's first production, the boy who played Lady Macbeth died backstage (Rozakis 245). In 1849, three of New York's theaters were featuring Macbeth, and two of the lead actors had a serious rivalry going. Edwin Forrest (one of the Macbeths) reportedly encouraged some of his followers to disrupt the production at his rival's theater. In the resulting riot, thirty-one people were killed (Demcisak 7).

Demcisak reports more tra...

... middle of paper ...

...lt;http://ws.bowiestate.edu/archives/1995/0075.html>.

Gagen, Steven. "The Scottish Play." Online posting. 6 Feb. 1995.

SHAKSPER@ws.bowiestate.edu. 7 March 2001

<http://ws.bowiestate.edu/archives/1995/0075.html>.

Gero, Edward. "Re: The Scottish Play." Online posting. 8 Feb. 1995.

SHAKSPER@ws.bowiestate.edu. 12 March 2001

<http://ws.bowiestate.edu/archives/1995/0088.html>.

"Ivanov Goes to Moscow." ArtsZone. 2 March 2001.

<http://www.ovationtv.com/artszone/programs/ivanov/wild.html>.

Rozakis, Laurie. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare. New York: Alpha,

1999.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,

Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New

York: Longman, 1999. 1522-1634.

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