Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novel (No Fear Shakespeare Illustrated): Volume 2

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Viene da pensare che il suo approccio a questo testo, pieno di violenza sanguinosa e sanguinaria, abbia a che fare con il cruento delitto nella sua villa a opera degli adepti di Charles Manson un paio d’anni prima. Mi piace perché è più breve di molte altre, perché Verdi l’ha musicata, perché ci sono le streghe e un tizio con nome affascinante, Banquo, che gira col suo fantasma al seguito (ma certo come nome Macbeth non si batte). Mi piace per quella eccezionale scena della foresta che avanza (l’esercito procede nascosto dietro la foresta di alberi tagliati).

La scelta shakespeariana di Polanski non entusiasmava i suoi produttori: il regista polacco veniva da successi di tutt’altro tipo. E così il budget fu chiuso solo grazie all’intervento di Hugh Hefner, il boss di Playboy. Strani percorsi, strani incroci. Poor old Macbeth. You were doomed from the very first act. Your mistake was believing in hearsay, prophecy and half-truths. You were an excellent Thane, noble and strong. But you were never meant to be King. You should never have told your wife about the witches, that way the fires of your ambition would never have been fanned. Macbeth (The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. del 1971, io l’ho visto qualche anno dopo, in quel cinema fiorentino ai margini di San Frediano, dove si andava con rito quasi quotidiano, per poche lire si guardavano splendidi film di Hollywood nella sua stagione che preferisco (la Hollywood Renaissance della fine anni Sessanta e anni Settanta), li si vedeva e rivedeva, li potevamo richiedere e ogni giorno la programmazione era multipla, con un solo biglietto accesso a più titoli, una pacchia, una gioia. Una cultura. People note exceptional verbal wit, psychological depth, and emotional range of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who included such historical works as Richard II, comedies like Much Ado about Nothing, and such tragedies as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear and also composed 154 sonnets before people published posthumously First Folio, which collected and contained edition of 36 plays in 1623.

My Book Notes

Lady Macbeth learns of the witches' prophecies, and she worries Macbeth won't take the steps necessary to make himself king. Duncan is coming to spend the night at the castle, so she plots Duncan's death.

The three witches prophesize that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and that Banquo will have sons who are kings. Shortly after, Macbeth is indeed given the title Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth mutters that “blood will have blood” and tells Lady Macbeth that he has heard from a servant-spy that Macduffintends to keep away from court, behavior that verges on treason (3.4.121). He says that he will visit the witches again tomorrow in the hopes of learning more about the future and about who may be plotting against him. He resolves to do whatever is necessary to keep his throne, declaring: “I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.135–137). Lady Macbeth says that he needs sleep, and they retire to their bed. While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth follow their ambition to gain glory, they manage to simultaneously hold the belief that: After the bloody imagery and dark tone of the previous two scenes, the porter’s comedy comes as a jarring change of tone. His good-natured joking with Macduff breaks up the mounting tension of the play and also comments obliquely on its themes. Unlike all the characters of noble birth, who speak in iambic verse, the porter speaks in prose. His relaxed language seems to signal that his words and his role are less important than those of the other characters, but in his merry banter, the porter hits on many truths. His description of the confusion and lust provoked by alcohol caricatures Macbeth’s moral confusion and lust for power. Moreover, his remarks about the ineffective lechery inspired by drink eerily echo Lady Macbeth’s sexual taunting of Macbeth about his ability to carry out his resolutions. The porter’s joke that the door of Inverness is like hell’s gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that are taking place within the castle. When he cries, “Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub [the devil]?” the analogy between hell and Inverness becomes even stronger (2.3.3). Instead of receiving a welcome and a blessing when they step into Macbeth’s castle, guests are warned that they are putting themselves in the hands of the devil. Despite the centuries of democratisation that form a barrier between us and Macbeth' dream of "safe power", one recognises the brutal wish for fame and elevation in many of our contemporary players on the world stage. There is an element of blindness that needs to be cultivated to be able to be both ambitious and careless enough to use violence to grasp power illegitimately.Over the past year, I have branched out in my reading, attempting authors and genres that I had not discovered before. Recently, I read Serena by Ron Rash in which the title character is compared to Lady Macbeth. While Serena may be ruthless, I had never read the play so I could not contrast the two heroines. Another of my reading goals this year is increasing my reading of classics. Up until now, I had predominantly read modern classics, and found a worthy reason to read an older masterpiece. So it is without further adieu that I present my take on the Bard's Macbeth. The tale begins when Macbeth visits three witches, later of "double, double, toil, trouble" fame. They prophesy that he will become the Thane of Crowder, Thane of Glowdis, and King of Scotland. Yet, the men who hold these titles are all currently alive. Lady Macbeth plots and decides to murder all the key players who stand in the way of her husband becoming king, framing other upstanding individuals for her actions. She even goes as far as killing those who relayed news to her that King Duncan had been killed, even though she herself committed the crime. As the tale continues, the Lady now Queen continues to plot and has servants and soldiers at her disposal to do her bidding. The banquet is simultaneously the high point of Macbeth’s reign and the beginning of his downfall. Macbeth’s bizarre behavior puzzles and disturbs his subjects, confirming their impression that he is mentally troubled. Despite the tentativeness and guilt she displayed in the previous scene, Lady Macbeth here appears surefooted and stronger than her husband, but even her attempts to explain away her husband’s “hallucination” are ineffective when paired with the evidence of his behavior. The contrast between this scene and the one in which Duncan’s body was discovered is striking—whereas Macbeth was once cold-blooded and surefooted, he now allows his anxieties and visions to get the best of him. Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage in recent battles. King Duncan of Scotland receives a report that the traitorous Thane of Cawdor has been defeated, and decides to give Cawdor's title to Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth is one of the great female characters in literature. Her role as a temptress and wily beneficiary of the ruthless plan, and her eventual abysmal fall is one that resounds with readers and audiences to this day.

Macbeth (No Fear)

You only committed in halves to the witches advice. You needed to go the full way or not at all. For you are bloody. Your butcher’s work in King Duncan’s tent saw to that. Your soldier’s work on the battlefield also saw to that. You weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty and in this you were bold and daring, but none would ever call one such as you resolute. Your conscience got the better of you, it made you weak and vulnerable, and because of this you failed. Your rule failed. Your sword arm failed. You needed to go the full way or not at all. In his castle, Macbeth boasts that he does not fear the approaching English army because he believes that the witches’ prophecies ensure that he will not be overthrown or killed.

MACBETH: Hey there, nice witches, I need some help. I just saw Duncan's ghost and I’ve been killing a lot of people and my wife’s losing what few marbles she had to begin with –

Check-In

Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth is dead. He then learns that the "trees" of Birnam Wood are advancing toward Dunsinane, and he realizes that the prophecies are coming true. La scena di nudo di lady Macbeth che s’aggira sonnambula e parla nel sonno non è motivata da voglia di stupire, ma da ricerche storiche che indicavano come all’epoca dormire nudi era abituale, spesso in compagnia di animali (nella stessa stanza, non necessariamente nello stesso letto).