Macbeth
Uploaded by Goldy on Aug 14, 2002
‘Macbeth’ is a play about the tragic fall of a king from grace and nobility. It deals with many issues which are raised during the play which were significant, and could be related to by Elizabethan audiences. Although ‘Macbeth’ was written way back in 1606, people today are still able to understand it’s meaning and appreciate the qualities of the play which over the centuries has become a universal performance.
The play ‘Macbeth’ is structured in a way that is effective in developing the issue of order and disorder. Throughout ‘Macbeth’, this issue is raised in many ways and is structured in the play to create a strong impact on the audience. Because ‘Macbeth’ is ultimately a play based on order and disorder, the way in which the issue is developed in the play is an essential part of how it is it is portrayed to the audience.
Elizabethan audiences were slightly different in the way they understood and perceived what was happening on stage. In that period in time, people who watched plays were believers that whatever they saw was real. In other words, to them appearance was reality. If a bad person was killed, they believed this meant everyone was happy, not realising that there may be another side to the story where others may not totally agree with what was being told in the story. However, people now days who watch the same thing, understand that this is not true. We know if we see something, it does not mean it is necessarily true.
At the beginning of the play ‘Macbeth’, the audience is introduced to a character who has just defeated two invading armies from Ireland and Norway. Macbeth, along with his compatriot, Banquo are immediately hailed as heroes when they return to Scotland and the audience is led to believe Macbeth is wonderful. Because of Macbeth’s heroic deeds, everything in the kingdom seems to be in good order; the king is happy and so are the people. But the introduction of the three witches into the play casts an unnatural twist, where the audience is suddenly confronted with a dramatic change in mood. The success of Macbeth, followed suddenly by the evil witches, creates the issues of order and disorder, with the order being Macbeth’s victory, and disorder being the ‘unnatural’ witches.
However, you must realise that the battle that Macbeth and Banquo were involved in was,...