King James was interested in witches and demons, he wrote a book on them called demonology, which is why they were included in the play. In Shakespeare's time witches were looked down upon and tortured if found guilty of being a witch. Witchcraft was seen as a taboo because if you talked about it or hinted about the subject then you would end up being accused of being a witch and would be tortured.
The median I have chosen to present my dream in is a film because that would enable me to apply special effects that would be difficult to perform on stage. Throughout the dream there are small images in reality which need to be made bigger to add atmosphere to the dream and there will need to be quick colour changes and at one point there are ghostly figures around him and in his mind that could be shown better and more effectively on screen than on stage.
I have chosen to place a dream scene at this point because it is just after Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost which unsettles Macbeth and makes him feel guilty about his actions which is reflected in the dream. He also feels that he can not turn back but he can’t do anything else this is shown when he says
“I am in blood/Stepped in so far that should I wade no more,” (Act 3:4)
Before this scene there is a point where Macbeth fears Banquo and Fleance (Banquo’s son) because the 3 witches predicted that Banquo and his son become kings and reign after Macbeth. This scares Macbeth because he knows that lady Macbeth can’t have children and so his name would not be carried on. He also feels alone and vulnerable because of the fact that his name would not be carried on and would be passed on to his ‘friend’ Banquo to carry on his name through his son and his future children. He shows his feelings when he says:
“There is none but he, whose being I do fear.” (Act 3:1)
This makes him become dangerous as he has killed a king before and is finding it easier to kill Banquo then risk losing his crown to him.
Dream
Macbeth: What is this place? Why suddenly here?
My guilt is driving to death I fear!
A candle flickers till light no more.
A creak is heard of stair or door.
A bright, white light appears before him.
A face develops a reminder of his sin.
Duncan: Macbeth, Macbeth. Thane of Cawdor,
You made a mistake, all a crown for.
Macbeth: I’m going mad, this time I’m sure,
Duncan’s dead where leads that door?
A darkened place which looks not safe,
Does lead to room or lead to cave?
Complete darkness surrounds the four walls he’s within,
A gory skeleton with a dagger dripping with blood from its chin.
Its lungs still working though heart of stone,
Only long, blonde hair covers its bare bones.
Its open arms invite him to,
He’s unsure what, how, where and who!
Lady Macbeth: Come, come now here my darling sweet dear,
Through this dark, dark door to face your fear.
It was his long lost lady, his long lost love,
Whose bones were whiter than a pure white dove.
Her wavy locks glistened in the dim light,
At first glance she gave him quite a big fright.
He did not want to believe what is true,
Dripping in blood from silent eyes of blue.
Macbeth: My sweet darling you, dead that I presumed,
I see no more how your beauty’s bloomed.
Your soft sweet lips so innocent, unlike the words you speak,
Your hair its locks so radiant, so silent as stairs creak.
I loved thy beauty, I loved thy smile,
We ne’er parted not one single mile.
The bones disappear, surrounding walls too,
He is confused, anxious, unsure what to do
The dark turns to light, night turns to day,
He sees a figure, what’s he to say?
He leaves it too late, to fight, to run,
One, two, three, four the figures become,
The witches, three of them and him all alone,
In his head’s Duncan, his wife and her bones.
The begin to chant, he is sure of his name,
He wants them to go, it’s no longer a game.
One after another, their heads appear,
He begins to tremble, he’s filled with fear.
Duncan, Banquo, his life Lady Macbeth,
Reminds him of his crimes, all done by death.
3 witches: We ne’er predicted this you did it yourself
Your jealousy took o’er all for wanted wealth.
You blame us for your problems, the pain you feel inside,
But you’ve left it too late now, the guilt you cannot hide.
It will take over you as it will take your wife,
It will not kill you, something else will take your life.
But your love cannot hide it, the blood you see,
The end of her life, so near as it be.
The green turned to red, solid to liquid,
Even in his dreams, Macbeth could not rid.
The thought of death and destruction to his kingdom,
He regrets all his actions, he’s lost his freedom.
He has lost his friend, he’s losing his wife,
And has just been told, murder ends his life…….
Analysis of dream
In the dream Macbeth feels mainly confused. This is because he is unsure about everything. He sees the past and the future. The past is when he sees Duncan’s head which tells him that he has made a mistake. The future is when he sees lady Macbeth dead with a heart of stone and dripping in blood.
Macbeth, in the dream, also feels scared when he realises he has no-one to help him, he is surrounded by the witches and cannot get the image of his dead wife and former king out of his head. He realises what he has done wrong and that he cannot change now “it’s too late now, the guilt you cannot hide.” He also feels scared when the three witches tell him that something will murder him. This is later proven to be true when Macbeth visits the witches the next day. They tell him to “Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife.” This proves that Macduff is going to murder him until Macbeth sees another apparition telling him that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” This calms his nerves slightly as he goes on to say “what need I fear of thee?” but he is still unsure what to do. That is, until he sees the third and final apparition which tells him “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be, until Great Birnam Wood, to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” This calms down Macbeth a lot as he replies “that will never be: who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earth bound root?” this proves that he feels that because Birnam wood cannot travel that nothing/no-one is going to harm him let alone murder him.
I used Shakespearean language in my direct speech sections because that allows the dream to fit in well with the plays language. It also helps if the dream was included in a stage production because then the play will all slot together instead of suddenly changing to modern language then changing back to Shakespearean language. This would sound odd and peculiar and would make no sense if any to the audience watching.
If I was directing the film I would use cartoon animation to perform the dream but leave Macbeth and other characters real. The reason I will do this is so that anyone watching the film will realise it is dream because it will not be real anymore. This also allows me to achieve certain effects through animation which would not normally be achievable if working with reality. I would get a zoom in on a candle after Macbeth has spoken and have it gently flickering until it suddenly goes out. I would then have it all pitch black and then have a tiny light appear which over time increases and increases until the audience recognises its King Duncan’s head. After there conversation I will have it go pitch black again until it starts to lighten up a bit to uncover the fact that he is surrounded by four closely built walls with a small door in the distance on one of the walls. Then you will be able to see a skeleton getting closer and closer until you can see all of the details on the skeleton down to the last drop of blood, the arms of the skeleton will open and welcome Macbeth into them and then speak. After that you will get a close up image of the skeletons eyes which begin to cry but instead of tears it cries blood. After that everything will disappear which is when you see Macbeth get anxious and unsure until he sees the three witches appear and hears them chanting. You hear the three witches’ conversation then a solid block of green appears on the screen with chilling music in the background. The green starts slowly changing colour to red and then starts to melt into a liquid. Throughout the whole of the dream you will hear a narrator in the background reading out the words which are not spoken by characters.
