Act 3, Scene 4 provides a great opportunity for visual spectical. Discuss how “The Banquet Scene” has been realised on screen and consider the effectiveness of its portrayal.
QUESTION.
Act 3, Scene 4 provides a great opportunity for visual spectical. Discuss how "The Banquet Scene" has been realised on screen and consider the effectiveness of its portrayal.
ANSWER.
Shakespeare was born in 1564 when Elizabeth the First was Queen of England. Shakespeare did not go to university when he left school; instead, he worked. He married Anne Hathway when he was eighteen and she became the mother of his daughter, Susanna, and also of twins. Although there are many public documents concerned with his career as a writer and a businessman, Shakespeare has hidden his personal life from us. A nineteenth century poet, Matthew Arnold, addressed Shakespeare in a poem and wrote:
"We ask and ask - Thou smilest, and art still". There is not even a portrait of the world's greatest Dramatist.
I am going to look at the banquet scene, in my opinion, one of the most important scenes in "Macbeth"; it shows many sides to both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The scene opens with the couple welcoming all the guests to their Banquet, the atmosphere is warm and jolly, and everyone is joking and enjoying themselves. The atmosphere becomes more sombre when one of Banquo's murderers arrives with news for Macbeth. Although Banquo is "safe", Fleance on the other hand has " 'scap'd ". Macbeth tries to
"Act like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't" in front of his guests, but this does not last for long, the guilt gets the better of Macbeth and causes him to hallucinate. The Lords were all very confused, and so, Lady Macbeth tries to cover-up for her husband by telling them all that Macbeth suffers from an illness, which causes him to behave in such a manner.
"Sit, worthy friends - My Lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth".
She continues by saying
"The fit is momentary - upon a ...
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"Act like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't" in front of his guests, but this does not last for long, the guilt gets the better of Macbeth and causes him to hallucinate. The Lords were all very confused, and so, Lady Macbeth tries to cover-up for her husband by telling them all that Macbeth suffers from an illness, which causes him to behave in such a manner.
"Sit, worthy friends - My Lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth".
She continues by saying
"The fit is momentary - upon a thought he will be well again".
The two productions I am going to look at are Roman Polanski's 1971 Production along with Gregory Doran RSC production. In Gregory Doran's production, Macbeth's house resembles a prison. The front foyer is very bare, with lots of different entrances: this is trying to show us that Macbeth is imprisoned in his world of guilt. Macbeth is dressed as a soldier, which gives me the impression he is at war, maybe Doran is trying to put across the fact that Macbeth is trying to fight against all of the evil.
Roman Polanski dressed Macbeth in beautiful robes; Macbeth is also wearing his crown. This makes me think Macbeth is in total control of everything. Both producers hold the Banquet in a large, dull, cold room, this symbolises the fact that Macbeth has nowhere to hide; it also creates a tense atmosphere.
In Polanski's production, Macbeth sees Banquo and he goes mad!
"Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!" He continues to rant and rave at this ghost of Banquo, whom only Macbeth can see. He frightens and startles not only the lords, but also Lady Macbeth. We know this by the look of worry on her face. She then pulls her husband aside to try and help him see sense. He sees what she is trying to say and returns to normality, but this only lasts for a matter of moments, and then Macbeth resumes to his fit of madness again. Macbeth is gradually loosing control. While Macbeth moves back, Banquo continues to advance. As both men keep moving, the camera becomes Banquo. We see high angle shot of Macbeth; it seems as though Banquo is looking down upon Macbeth and that he is now the one in control. Lady Macbeth tries to make excuses for her husband's behaviour by saying
"Sit worthy friends: My lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat: the fit is momentary: upon a thought he will be well again".
We then see a long shot of the lords at the table; they all look very puzzled and confused.
By this time, Macbeth is in a corner, on the ground with Banquo towering over him, he moves in closer and closer, then Banquo is cut, and Macbeth is left sitting on the ground, a trembling wreck.
Gregory Doran's RSC Production is very similar to Polanski's. He also shows Macbeth being overpowered by Banquo. When Lady Macbeth pulls Macbeth aside to try and snap him out of his "fit", he is unable to look her in the eye, he keeps watching the ghost of Banquo. He realises what his wife is trying to say, and so he returns to his normal self again. The way that Macbeth is changing personalities so suddenly in this scene reminds me of a schizophrenic, it's almost as though he has some kind of mental disorder. Macbeth tries to laugh it off and composes himself. However, this only lasts for a moment. When Macbeth sees Banquo again, he drops his chalice, and the white wine spills onto the floor. This is an interesting observation because all the other products I watched used red wine, a sign of evil and danger, but white reminds me of innocence. Maybe Gregory Doran feels that Macbeth was innocent and this is why he uses white wine rather than red. He may feel it was the witches, or maybe Lady Macbeth's influence that encouraged him to do all those evil things. Personally, I feel it was Lady Macbeth that caused him to go through with Duncan's murder, but yet again, how many could be talked into murder without desiring it themselves?
