Superstitions In Macbeth Research Paper

Many people have heard the saying “break a leg” however, not many people know where that saying originated from. Superstitions in theatre are common and most actors abide by them. These superstitions include never saying Macbeth in a live theatre, never whistling in a theatre, and most importantly saying break a leg instead of good luck. The questions that follow these superstitions are where did they come from, what do they mean, and why are actors supposed to abide by these superstitions? Never saying Macbeth in theatre is an important superstition that many actors abide by. Macbeth was a play written by Shakespeare in 1623. This Shakespearean play is about a young man name Macbeth who is determined to be the king of Scotland. The story of Macbeth seems to have no characters that

But there is no sunshine in Macbeth” (155). Since this place is strictly about possessing power, violence, and murder not having a balance of forces makes the play malicious and dark. Even though the play is negative why are actors scared to mention the play by name? Many actors think that the negativity of the play makes Macbeth unlucky and evil. The play was thought to be so unlucky that many people, “[prophesied disaster]” when the play was relaunched in 1703 (Hugget 166). Civilians were scared of what would happen considering that Macbeth already had a tragic history. The fears of many people were reinsured when a storm struck England, one of the worst storms of that time. Richard Hugget confirms that, “While Macbeth was still playing, the worst storm in England’s history occurred: fifteen hundred seamen were killed, a million pounds of damage was done in London, and the city of Bristol was destroyed” (166). Many people claimed that this tragedy