Comparing the presentation of the opening scene of Macbeth by the Royal Shakespeare Company with that of Polanksi's film production - Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each version you prefer and explaining the reasons for your choice.

Comparing the presentation of the opening scene of Macbeth by the Royal Shakespeare Company with that of Polanksi’s film production. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each version you prefer and explaining the reasons for your choice.

In 1606 William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, wrote a play which would go down in history as the cursed Scottish play after numerous mishaps during production. It was written for his new patron, James I (James VI of Scotland), following the death of Queen Elizabeth. James was interested in witchcraft and Scotland, and hence the themes in the play. Banquo is James's ancestor. The play itself tells the story of a man named Macbeth, urged by his wife and foretold by prophecy, who commits regicide in order to gain power.

Macbeth is a basically good man who is troubled by his conscience and loyalty though at the same time ambitious and murderous. He is led to evil initially by the witches' predictions and then by his wife's goading, which he succumbs to because he loves her so. His obsession over the kingship shows a certain kind of egotism. Lady Macbeth is a good wife who loves her husband. She is also ambitious but lacks the morals of her husband. To achieve her ambition, she rids of herself of any kindness that might stand in the way. However, she runs out of energy to suppress her conscience and kills herself.

The play focuses on the changing character of Macbeth and his increasing greed for power. Many factors contribute to the changes to Macbeth throughout the play, which cause the character to deteriorate from a man with nobility and good intentions to one who is ruled by ambition and greed.

The first scene is very short, but full of impact. The thunder and lightning alone give it a dramatic opening, which grabs the interest of the audience, as it is representative of evil. These dramatic sound effects help to set the eerie and supernatural atmosphere that Shakespeare wanted to create along with the witches. Instead of seeing Macbeth, Shakespeare’s audience is faced with three weird-looking women. The witches introduce us to a dark, dangerous play, in which the theme of evil is central. The witches say little but we learn a lot about them.

The mood of the play is set here, although the action doesn’t start until the next scene. The presence of supernatural forces in the opening of “Macbeth” provides for much of the play’s dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or rain?” This opening line immediately draws the audience and captures their imagination, as the supernatural world fascinated people in Elizabethan England. At the time the play was first performed and at the time that Shakespeare was writing it, witchcraft was a great enemy, people became captivated by these peculiar, suspicious witches. Witch – hunts took place and many people were convicted of being witches and were executed. The witches fit in with the stereotypical perception of witches of that time, including use of familiars like Graymalkin and Paddock.

The use of the paranormal occurs at the beginning, with three witches explaining that they will meet Macbeth. “When the battle’s lost and won.” The audience have yet to find out what the battle is, however they know that the battle is won by one side and lost by another. Macbeth´s fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose the battle for his soul. We have come in at the end of the witches meeting, just as they are arranging their next appointment before their familiar spirits call them into the fog and filthy air.

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From the beginning we can tell that the witches can foretell the future, and are creating some unpleasant magic, which is to involve Macbeth. This creates suspense for the audience, wandering what is going to happen next. The fact that the witches want to meet Macbeth should raise some suspicion in the audience. The witches first mention Macbeth in the eighth line, when they explain that they will meet Macbeth upon the heath. This shows the audience that the witches must know of Macbeth and leaves them assuming that Macbeth will be greatly influenced and affected by these three witches throughout the play.

Perhaps the most chilling part of the opening, is when the witches overturn the values in which we believe: ‘ Fair is foul, and foul is fair´, this basically seems like a warning that things are not what they appear to be, as if they are referring to people, explaining that not everybody should be trusted. This adds to our fear about what will happen to Macbeth and also that the witches opinion of fair and foul are the opposite of common people.

In Macbeth the witch’s lines are extremely short and cryptic, this adds and indicates tension and excitement. The whole section is written in rhyme, with short seven or eight syllable lines, which are suggestive of a chant. The fact that Shakespeare uses very short lines and varies the rhythm in a number of ways helps to interest the audience. It is obvious to them that the witches are chanting a magical spell throughout their brief encounter. This creates a bleak and mystical atmosphere, together with suspicion as to why they are using their magical powers.

The language reflects on the fact that Macbeth is a dark play about evil, death, murder and ambition. The witch’s language manages to reveal their personalities as sinister, mysterious and untrustworthy.
Although the first scene is exceptionally short, it manages to tell the audience that the witches will meet again, ‘When the hurlyburly’s done´, after the battle, on a heath, and there they will confront Macbeth.

