Shakespeare Dallas: Macbeth

Shakespeare Dallas’ production of Macbeth was, in my opinion, a good one. While there were not many aspects of the play which were taken out, a good many details were added or changed to the play which contributed to the overall vibe of the play. One such aspect was their portrayal of Lady Macbeth. 

                When reading the play, Lady Macbeth struck me as very forceful, strong, and perhaps even evil during the first part. However, by the second part it became obvious to me that she had gone crazy. I could not understand why what they had done had affected her so badly since she was the one who had to convenience Macbeth to go through with it. However watching the play being performed, watching how she was depicted seemed to suggest an answer.  The play seemed to be giving the impression that Lady Macbeth was strong and purposeful because she wanted to kill Duncan, so her husband could become king, and she could become queen. She believed that it was meant to be, but they needed to act to make it happen. However, she meant for it to stop there. She never meant to turn her husband into a tyrant, into a paranoid king who kills anyone in his way, no matter how close they are to him. Watching this happen, I got the impression from the play that it was shocking to her to see that even after they had killed Duncan, gotten what they wanted, he is still thinking about killing, about all the ways he is not a “real king”, such as the fact that the witches had said banquo’s children would reign, which Macbeth assumes to mean his own children will not rule, if he and lady Macbeth even has one. Lady Macbeth seems to realize during the second part of the play that she has created a monster. Perhaps the better phrase is that she unleashed a monster, and she was not able to control it, to reign it back in. this could be seen in the tone in her voice when she talks to Macbeth the first time after the murder, when they are king and queen. She seems surprised to learn he is still moody and thinking about people who are in his way, like Duncan was in his way. Later on, when he is talking to her about banquo, she realizes she cannot control what she has unleashed. Her expressions, her tone of voice, one of almost fear, all point towards a realization that her husband is no longer the man she had to almost drag into killing Duncan.

These two scenes in the play were examples of this to me. The first scene after they are king and queen, we observe Lady Macbeth speaking to him with a tone of exasperation, with frustration, that he is still dwelling on this and not being content with getting what he was promised: being king. This signifies to me her trying to reign in the monster she unleashed, to tame him back to what he was before. The scene where he is talking to her of banquo, we can observe her being scared, surprised in a way, of him. It struck me that it was almost as if she were seeing him for the first time. This is when she realizes she cannot control what she has unleashed.

      Another aspect of the play that enhanced it for me was the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. I found that their adding the passionate kissing and embracing in the scene where we first meet Lady Macbeth demonstrated to me that they did care about each, or at the very least were attracted to one another. This contributes mightily to the end of the play when Macbeth learns of his wife’s death. Remembering this first scene between them, it allowed such a stark contrast that helped me to observe how much Macbeth had changed since the beginning of the play. He has gone from passionately loving his wife to cold indifference at her death. Indeed, it seems as if we can track his evolution, or de-evolution, by way of observing how he treats Lady Macbeth.