Polanski in his version of the first scene, plays on the senses. Understanding that modern audiences tend to relate to the visual side of a play or film, more than the verbal, he sets the scene by use of ocular images, rather than words. His choice of set and use of a pagan ritual in the scene are also very effective, demonstrating his understanding of, and passion for the dramatic.
Scene one of the Grampion television version of Macbeth is set on a battlefield before the subsequent battle. Martial music is played like an echo of events to come, such as the battle in which Macbeth is distinguished, and the execution of the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. Regarding the latter it is particularly apt, the poignant beat of the drums like the drum roll before the execution, adopting a sad wistful note. The witches are far easier to see in this version than Polanski’s as the camera focuses on individual faces. Each of the three witches exhibit different characteristics, one is presented as excited and inquisitive, one as composed and mindful, and the last sits as in a meditative trance, strange and mystic. It is this witch who first mentions Macbeth she talks asthough infatuated by him.
Despite the scene being performed by a battlefield close to the sea, the atmosphere on the whole is less dramatic and more mundane than in Polanski’s adaptation. Grampion fail to create the same unearthly and mysterious setting. Whereas Polanski used the last line in the play as a beginning, to establish a sense of chaos, Grampion uses fire, being reminiscent of destruction, hell and executions at the stake (in the past, a punishment for being a witch),it suggests a corrupt world, overrun with evil.
There are other ways as to how the first scene might be produced. A more modern adaptation might be held at an American high school. As substitutes to witches, three school ‘nerds’ could be cast. They wouldn’t fit into ‘normal’ society, as intellectual types they might be the only people going to science club, having an interest in natural forces. This interest develops into something more sinister as they try to defy the rules of the natural world. Like witches they would be outcasts and anyone associating with them or appearing to sympathize with them would have their reputations ruined (as would anyone associating with suspected witches in Shakespeare’s day). The scene could also take place in an overgrown, inner-city churchyard long filled in and replaced. The weather would be dark and stormy mist hanging around the graves. The three characters would be conducting experiments there, where they were safe from criticism and reproach.
Another adaptation might have the witches played as ‘Goths’. The group would be made up of one male and two females. The scene would take place in a derelict building on the edge of town, here the three characters would be dealing drugs. This old, ruined construction would be dark and damp, with water dripping from the ceiling wetting their clothes. The three ‘Goths’ would be living in the area having dropped out of school. Slowly they had lost contact with the outside world and become outcasts, no one wanting to associate with drugged-up failures.
Shakespeare’s witches could also have been portrayed as prostitutes, homosexuals, ex-convicts or any other social minority appearing to differ from the ‘norm’. any of these people on the periphery of society could be substitutes for the witches, their vulnerability allowing them to become feared, misunderstood and avoided, like the witches.
By using witches in his opening scene Shakespeare was taking a gamble, as with many soaps today featuring rape and teenage pregnancies he was choosing a very controversial subject probably deliberately to appeal to a contemporary audience. Being a topical issue it was bound to attract a lot of attention, making the play a success. But Shakespeare had to be careful, as although topical, it was a much disputed subject. Witches mustn’t be sympathetic characters, many people, including the king being very anti witchcraft. Shakespeare therefore quickly links them with familiars animals linked with the devil in the first scene.
It was likely that Shakespeare used witches in the opening scene in order to please James the first the present king. He probably sponsored this and other plays, paying Shakespeare to produce material he would enjoy. Shakespeare therefore supplied these amoral figures of evil, complying with James the firsts image of witches. These characters can be seen as scape-goats but Shakespeare portrays them as evil, following the basic principles of good and bad, they are figures of temptation, servants of the devil sent to waylay the honorable. During the 16th century witches tended to be old women the most exposed, unguarded target for persecution. In Macbeth the women’s vulnerability is forgotten, no effort is made to sympathize with the characters. By making them wholly evil the play justified James the firsts fear of witchcraft and his killing of those supposedly practicing it.
Shakespeare’s use of a storm to create the mood at the beginning of a story is very effective. It creates an atmosphere of impending doom and helps to build a curiosity concerning the character Macbeth. The scene immediately draws you in, giving an impression of what the play is about without you needing any knowledge of the characters. It also introduces many of the main themes of the play, such as witchcraft, fatalism and justice.
Potentially this opening scene provides very good beginning to the story. Its effectiveness would be particularly notable in Shakespeare’s day because of the use of witches, a controversial issue at that time. Although people’s belief and fear of witches has somewhat diminished up to the modern day, they still arouse interest as an unproved point of speculation, many still believing in their existence and power.
Of the two film adaptations of the opening scene that we have studied, Polanski’s was that which l preferred. He succeeded in creating the mysterious atmosphere the scene demands. Grampion’s scene is much more flat and un-animated, both the characters and scenery are less authentic, failing to create the same strange and disturbing mood. Polanski constructs a foundation of chaos and mystery, fitting to the flawed and fated character of Macbeth.
