Author Adrian Bott, who does a lot of folklore history from a pagan perspective, has tweeted about it here
. Looks like it's a very modern interpretation, and the original play meant what it said.
he/him
Any objections If we add the usual Spoilers Off warning to the top of the page, for completeness?
Everything in Macbeth falls the under Older Than Steam and It Was His Sled exceptions for spoiler tagging, but we don't directly say that at the moment.
Possibly this:
As the play is Older Than Steam and most twists in Shakespeare's plots are now widely known, all spoilers are unmarked.
?
Edited by Mrph1
Wouldn't this be considered Trope Namer for The Scottish Trope as well?
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I don't think so, because the custom of referring to Macbeth as "the Scottish play" is folklore attached to the play but not in any way present in the play.
Let's just say and leave it at that.
I've pulled these "averted" tropes. We don't usually list aversions. See Averted Trope.
- Infant Immortality: Averted. Macbeth's slaughter of Macduff's family shocks even Lady Macbeth.
- A Man Is Not A Virgin: Averted. Malcolm pretends to be irredeemably debauched, which drives MacDuff to despair. When Malcolm reveals that this was just a test and he's really a virgin, MacDuff (and presumably the audience?) is relieved.
I've noticed a few factual errors about the play. Macdonowald was not the Thane of Cawdor (Ungrateful Bastard), and King James was said to be descended from Banquo(hence the witches prophecy), not Duncan(Written By The Winners)
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With regard to Written by the Winners: James I considered Banquo and Fleance his ancestors; the mirror the last king in Banquo's line is holding during the prophecy of the witches in Act IV is said to reflect 'those of the line who became kings in other lands'. The play is implying that one of the lines descended from Banquo was the House of Stuart. Shakespeare is making a shrewd political move. Shakespeare is illustrating the supposed legitimacy of the House of Stuart while simultaneously decrying the brutality and grasping for power that lies ultimately at the heart of the story.
And yes, Macbeth was Thane of Cawdor, but only after being granted the title by Duncan after defeating Macdonowald (the previous Thane of Cawdor) when the latter tried to rebel against Duncan. Lady Macbeth was upset that Duncan granted her husband the lesser title rather than name him heir to the throne, which is what kicked off the plot to start with.
Edited by 150.148.14.38
Why is this play referred to as "Mac Beth"? It seems to be called as such in several links, as well as the title. In English, the King is called "Macbeth" as he is throughout the text and title of the play. There should be no space between mac and beth, and only one capital letter.
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The page title is either Mac Beth or Macbeth depending on the exact formatting of the link which led here. For me at the moment, it shows up with only one capital letter. If you see a link as Mac Beth, do correct it.
That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.
The last two sentences in the introductory text don't make sense, maybe someone could clear them up?
I've seen conflicting arguments on the pronunciation of "Seyton". It's either "SEE-tun" or "Satan", depending on whom you ask.
Since a recent edit, the example entry for Eye of Newt claims that all the creepy ingredients which the witches put in their unholy brew are actually 17th century nicknames for specific herbs.
Can anyone point to a source for this claim that is not affiliated with Wicca? Because all the references turned up by a Google search are either sites or blogs run by Wiccans, or simply repeat what those sites claim.
While it is not strictly impossible, it does sound like an urban legend.
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