Macbeth: In League with Satan

Started by Alphonsus Jr., April 23, 2013, 06:17:33 PM

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Alphonsus Jr.

April 23, 2013, 06:17:33 PM
Before becoming Catholic I of course thought that Macbeth was dark. It was only after I became Catholic that I realized the fully Satanic dimensions of this play. I noticed this again last night. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth consciously give themselves over the infernal fiend. That's what this play is ultimately about. It's not just about the lust for power or disobedience to conscience. The fundamental action of this play takes place on the supernatural plane, not the mere natural.

I recommend the following production, faithful to the text and featuring a devastating performance by Nicol Williamson as Macbeth:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbywWyryftM[/yt]
Age, thou art shamed.*
O shame, where is thy blush?**

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

MilesChristi

#1
April 23, 2013, 06:22:17 PM
well, his servant's name is seyton.
Also, it is also a great study on neurosis and psychosis as effects of guilt, according to Bishop Sheen.
Marvelous play all around.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Alphonsus Jr.

#2
April 23, 2013, 06:25:58 PM
Quote from: MilesChristi on April 23, 2013, 06:22:17 PM
well, his servant's name is seyton.
Also, it is also a great study on neurosis and psychosis as effects of guilt, according to Bishop Sheen.
Marvelous play all around.

Good point about the servant-assassin's name.

Yes, I had precisely Bp. Sheen in mind when I wrote above about disobedience to conscience. It's clear that this is part of the story, but definitely not the whole story. Yet from what I've heard, Sheen talked about this play only on the natural level while glossing over the supernatural roots and ramifications of this disobedience.
Age, thou art shamed.*
O shame, where is thy blush?**

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

Bonaventure

#3
April 23, 2013, 06:29:48 PM
I recommend the PBS production with Patrick Stewart.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Anastasia

#4
April 23, 2013, 06:31:33 PM
How are the witches done in this production? That's usually how I judge the different versions: if they have them dance and caper around the stage, trying to look sinister, they just seem silly more than anything else. And Macbeth looks like an idiot for taking them seriously. In fairness, acting truly creepy and demonic would be hard to convey.
People talk vaguely about the innocence of a little child, but they take mighty good care not to let it out of their sight for twenty minutes.-Saki.
"Meanwhile, Fate was quietly slipping lead into the boxing glove. "
— P.G. Wodehouse

Alphonsus Jr.

#5
April 23, 2013, 06:47:42 PM
Quote from: Bonaventure on April 23, 2013, 06:29:48 PM
I recommend the PBS production with Patrick Stewart.

Surely you're joking. It's postmodernist drivel.
Age, thou art shamed.*
O shame, where is thy blush?**

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

Alphonsus Jr.

#6
April 23, 2013, 06:49:40 PM
Quote from: Anastasia on April 23, 2013, 06:31:33 PM
How are the witches done in this production? That's usually how I judge the different versions: if they have them dance and caper around the stage, trying to look sinister, they just seem silly more than anything else. And Macbeth looks like an idiot for taking them seriously. In fairness, acting truly creepy and demonic would be hard to convey.

Unlike in the ridiculous Patrick Stewart version, for example, there's no such nonsense. Watch the video I provided. You'll see in the very first scene.
Age, thou art shamed.*
O shame, where is thy blush?**

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

MilesChristi

#7
April 23, 2013, 07:10:35 PM
Quote from: Alphonsus Jr. on April 23, 2013, 06:25:58 PM
Quote from: MilesChristi on April 23, 2013, 06:22:17 PM
well, his servant's name is seyton.
Also, it is also a great study on neurosis and psychosis as effects of guilt, according to Bishop Sheen.
Marvelous play all around.

Good point about the servant-assassin's name.

Yes, I had precisely Bp. Sheen in mind when I wrote above about disobedience to conscience. It's clear that this is part of the story, but definitely not the whole story. Yet from what I've heard, Sheen talked about this play only on the natural level while glossing over the supernatural roots and ramifications of this disobedience.

Act II (i think) Lady Macbeth almost literally sells her soul to the devil (spirits unsex me here, fill me with the dark dun of hell, dry up my blood, stop the path to remorse).
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Alphonsus Jr.

#8
April 23, 2013, 07:33:51 PM
Quote from: MilesChristi on April 23, 2013, 07:10:35 PM
Quote from: Alphonsus Jr. on April 23, 2013, 06:25:58 PM
Quote from: MilesChristi on April 23, 2013, 06:22:17 PM
well, his servant's name is seyton.
Also, it is also a great study on neurosis and psychosis as effects of guilt, according to Bishop Sheen.
Marvelous play all around.

Good point about the servant-assassin's name.

Yes, I had precisely Bp. Sheen in mind when I wrote above about disobedience to conscience. It's clear that this is part of the story, but definitely not the whole story. Yet from what I've heard, Sheen talked about this play only on the natural level while glossing over the supernatural roots and ramifications of this disobedience.

Act II (i think) Lady Macbeth almost literally sells her soul to the devil (spirits unsex me here, fill me with the dark dun of hell, dry up my blood, stop the path to remorse).

I believe it's Act I, but yes, she explicitly invites possession. Later Macbeth also explicitly mentions his infernal connections.
Age, thou art shamed.*
O shame, where is thy blush?**

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

Heinrich

#9
April 25, 2013, 05:01:36 PM
No crap. The witches didn't tip you off dude?
Schaff Recht mir Gott und führe meine Sache gegen ein unheiliges Volk . . .   .                          
Lex Orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.
"Die Welt sucht nach Ehre, Ansehen, Reichtum, Vergnügen; die Heiligen aber suchen Demütigung, Verachtung, Armut, Abtötung und Buße." --Ausschnitt von der Geschichte des Lebens St. Bennos.
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