Macbeth summary. A purely English story. Macbeth was an exemplary ruler. Macbeth. Feature Film
Macbeth and his wife show how terrible evil is that takes possession of human souls. But evil is not omnipotent. If in one respect Macbeth is the darkest of Shakespeare's great tragedies, in another it is more hopeful than Hamlet, Othello or King Lear. In none of them are so many people opposed to evil as in Macbeth, and nowhere are they more active than here.
The whole society revolts against Macbeth and his wife, who have trampled humanity. Not lone individuals, but the whole country, come into battle with them. The enemies of Macbeth are aware that they are fighting not only for dynastic interests against the usurper king, but also for humanity in general.
The dramatic conflict in Macbeth most clearly reveals the difference between Shakespeare and the subsequent drama, which posed psychological and moral problems. There the struggle was closed in a circle of spiritual and moral experiences. In Shakespeare, this struggle engulfs the whole of society.
Read the book Macbeth online
William Shakespeare
Characters
Duncan, King of Scots.
Malcolm, Donalbine are his sons.
Macbeth, Banquo - Duncan's generals.
Macduff, Lenox, Ross, Mentis, Angus, Catnes are Scottish nobles.
Fleens, son of Banquo.
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, English general.
Young Siward, his son.
Seyton, Macbeth's close associate.
Son of Macduff.
English doctor.
Scottish physician.
Sergeant.
Gatekeeper.
Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macduff.
A lady-in-waiting from Lady Macbeth's retinue.
Three witches.
Banquo's spirit and other ghosts.
Lords, nobles, officers, soldiers, assassins, servants and messengers.
The scene is Scotland, England.
Wasteland. Thunderstorm.
Enter three witches.
The first witch
When lightning, thunder
Will the three of us meet again in the rain?
Second witch
As soon as the fight is over
The victory of one side.
Third witch
Before the evening dawn.
The first witch
Where is the meeting?
Second witch
In the heathers.
Third witch
We will see Macbeth there.
The first witch
The cat meowed. - It is time!
All witches
The toad sank. 2 - Let's fly!
Erase the line between good and evil.
Through the rotten steam we rush upward.
(Disappear.)
Camp near Forres. 3
Behind the scene, the noise of battle.
Enter KING DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBINE, LENOX a bloodied sergeant is meeting them.
Duncan
Who is this covered in blood? Judging by the look,
He can tell about the course of the battle
With the rebels.
Malcolm
This is the sergeant
Whose prowess is the salvation from captivity
I am obliged. - Hello, my brave friend!
The king wants to know who was the top,
When you left the field.
Sergeant
Like two swimmers grappling each other
Enemies fettered. Raging MacDonald,
True crumbler, for from birth
The most vile vices nest in him,
In the west, across the islands
Recruited the Irish infantry
And behind the villain, smiling discord,
Fortuna the whore has gone. But in vain!
Despite her, pet of abusive glory,
Brave Macbeth (he is worth these nicknames!),
Cutting his way with steel,
Smelling bloody retribution,
He appeared to the traitor.
He did not shake hands with him, did not say goodbye to him,
But I cut my torso in half,
And he stuck his head on a pole above the tower.
Duncan
O gallant cousin! A worthy vassal!
Sergeant
But how sometimes the sun rises
Brings with it a storm to ships to perish,
So it is for us a source of trouble
Became the key of joy. Know, King of Scots:
Barely just truth with valor in league
Have driven back the light-footed Irish,
The King of Norway, considering a moment convenient,
Host fresh in pristine armor
He led us on.
Duncan
And trembled before him
Macbeth and Banquo, our generals?
Sergeant
No more than eagles before a sparrow
And the lions before the hare. Frankly speaking,
They are like cannons, whose charge is doubled
They responded to the enemy with a double blow.
Did they like the blood of burning wounds
Wash or rebuild Calvary again,
I don’t know ... But my strength has run out.
I am weak. The wound cries out for help.
Duncan
She, like your speech, stuck to you:
Honor breathes in both. - Hurry the doctor!
The Sergeant is taken away.
Who is coming to us?
Malcolm
The venerable Russian tan 5.
Enter Ross.
Lenox
His eyes reveal haste,
He apparently arrived with an unusual message.
God save the king!
Duncan
Where are you from,
A worthy dance?
My sir, from Fife,
Where are the captive Norwegian banners
Coolness blows over your fighters.
