Friday, September 19, 2014

Relationship Issues

In the Throne of Blood many things differ from the original Shakespearean play. The most interesting difference I found was in the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth (Asaji, Wahshizu). In the play Macbeth and his lady refer to one another with pet names, and terms of endearment (Love, dear etc). They also seem to have a genuine attachment to each other, which can be seen in the great amount of influence Lady Macbeth's manipulation has over her husband. In Goold's adaption their attachment is seen even more strongly. Lady Macbeth is played as convincing Macbeth that if he doesn't kill Duncan he is hurting her. Their physical contact in the movie also portrays a close relationship.
These elements of a close relationship are missing in the Throne of Blood. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have no physical contact, and they are often portrayed at a distance from each other, with her kneeling on the floor and him pacing. In fact, they rarely even look at each other even as they are speaking. The contrast in Lady Macbeth's in-expressiveness and Macbeth's hyper-expressiveness also creates a divide between them. The script of this adaptation also lacks the terms of endearment in the original.
This difference in relationship could be understood from a cultural standpoint, but I think it goes even further than that. I think this relationship serves the theme of destiny that we were discussing in class. Lady Macbeth, instead of cajoling her husband into killing Duncan for her, and to prove himself as a man, is simply an interpreter. She seems just to be re-wording of the message of the witch to make it clear to Macbeth. She is telling him what is and what must be because "thats just the way it is" rather than convincing him to do these evil things for their benefit. This creates a general feeling throughout the film that Macbeth is being drug along in the flow of destiny, with far less choice than Macbeth had in the original.

Questions:
1) Why is their only one Witch in this adaptation if the theme of the trinity was so important in the original?
2) What was the meaning of the piles of skeletons around the Witch's hut?


No comments:

Post a Comment