The Curse Of Macbeth

A detailed Summary of The Curse Of Macbeth

"Macbeth is the unlucky play of the theatre and has, for four hundred years, carried in its wake a truly terrifying trail of disaster and bad luck." (Huggett p153) Macbeth is one of the gloomiest and most despairing of any tragedy ever written. The play is so preoccupied with witchcraft and generates such a powerful atmosphere of evil and sickening dread that even reading it could make anyone tremble with fear.

Murder, betrayal, mysterious accidents, witchcraft, sabotage, assassinations, superstition and folklore all take center stage in what is considered one of Shakespeare's most magnificent, popular, cursed and unlucky plays, Macbeth. Macbeth is seldom called by its true name; it is often referred to as "The Scottish Play", "The Unmentionable", or simply "That Play" by actors and civilians alike.(Huggett p154) Anyone whether they are superstitious or simply value their surroundings, should take caution in using, doing or saying anything that has to do with one of the most well known plays of all time, Macbeth.

The first factor having said to have a great effect on the play is that the play is loosely based on facts from Scottish history and the death of King Duncan at the hands of his kinsmen Macbeth.(Legends p1) The

The biggest mistake Shakespeare could have ever possibly made was in the opening scenes of Macbeth. Shakespeare decided that since the King was so knowledgeable of witchcraft that he would use real incantations for the scenes of the play that called for them. It was a very unfortunate decision for now it is said that these incantations bring about forms of evil each time the play is performed.(Huggett p161) The most interesting theory though is that the play contains the devil in the form of the porter.(Curse of Macbeth p1)

There are many instances where the curse had been taken for granted and this, by all means, is the biggest mistake any actor could make. The most appalling incident of this is called the "Oldham Tragedy" the actor playing Macbeth poked fun at the curse by quoting it in depth back stage before the play. During the play he was stabbed by a real knife in full view of the audience and died later on. After this, his only son died of mysterious circumstances, and shortly afterwards his wife, distraught by the two deaths, committed suicide.(Huggett p184) The most common remedy to get rid of the curse after it is in effect is for the offender to step outside, turn around three times, spit, and say the foulest word they can think of and afterwards they must wait and beg for permission to be admitted into the theater.(Curse of Macbeth p1) "The alternative is to quote a famous line from The Merchant of Venice, "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you." The Merchant is a lucky play and has an exorcising effect on Macbeth." (Huggett p179) It is better to not put the curse into effect at all, for sometimes it is not possible to exorcise it fast enough.

In Amsterdam,1672, the actor who played Macbeth substituted a blunted stage dagger for a real one and killed Duncan in full view of the audience.(Macbeth Curse p1) New York City's famous Hay Market riots in the 1800's, in which 20 to 30 people were killed has been connected to a performance of The Scottish Play.(The Curse of Macbeth p1) In 1937 Laurence Oli

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Approximate Word count = 1378
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English