King of Norway, leader of countless hordes,
And with him is the Kavdor tan, a low traitor,
Hit us. And the fight lasted
Bye, Macbeth, Bellona's lover,
Covering yourself with tried and tested armor,
Chest to chest, sword to sword, in single combat
I did not knock arrogance out of the Norwegian. Briefly speaking,
The enemy has been defeated.
Duncan
Great luck!
King of Norway, asked for peace,
But before bury the slain,
He had to be on the island of St. Colm
Give us ten thousand dollars.
Duncan
The Kavdor dance won't change us anymore.
Go, lead to put an end to the troublemaker.
Congratulate Macbeth with the Kavdorian dance.
I will do everything with zeal.
Duncan
He lifted up Macbeth by his fall.
Everyone leaves.
Steppe overgrown with heather. Thunder.
Enter three witches.
The first witch
Sister, where have you been?
Second witch
She poisoned the pigs.
Third witch
And you yourself, sister?
The name of this woman - like many Shakespearean heroes - has long become a household name. For example, Leskov (not without irony) called his story about a merchant's wife, who without hesitation sent her father-in-law, husband, and young nephew to the next world - “Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district“… In a word, the image is extremely unattractive (G. Verdi, who wrote an opera based on this tragedy, even demanded that the role of Lady Macbeth be played by a singer with a hoarse voice and ugly). What kind of woman is this and how justified is her notoriety?
It is hardly worth retelling the plot of Shakespeare's play - you still have to look for a person who would not know him ... we better remember what place our heroine occupies in him. Without exaggeration, the place is central. Macbeth himself is initially a completely noble hero, loyal to the king; only women are to blame for his moral downfall (not the plot, but a gift to misogynists!). First - witches with their predictions, one of which immediately came true ... by the way, there is no particular mysticism in this: from what sources the witches could receive information about the "case of Kavdor tan" and the king's decision to transfer the title and possession of the executed traitor to Macbeth - one can only guess - but they definitely could (after all, they were ahead of the royal messenger with this news by only a few minutes), and then - the pure Oedipus effect (a prediction that came true precisely because it was made). By the way, witches successfully use this effect in the future: it is with their submission that Macbeth makes his enemy Macduff, "not born a woman," his mother and "Caesarea").
However, even the prediction of witches would not have forced our flawless hero to commit betrayal and murder, if not for the persistent spouse who dreams of becoming Queen of Scotland (the question arises inevitably - did she persuade the witches to "process" her husband?). And then it turns out that Macbeth - so brave and unbending on the battlefield - is scared to death of his wife at home. And she already knows how to twist a rope out of her husband - especially since Macbeth is not her first: she mentions that “she nursed the children,” Macduff later says that Macbeth is childless, which means that Lady Macbeth had children from the first marriage ... So, it is very easy to "spin" a man (especially such a weak-willed one) for something:
Or your hope
I was drunk and now, having overslept,
Green and pale, looks
To the same fervor? Your love, I see
She is like her in everything. Or are you afraid
Be the same in your deeds and in power,
As in desires? Would you like to own
By what you see the adornment of life,
Living like a coward ...
In a word, there are two "classical" methods of manipulation, which are often used by ladies from ancient times to the present day: "You do not love me" and "You are a coward, you are a rag." And the henpecked man surrenders!
In the meantime, the lady developed a simply ideal plan: to “remove” the king, and to divert suspicions from herself, and at the same time to eliminate the princes from the succession to the throne, “hanging” the murder on them (after all, she also gives the idea of planting a murder weapon to Macbeth).
But it is still impossible to call the heroine shameless. As psychiatrists say, "if there is no conscience, hysteria develops, if there is conscience, neurosis develops." It is a neurosis that develops in Lady Macbeth - more precisely, obsessive-compulsive neurosis (also known as obsessive-compulsive disorder): she wanders around the castle, trying to wash her hands of the "indelible" blood ... Even she - a model of deceit and ruthlessness - cannot live with such a burden - and dies, resounding the castle with a terrible cry. “She should have died later,” Macbeth notes with annoyance, and one can understand him: this weak-willed person cannot withstand everything that has fallen on him without her “support” (more precisely, stimulation).
This is how Shakespeare presents history to us. Was it all really?
