Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)
by William Shakespeare
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Book Summary Information
Author: William ShakespeareEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 2003-07-01
ISBN: 0743477103
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Book Reviews of Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Book Review: Playwright vs. Poet: the Playwright wins.
Summary: 4 Stars
Shakespeare was not very kind to the linchpin of his story. The tragedy of Macbeth the king became a personal tragedy of Macbeth the character of the play. He is sad, doubtful, fearful and altogether pathetic. In words, he is rebellious against his fate, but in the end he is powerless to do anything to alter it. He is not given an opportunity to shine his wit or spirit. He is not endowed with a single pun. Even Banquo is granted a piece of wisdom: "To win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray's in deepest consequence". Even Polonius is allowed to be witty ("Neither a borrower nor a lender be") and gives us "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't". Richard III is a veritable fountain of spirit, eloquence and wit. Macbeth is just evil and pathetic.
Evil and pathetic is Lady Macbeth.
The colorful relief from the lackluster main characters comes in the form of the porter and fantastical infernal creatures (Weird Sisters, Hecate and the apparitions) - the sole possessors of the playful and witty spirit. Maybe Shakespeare could not allow Macbeth to shine because the play was intended to please James I, the patron of Shakespeare's company and the descendent of murdered by Macbeth Banquo. Perhaps Macbeth indeed was a singularly uninspired man. Or the play may have been cut. Whatever the reason, in this macabre play about a tortured soul, Shakespeare uses spirits and the porter as a valve that relieves the pressure of pent up spark.
The many murders and the eerie creatures make for quite a dramatic staging. However, the general lack of spark makes one miss other Shakespearean plays where the main characters, however evil, are not spared the playwright's poetry...
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