Trevor Nunn produced the Royal Shakespeare Production. It was enacted within a stripped-down space. In a small barn like theatre, with an audience of no more than two hundred which where positioned close to the stage. The production starts with a bird’s eye view of the stage. There are stage lights focusing on the circle creating shadowy effects. As the camera zooms in the characters take a step to their right hand side and sit themselves on upturn crates facing inwards. The camera, which positions itself at the characters eyelevel, starts rotating round the circle showing all the characters. The audience gets the felling that this is a church ceremony because we have organ music playing. These same chords, somewhat soured, signify the invasion of something unpleasant. The witches enter and gather in a fixed circle, holding hands and bowing over two small twigs, which they have removed from a bag. These twigs may symbolise Macbeth and Duncan for the twigs are like toys to the witches. It seems that the younger witch goes into a trance and is suffering from a vision. The witches begin screeching, crying out and moaning. The sounds rise to a climax that concludes in a roar of thunder and murkiness. At the same time the witches help up the younger witch Macduff helps a feeble Duncan out of his chair so he can knell down and pray. The producer I believe tries to get the audience to think about the conflict between good and evil. The first scene begins with holy Duncan clothed in a simple white rope, with flyaway hair and a large cross remains on his knees praying during the witches first scene

When the witches are introduced again the light enables the audience to see the surroundings and that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are watching the actions of the witches closely. The witch that was in the trance is a twisted woman with a limp, who has the gift of second sight, is questioned by the other two witches. The second witch asks her “There to meet with?” and the first witch answers “Macbeth”, an answer which is news to the other two but with a smile and a nod the second witch appreciates the rightness of it being Macbeth. As the witches draw an end to their ritual Duncan the sacrificial lamb, taking upon himself the sins of the community, slaps his chest timidly repeating “Mea Culpa” which means my fault. This gives the audience the impression that Duncan is very elderly and frail. This production has many strengths and weaknesses. This production gives us the impression of what it would have been like to watch this play back in Shakespeare’s time the cinematography used is very effective. The lighting and organ playing created the right setting. This production drifts away from the text by introducing the praying with Duncan and when the witch answers “Macbeth” after the second witch asked her whom they were meeting. The first scene introduces the sense of tragedy, which is surprising because at the start of Shakespeare other three tragedies it is not introduced at the start this creates interest for the audience. I believe that witchcraft grew less popular after Shakespeare ere so the attitudes back in Shakespeare’s day were that of fear but now we believe that witchcraft does not exist.

Polanski’s version of Macbeth is completely different because he has made a movie of Maceth. This allows him to use different settings, characters because it does not have to be acted out on one stage.

At the beginning of Polanski’s version we see a pure red sky this may symbolise the amount of blood that is to be shed through out the film. It slowly fades into a coldish blue, which gives off a sense of loneliness and unapproachable place.

Polanski’s witches are women who believe, it seems, that their magic can either predict or contain events and women who are, then, practising witches not supernatural beings. In our first outlook of them we have one old woman, an ancient blind women who is accompanied by a younger witch who seems to be her apprentice with scabs all over her face. Who can only mouth charms and utter inarticulate animal noises, are revealed to be at the seaside and not on a moor where Shakespeare had them. The blind witch makes a circle and then her apprentice digs like a dog a small pit in the sand. While this is happening we hear a harsh, faint and unpleasant music. When the young witch is finished digging her hole the other witch drops an oily hangman’s noose and a forearm. The hangman’s noose may represent the trap that Macbeth fell into or the way The Thane Of Cawdor was executed.

In the hand of the forearm they place a knife. This may represent the death of Duncan because Macbeth used a dagger to kill him. When the hole is covered they pour some blood on and finish by spiting on the hole. When their enchantment is done they begin to speak. They start by saying the last line in the text fair is foul and foul is fair. In this version two witches know the future but in the royal Shakespeare production only one of the witch can predict the future. Both of the witches in Polanski’s version know whom they are to meet with because they both answer “Macbeth”. When the witches are finished they head off in different directions the old blind witch is aided by her apprentice off one way and the other witch heads of a different way. A mist forms and then the title of the movie fades in. This gives us a sense of fear because the title of the movie is Macbeth and we have just heard these haggy witches talking about him.

This opening scene creates an engaging interest in the audience, because it sets the atmosphere of evil and mystery, it arouses suspense, provides some information of what is to come in the film and presents an image of evil.

Polanski’s version of the opening scene drifts away from the text. Polanski takes most liberty in converting the play onto the screen he adds in is own version of the death of Duncan, which Shakespeare did not include in his play.

I believe that the cinematography used in Trevor Nunn production creates a greater amount of suspense than the cinematography used in the Polanski’s version. The music used in Nunn’s version gives the withes a more powerful image. The witches in Polanski’s production do not come across as convincing as Trevor Nunn’s production. Polanski’s witches are dressed in rags, which suggest that they are mere pagans not witches. Both of the productions do not give of the real supernatural powers of the witches because in Shakespeare’s text they disappear. Banquo says when the witches vanish “the earth has bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them. Wither are they vanish’d?” Both of the productions do not present the appearance’s of the witches the way in which Banquo described them “By each at once her choppy finger laying Upon her skinny lips: you should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so.”

Out of the two productions I prefer Trevor Nunn’s version the best. I prefer The Royal Shakespeare production because it doesn’t take liberty on the text like Polanksi does. It is a close production on how it would have been acted out in Shakespeare’s time. The witches come across more convincing than Polanski’s witches. Finally I prefer the way the witches in The Royal Shakespeare production pause when “There to met with…?” “Macbeth”.

Timmy Hyndman 12D