Yes, we can say what happened: the people brought out in the tragedy really lived in Scotland in the 11th century, and the playwright presented the political situation of that era correctly. Shakespeare was right and asserting (more precisely, hinting) that Macbeth was the second husband of Lady Macbeth ... however, that we are all her last name - after all, history has preserved her name! Her name was Gruoh, and her first husband was Gillekomgan, a Mormaer (Earl) of Morea - in civil strife for the possession of this county, he died. The unfortunate widow, together with her son, managed to escape and find shelter with a relative of Maelbeta's husband (whom we now know as Macbeth), later she became his wife.
Was their relationship reminiscent of the one that the English playwright presents to us? We do not know this - the historical chronicles do not preserve conversations on the matrimonial bed. But if she instigated her husband to take any action against the king, you should not judge her harshly: firstly, the late King Malcolm II, and therefore his grandson Duncan I, was her blood enemy (and the reason was serious: the murder of her brother ); secondly ... similar thoughts then visited many.
The fact is that King Duncan I did not very much resemble the wise and noble sovereign whom Shakespeare depicts for us: in reality, he was an impetuous and narrow-minded person. He came to power in a very dubious way (mortally wounding his own grandfather in battle), and the ruler (as well as the commander) was extremely mediocre: he was defeated in England, where he invaded against the advice of the commanders, and the constant raids of the Orkney Jarl Thorfinn could not oppose. It is not surprising that the case ended in a mutiny, which was really led by Macbeth - and not alone, but together with Banquo (thus Banquo, who was shown in the tragedy as his next innocent victim).
But if Gruokh played any role in these events, then she certainly did not incite her husband to any treachery and betrayal. There was no secret murder under cover of night - there was a battle in which Duncan died.
Macbeth, on the other hand, became king, having all the rights to this - both by his own lineage and by the lineage of his wife. He ruled for 17 years, and - as the chronicle claims - "All these years the country has flourished." The raids of Thorfinn of Orkney ceased, and the new king put things in order inside the country - so much so that he could even afford to leave the country for a long time, making a pilgrimage to Rome. Church sources call him a benefactor of the Church - he was the first among Scottish kings to receive such a characteristic.
As for Banquo, neither Macbeth nor his wife had anything to do with his death: he died in a battle with the Vikings.
In what Shakespeare did not sin against the truth, it is that the sons of the late Duncan did indeed attempt to overthrow Macbeth, and Thane Macduff was their supporter, as well as the Earl of Seawart of Northumberland - and their invasion of Scotland really cost Macbeth his life ...
Gruoh did not live to see this - she died three years before these events ... I want to believe that she died happy - after all, the historical lady Macbeth seems to be a much more attractive person than Shakespeare's heroine.
As you can see, art is not always more beautiful than real life!
If you try to make an objective assessment of the recognizability of the pieces William Shakespeare , then Macbeth will give way in the case of Russian-speaking readers and viewers. It is not part of the school curriculum and does not evoke persistent associations, like the same "Hamlet" or "Othello". At the same time, after purchasing the gift edition of the author's tragedies, I personally waited with great desire for the moment when, in the order of the table of contents, taking breaks, I would come to the story of the famous commander. Ask yourself if you are highly susceptible to someone else's, albeit authoritative, opinion. So in the case of Macbeth, society does not press with the edifying thought that this is a work that every educated person should know. However, I was deeply impressed by this small but emotionally absorbing tragedy.
William Shakespeare is known, among other virtues, for his ability to intriguingly borrow ideas from historical events and give his characters the features of real prototypes. Macbeth's play is based on the story of the Scottish king who lived and ruled six centuries before the actors Theater Globe for the first time played a dramatic epic on stage. Even from the available sources, it becomes clear that the author, as usual, did not set out to follow the letter of the story, focusing the attention of readers and viewers on the content. This is a case of artistic liberty that only gives the story told an emotional response. Although life is often more bizarre than fiction, Shakespeare's storyline hardly leaves anyone indifferent.
Unsurprisingly in the UK opera macbeth is still considered almost the pinnacle of theatrical art. What is wonderful about literature is the ability to recreate the whole world in the mind, with its heroes, surroundings, and an abundance of action. This play makes every now and then sort out in my head a variety of vivid images, including fierce battles. Not to say that Shakespeare scrupulously describes everything that happens, but he provides a wide field for imagination. As I have noted in reviews of other plays by the author, it provides a very flexible creative template that adjusts, individually, for each individual reader or contemplator. It is the very thought that the world of Macbeth will be different for me and for you, for example. After reading, a strong desire arose to get acquainted with the most worthy film adaptations that are available today and go to a good production in the theater.
