THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH

The works of Shakespeare would essentially start debates in every group of people that
are even remotely interested in this subject. Whether or not we are talking about story structure,
symbolism or character development, there will always be different opinions coming from a
plethora of different persons.

In “Shakespeare Undercover:Ethan Hawke on Macbeth” we see the approach of an actor

that tries to understand one of the most complex and intriguing to play characters in all of
literature.

The documentary touches on some of the more known questions about this tragedy such
as “Was there a real Macbeth?” and “Is the evil in him planted by the supernatural or is it just his
ambition?” to lesser known curiosities such as “Can we perform this play without speaking a
single word?”.

One of the more interesting topics presented is the relationship Macbeth has with his
wife, Lady Macbeth. A character that seems to be just as known as the protagonist, she is the
force that drives him to kill the king and claim the crown. Once the murder is done, she has a
part of the blame just as much as him. He is a man filled with a blind ambition while she is a
more composed individual that can manipulate him, at least in the beginning. By the end of her
life, we can see that she has slowly descended into madness, lossing the grip on reality, having a
scene where she is sleep walking and confessing to the murder and ultimately killing herself. On
the other hand we have Macbeth, that has become an emotionless butcher that is not touched one
bit by the death of his beloved wife.

“The scottish play” uses elements of the supernatural world, most noteable the three
witches and the ghost of the banquet (the ghost of Banquo). These two elements serve quite the
different purposes, one can be considered the catalyst of Macbeth transformation and the other
one can be the effect of it. While it is questioned if the three witches are the reason Macbeth
decides that he wants to sit on the throne or not, we can surely say that they mark the point of no
return, their appearance causes something to change in him, something that will start his thirst
for blood. On the other hand the ghost of his friend Banquo that Macbeth claims to see is the
result of his initial actions, he is now traumatized and has an episode of panic during a royal
banquet. This so called ghost is not only a reminder of his unforgiveable acts but also a symbol
of his transformation being complete. We now understand that there is nothing left of the
Macbeth we saw in the beginning of the play.

While there are clearly more things to say about the play, the documentary tries to keep it
all tight in order to make it all more understandable for the casual viewer that would not usually
have any in-depth knowledge on this subject.
 In order to understand Macbeth, one has to dig into the past as much as Macbeth dug
himself into a pit of insanity and despair all because of an greedy ambition.