Witches In Macbeth
By DAVIS HARRISON
11/28/10
THESIS:
It is said that whilst William Shakespeare was writing his famous tragedy Macbeth, he consulted several witches for actual incantations to use in the dialogue. The witches themselves were opposed to the manner in which Shakespeare portrayed them in the script, so they placed a curse on the play. Ever since, there have been many recorded accidents and tragic occurrences in the making and performance of Macbeth. Are these happenings a matter of circumstance or was the tale of Shakespeare’s witch dilemma reality?
Among the many tragedies and comedies William Shakespeare wrote during his career, Macbeth was, and still is, one of the most renowned and celebrated stage-plays in the world. The story is that …show more content…
It appears as if every personage who has had part acting in or working backstage of the play has had some sort of strange story to tell. There are many eerie and unaccountable tales to tell. King James was so displeased with the first performance of the play that it was banned for five years. In Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted the blunt stage dagger with a real one, and unintentionally killed his co-actor playing Duncan directly in front of a live audience. There was a peculiar episode in 1721 where the army had to be called in. Apparently, some hecklers had been antagonizing some of the actors on the stage. The actors responded by violently attacking the hecklers with their swords, killing several of the audience …show more content…
In 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned mute on stage, and his understudy developed scarlet fever and was hospitalized. In 1937, Laurence Olivier was playing Macbeth, and became also suddenly became mute. Being taken aback by this he fell backwards narrowly missing a stage weight, which crashed down where he had originally stood. Not only that, but the tip of his sword was broken by the weight and flew into the audience, striking a man in the neck, leading to a heart attack. Later in the same production, both the director and the actress playing Lady Macduff were killed in a car accident on the way to the theater, and the proprietor of the theater died due to a sudden heart attack during the dress
11/28/10
THESIS:
It is said that whilst William Shakespeare was writing his famous tragedy Macbeth, he consulted several witches for actual incantations to use in the dialogue. The witches themselves were opposed to the manner in which Shakespeare portrayed them in the script, so they placed a curse on the play. Ever since, there have been many recorded accidents and tragic occurrences in the making and performance of Macbeth. Are these happenings a matter of circumstance or was the tale of Shakespeare’s witch dilemma reality?
Among the many tragedies and comedies William Shakespeare wrote during his career, Macbeth was, and still is, one of the most renowned and celebrated stage-plays in the world. The story is that …show more content…
It appears as if every personage who has had part acting in or working backstage of the play has had some sort of strange story to tell. There are many eerie and unaccountable tales to tell. King James was so displeased with the first performance of the play that it was banned for five years. In Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted the blunt stage dagger with a real one, and unintentionally killed his co-actor playing Duncan directly in front of a live audience. There was a peculiar episode in 1721 where the army had to be called in. Apparently, some hecklers had been antagonizing some of the actors on the stage. The actors responded by violently attacking the hecklers with their swords, killing several of the audience …show more content…
In 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned mute on stage, and his understudy developed scarlet fever and was hospitalized. In 1937, Laurence Olivier was playing Macbeth, and became also suddenly became mute. Being taken aback by this he fell backwards narrowly missing a stage weight, which crashed down where he had originally stood. Not only that, but the tip of his sword was broken by the weight and flew into the audience, striking a man in the neck, leading to a heart attack. Later in the same production, both the director and the actress playing Lady Macduff were killed in a car accident on the way to the theater, and the proprietor of the theater died due to a sudden heart attack during the dress