Abstract:
The modern adaptation I use for this piece is part of a series called “Shakespeare Retold” produced by the BBC. This was a paper done for a class I took last spring: Shakespeare for Teachers. The paper, as the title suggests, looks at how a modern adaptation can help bring the student to a fuller enlightenment of a work that is normally considered difficult. I will work on this in my part time and give a fuller analysis at a later time. I hope that this sparks your interest to go out and watch this adaptation – which can be seen on Instant Play on Netflix.
Looking at Modern Adaptation while Teaching Macbeth
When teaching Shakespeare to any class, the teacher should ensure that the class views some sort of presentation of the play. The presentation can be seen on stage or as a feature film. Shakespeare wrote his plays to be viewed, rather than merely read. Due to the change in language from Elizabethan England to modern United States, many students will fail to understand the language until they actually watch a presentation. Thanks to modern technology a teacher has many avenues in which to bring the play to the students. Many teachers find a classic presentation, usually produced by PBS or the BBC. These presentations are undeniably well acted, but often give the students no more than what they could have received from classroom discussion. The teacher should not be afraid to look outside of the text to modern language adaptations to discuss Shakespeare’s plays.
Classic adaptation films begin in the exact manner as the play; three witches on a heath discussing a future meeting with Macbeth, who is currently fighting in a battle. Shakespeare gives the audience no indication of Macbeth’s character. The members of the audience must decide for themselves if Macbeth was a victim of the fates or if, by trying to control his fate, he was a victim of pride and ambition.
Shakespeare allows only two instances of the discussion of Macbeth’s character. The information the audience receives is contradictory. The two descriptions of Macbeth are separated by a description of his already changing behavior. The first description comes in 1.ii.16-40 by a wounded captain. The captain describes Macbeth’s bravery and capability on the battlefield. Off of the battlefield, Macbeth’s nature is described as “too full o’ th’ milk of humankindness” (1.v.18) by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth lists several contradictory attributes of Macbeth’s characters leaving the audience still asking; who is Macbeth? The scene describing Macbeth’s changing behavior is given to the audience from Banquo in 1.iii.143. As Macbeth and Banquo hear the fruition of the first prophesy, Macbeth begins an aside. Banquo speaks to Ross and Angus, “Look, how our partner’s rapt.” A few lines later Banquo notes that “new honors come upon him, like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold but with aid of use.” It is Macbeth’s apologize more than Banquo’s comments that alert the reader to the strangeness of Macbeth’s behavior. If Macbeth was prone to suddenly drawing into himself, there would be no reason for Macbeth to apologize. Macbeth’s suddenly strange behavior is the audience’s first clue that something is not right with Macbeth. While on the field of battle, Macbeth is confident and able to handle intimately bloody moments. The two personas, the warrior loyal to the king and the private citizen with private ambitions, have collided and caused Macbeth’s mental, and moral, deterioration.
These small insights into Macbeth’s character do not really fit with modern American audiences. As a general rule, the American public likes to have character development within the story, either up front or via flashback. The classic adaptation can not give the audience anything further than what Shakespeare gave his original audience because of the language barrier. If the language is updated from Elizabethan English to 20th century English, whether Brit speak or translated Japanese, the character of Macbeth can be fleshed out. Without the language barrier, scenes can be created from scratch or can be developed that were are not presented in the original Elizabethan English.
The battle scene is related to the king via the Captain. In the modern adaptation Shakespeare Retold: Macbeth, directed by Brian Percival, the battlefield is in the kitchen. This new scene not only gives the viewer the action that was not given by Shakespeare, but also fleshes out the character of Macbeth. The scene introduces the main characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and Duncan. The characters are not given any extra lines, it is their actions that speak louder than words. The movie literalizes Lady Macbeth’s description by having Macbeth drink straight from a glass bottle of milk. Macbeth has chosen the milk (health and strength) over the beer that sits blocking the milk in the refrigerator. Macbeth is seen greeting Banquo by way of a jovial kiss, a good indication of how close Macbeth’s friendship is with Banquo. Macbeth greets Lady Macbeth on the front stairs, they kiss and laugh. The Macbeth’s walk hand-in-hand to the dining room to view their little kingdom. Macbeth takes his leave to go into the kitchen, but walks backward so that he may look at Lady Macbeth for as long as possible. As Macbeth enters the male dominated sphere of the kitchen/battlefield, Macbeth is singing. Macbeth does not need to look at the sharpening of his knife. His skills on the battlefield have been transformed to a head chef. The other men in the scene join in Macbeth’s singing. Macbeth becomes a teacher; explaining as he carves the head of a pig, “the first rule of the kitchen: respect. … No waste, that in a word is respect” (Percival).
Respect is the key to understanding the film version of Macbeth. Respect translates not just to the art of cooking, but also to the animals that become the food he prepares. The reason for Macbeth’s delusions and madness is that there is no respect in Duncan’s death. The film gives the audience a motive for Macbeth to want to kill Duncan. Even with the motive of gaining everything, Macbeth knows there is no respect in killing Duncan. The collision of his desire to be “the guy who puts everything he has into cooking the best food he can” (Percival) and his desire to have the prestige Duncan has has deteriorated his mental state.
The deterioration can be traced with the use of the milk bottle. The first use of the milk has already been discussed. The second time the audience sees the milk bottle comes as the Macbeth’s are setting the conditions to stage Duncan’s murder. Macbeth drops the bottle, and it breaks all over the floor. Macbeth desires to be a good person, but he has let go of an essential part of himself that is capable of doing good. The third time the milk bottle is seen is after the murder. The scene is a parallel to the first kitchen scene: Macbeth getting dressed while listening to the cooking show (this time with Macbeth hosting), drinking a bottle of milk, Banquo entering the locker room, the Macbeths meeting on the stairs (this time passing one another), and Macbeth walking into the kitchen. The other cooks in this scene are talking and whistling until Macbeth walks in, then everyone is silent, and the only sound that can be heard is the sharpening of the knives. The bottle of milk that Macbeth pulls out of the fridge at the opening of this scene is the exact same as the first bottle. However, when Macbeth has pulled the bottle away from his mouth and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he imagines blood to be on the bottle of milk, his mouth, and his hand. The last scene the milk bottle is shown is when Macbeth is setting up the murder of Banquo. A half bottle sits in between a half-full glass of milk and a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. The position of the bottle indicates that the milk and the vodka are being mixed together. Macbeth is no longer who he once was.
The original play and the modern film adaptation present the viewer with a story of the corruption that accompanies ambition and the descent into madness that is caused by treachery. Both versions allow the audience to question if Macbeth was a tragic victim of the fates or a corrupt man who deserved his death. However, the modern revision gives the modern audience more information to work with in regards to the character development. A teacher should always be careful in choosing which modern adaptation to use, perhaps for a particular play there does not exist a good adaptation, but a teacher should never be afraid to look outside the text for way to explain the text to the students.
You’ve done it once again! Incredible post!
thank-you!