Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"

-Lady Macbeth

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies.  The background history for the play is quite interesting.  Queen Elizabeth I of England named James VI of Scotland as her heir, and so he became King James I of England.  He had this play performed in London while he entertained King Christian, who had married his sister.  Something that is probably little known about about Macbeth--it is nearly considered one of Shakespeare's historical plays.  One of the noble characters of the play, Banquo, was not so noble in real life.  But because James I was a descendant of Banquo, he was not portrayed as one of the conspirators who killed King Duncan.  The touchy subject of who actually killed who historically kept Macbeth classified as just a "moral lesson" and a tragedy.  

There are many renditions of Macbeth, I even watched "Macbeth in 96 Seconds" on youtube.  There's is definitely a sense of intensity and gore associated with this play.  I've started to watch one full length version of one that I found, and there is a fairly dark feel to it.  I think I am going to try listening to one of the acts as well to see how that changes my perception of the intensity, gore and dark nature of the play.         

A major theme from the play...

While previewing the text and reading the first 3 or so acts of Macbeth, I have become interested in what seems to me one of the most important themes of the play; more to come on what happens to the wolf in the sheep's clothing...