Macbeth: what did it mean?

[Mike Peterson]

I looked up Macbeth on the International movie database (https://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=macbeth&x=0&y=0) and there have been at the very least 48 movies and TV adaptations of one of Shakespeare's greatest works. This is not to mention the millions of times around the world that it has been reproduced at every literary and theatrical level, from school plays to live theatre for a large public presentation, etc.

But what was the central message of Macbeth? Anyone care to give it a 'stab?' One of the many thoughts I get is the power of suggestion. When the witches communicate their message to Macbeth at the very beginning of the story he begins to believe it more and more until he completely follows word for word what the three old hags said to him. Macbeth becomes desperately and murderously obsessed, constantly referring to his memory of what the wyrd women told him.

Another possibility, which seems to be a bit too simple, is to accept that the witches wielded their evil magic upon Macbeth and his kingdom. But even then, why would they do this?

Any other hypotheses?

By the way, you should be warned before you answer, there are actors, even to this day, that will not pronounce the name of the play out loud. Macbeth is often referred to as 'The Scottish Play' or 'The Bard's Play.' So please exercise caution when responding to this post.

'Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.'
Mike

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William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

from Macbeth

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.

Enter the three Witches.


1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

<hr> brinded - having obscure dark streaks or flecks on gray
gulf - the throat
drab - prostitute
chaudron - entrails

[theindependenteye]

Oh, wow —

When we created our signature MACBETH in 1978, which we kept in intermittent rep until 1994, we were coming off the interface between having spent an intense span of time working with a grass-roots theatre piece that examined the genesis of child abuse, and our visceral response to the political murder of Aldo Moro. We plunged back into this play, for the second time, in order to grapple with the genesis of destruction and the no-brakes downhill rush that Macbeth takes, into grotesque self-destruction. And then we lived with this creation through two decades.
Think about it. At the outset, Macbeth is Ollie North, a war hero who is celebrated for killing. In daylight, out loud, to acclaim. Then he morphs to killing a father figure, in the dark, in secret. And then to his brother-buddy, by proxy. Finally, he proceeds to the extermination of children, an entire family's line. Once, he had a child of his own — his Lady says, "I have given suck, and know his sweet it is to love the babe who milks me . . ." — but now he is childless, and he progressively lacerates the roots of generation.
We took our production to a laser focus on the roots of destruction, when power finds itself impotent and lashes out against life itself. It was terrifying, and we meant it to be. Now (we created this in 1978) we still encounter people who said, I saw that, and I'll never forget it.
The most unbearable span of all, to me, is the prelude and aftermath of the banquet. the Lady is trying to make real contact with a mate who has withdrawn into a darkness she dares not explore, and then, later, after a distant grotesque violence, a big social event disintegrates. It's brutally clear that everyone sees the blood on their hands, and they're left in the empty banquet hall, when all have fled, with the clear icy knowledge of what they've come to — they can't turn back.
After that, it's all Stay the Course. At the end, Shakespeare gives us a happy New Administration speech. We chose a different spin. There were only three players — barefaced as the Witches, half-masked as the minor characters, animating full-sized puppets as the principals. When Macduff beheads Macbeth, we just did the obvious. Our characters were held by one hand, the other being the live action enabler. We simply held our battle-knives up as a triple-track and passed our own wrists over the blades. As the Malcolm succession speech occurred, it was intoned in unision, dead-voiced, as we bled out and wiped our hands downward over our faces in slow motion, leaving palmed whiteface behind. The final image was of the new regime, embodied by white skulls, while the distant laughter of children turned the plow into new life.
I remember this, and read today's news, and shake my head. Why have we forsaken our roots? Why is the only goal the next text-message, the newest plastic product, the day's pundit? Our history is rich, dark, fertile, and we've chosen to bloat ourselves on styrofoam, plunging our heads into willful oblivion. God help us, our children are still, at the outset, eager and quirky and creative. We can still walk ourselves out of the manure.

Elizabeth Fuller

[scatalano79]

FYI:
All of these ingredients can be found, and this recipe duplicated.... If you understand what they are making... do you??

Hint: It is not what you think!


ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.


<HR>brinded - having obscure dark streaks or flecks on gray
gulf - the throat
drab - prostitute
chaudron - entrails[/quote]

[Valley Oak]

Ok, I'm going to take a wild guess here. The cauldron is the Earth and all of the ingredients are the natural process of death, decay, and transformation?

Edward


FYI:
All of these ingredients can be found, and this recipe duplicated.... If you understand what they are making... do you??

Hint: It is not what you think!


ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.


<hr>brinded - having obscure dark streaks or flecks on gray
gulf - the throat
drab - prostitute
chaudron - entrails[/quote]

[scatalano79]

Ok, I'm going to take a wild guess here. The cauldron is the Earth and all of the ingredients are the natural process of death, decay, and transformation?

Edward

[/quote]
Good guess, but its not a metaphor. These are real ingredients!

[Valley Oak]

I need another clue ;-)

Thanks,

Edward

Good guess, but its not a metaphor. These are real ingredients![/quote]

[tonivan]

An aphrodesiac or body cream?

[scatalano79]

Another clue huh?

okay...
Eye of newt is not really an eye from a newt...
and this does apply to all of the ingrdients!!!

[scatalano79]

An aphrodesiac or body cream?
Nope... but you are a close path (it is something usable!)

[Valley Oak]

Eye of newt is the male urethra?

Edward


Another clue huh?

okay...
Eye of newt is not really an eye from a newt...
and this does apply to all of the ingredients!!!

[scatalano79]

Eye of newt is the male urethra?

Edward
These ingredients are consumable! So... what could these girls be brewing up?

[Mike Peterson]

Stone soup!

Mike


These ingredients are consumable! So... what could these girls be brewing up?

[Mike Peterson]

Wait a minute, it's a potion to drink! But what does the potion do?

Mike


These ingredients are consumable! So... what could these girls be brewing up?

[scatalano79]

Wait a minute, it's a potion to drink! But what does the potion do?

Mike

It is something to drink!! Have you figured out what the ingredients are?

[Valley Oak]

It's a poisonous drink! I finally figured it out!

Edward


It is something to drink!! Have you figured out what the ingredients are?