Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare, widely regarded as the most incredible dramatist, wrote Macbeth in 1606—one of the most well-known tragedies ever written. With its exceptional use of the fear of the witches and the supernatural brought by King James I, the play Macbeth powerfully represents past eras through its distinctive language usage and characters. It displayed the deceit and corruption that come from the lust for power. Joel Coen (The Tragedy of Macbeth, 2021) and Geoffrey Wright (Macbeth, 2006), among other film directors, have adapted the original play into their own renditions over the years. Specifically, these two directors contributed to the play through their interpretations of the witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth from their contrasting points

Because of the widespread paranoia brought on by James I's actions and the extreme fear of the supernatural at the time, witches were viewed negatively. Hence, Shakespeare used this hostility to amplify the themes and effects of his work. Shakespeare's time witnessed widespread belief of several concepts, including the appearance of witches as men, the power of transformation, and the ability to render men impotent by "exhausting them with repeated sexual encounters." (Sparknotes, "Witchcraft") Shakespeare illustrates this in Act 1, Scene 3, where he turns the common beliefs of witches into "draining a sailor as hay" and "turning into a tailless rat." They sow the seeds of evil in Macbeth's heart by the witches' actions, growing his greed and corruption to the point of blindness. (Sparknotes, "Witchcraft") In Coen's adaptations of the play, he ignores the witches' masculine features of hairy beards and substitutes them with a more terrifying and enigmatic character. This alteration changes the play's unnatural and wicked atmosphere, which distinguishes it from the original. Wright's interpretation, however, varies even further from Shakespeare's since he depicts the witches as seductive, teenage girls with red hair. This modification retains the same concept, regardless of the witches'

At the beginning, he was a military hero, which eventually earned him the title of "Thane of Cawdor" in return. Prior to meeting the witches, Macbeth had no ambitions for the throne; however, after meeting them and becoming thane, he becomes power-hungry. This is depicted in both Coen's film and the original, heightening the drama and impact of his eventual fall. It shows how his previous honourable actions contrast with his corruption and gutlessness as he falls into the cycle of "murdering and terrorising others to hold on to his power." (BBC) This is different from Wright's interpretations. Wright presents Macbeth from the outset as a ruthless gangster who can already be considered evil. Compared to the original, Wright’s Macbeth is already seen as someone who enjoys killing, whereas Shakespeare’s Macbeth is more hesitant at the beginning until his surroundings influence him. From a "Rotten Tomatoes" review, top critic Jeff Shannon's reasonable bias against the movie can be seen in their description of Wright’s Macbeth as "questionable editing, an overload of blandly stylised violence, and the whole thing catering to base commercial instincts." (Rotten Tomatoes, "Macbeth") During the 2000s, movies were action-packed and appealed more to the era’s audience, which indulged in constant entertainment and