Witches In Macbeth

By DAVIS HARRISON
11/28/10
THESIS:

It is said that whilst William Shakespeare was writing his famous tragedy Macbeth, he consulted several witches for actual incantations to use in the dialogue. The witches themselves were opposed to the manner in which Shakespeare portrayed them in the script, so they placed a curse on the play. Ever since, there have been many recorded accidents and tragic occurrences in the making and performance of Macbeth. Are these happenings a matter of circumstance or was the tale of Shakespeare’s witch dilemma reality?

Among the many tragedies and comedies William Shakespeare wrote during his career, Macbeth was, and still is, one of the most renowned and celebrated stage-plays in the world. The story is that
of a faithful Thane fighting for Scotland. He and his friend, Banquo, run into three witches who greet them with great prophecies. They predicted that Macbeth would be Thane of Cawdor and also the King of Scotland. For Banquo, they foresaw the promise of royal kin. Macbeth tells himself that the prophecy will become true without his effort. In Act 1, Scene 3 he says to himself;

If Chance May Have Me King, Why, Chance May Crown Me
- Macbeth - Act I - Scene III

However, he soon begins to doubt himself and asks his wife Lady Macbeth whether or not he should plot to kill Duncan, the current king of Scotland. His wife acts as if it is a necessity and tells her nervous husband:

Screw Your Courage To The Sticking Place, And we’ll not fail
- Lady Macbeth - Act I - Scene VIII

Though he still feels uneasy, Macbeth follows the advice of his wife and murders King Duncan with a dagger. This action soon put sin motion Macbeth’s demise, even though he is appointed king without suspicion. He desperately attempts to leave his feelings of guilt behind by murdering those whom he suspects know of his foul play, leaving a bloodbath in his wake.
Eventually, Macbeth is killed by Macduff, “the man not of woman born” (ACT IV, Scene I.) Shakespeare illustrates via Macbeth’s actions that guilt can precipitate a person to become crazed and violent with ease. Shakespeare originally wrote this stage-play around 1600 for the pleasure of King James I and his brother in law King Christian of Denmark. It is said that King James was a very superstitious man, and became so because of a visit to Denmark. Denmark, at the time, was highly involved in witch-hunts, which might have aroused the King’s curiosity in witchcraft and sorcery. When King James returned to Scotland he participated in the North Berwick witch trials; a major part in the persecution of witches which led to the installment of Scotland’s Witch Act of 1563. King James believed the study of witchcraft to be a branch of theology and soon became obsessed with the danger of witches, taking every opportunity to study the subject. Not long after his return to Scotland he wrote the book Daemonologie a tract on his opposed opinions of the practice of witchcraft and how to detect witches. Shakespeare knew of the King’s superstitious beliefs and practices, and based Macbeth around them, taking great care not to offend the king. In fact, Shakespeare named the character “Banquo” after one of James’ ancestors, and made the stage-play brief since James was not a fan of long or epic plays and became bored easily. Shakespeare’s biggest mistake in the writing of Macbeth however, was to include real incantations that he had learned from real witches in the tragedy. In the beginning scene of Act IV, he reproduced a sacred black-magic ritual in which a group of witches dance around a cauldron throwing in odd ingredients and reciting strange phrases including the famous:

Double, Double Toil And Trouble;
Fire, Burn; And, Cauldron Bubble.
- Three Witches - Act IV - Scene I

Witches and practitioners of magic who came to see the show were furious that their witchcraft had been exposed publically, and cast a curse upon the play, which, supposedly, still stands till this day. Ever since, many strange things have happened on the set, backstage, on stage, and offstage of different productions of Macbeth. Some of the misfortunes can easily be named “coincidence”; but others are more complex, and harder to explain. Is this curse reality or an imaginary creation of the superstitious? Through an examination of the many occurrences during showings of Macbeth, what the skeptics and the believers say, and a thorough search through the Bible of whether or not God would allow such a curse, it will be proved that the curse of Macbeth is merely superstition.
Many tragic events have happened on the set, backstage, onstage, and offstage of Macbeth. The first of which occurred at the opening of the performance in 1606 at Hampton Court. According to legend, William Shakespeare himself was forced to play Lady Macbeth when the boy designated to play her suddenly became overcome with sickness and died. Supposedly, saying the name "Macbeth" inside a theater or place of performance will bring bad luck to any play proceeding and anyone acting in it, unless of course the line is said in context (in the script). In order to override the bad luck, whoever uttered the word must either exit the theater, spin around three times while saying a profanity, and then ask for permission to return inside, spit over their shoulders, or simply let out a stream of curse words. Some say that you must repeat the words "Thrice around the circle bound, Evil sink into the ground," or you can quickly quote Macbeth in the same sentence. Supposedly, failing to do so will cause a catastrophe on stage. To avoid generating the curse in the first place, most people make reference to Macbeth, by using one of it's several nicknames, like "The Scottish Play" and “The Bard’s Play”. Approach any seasoned thespian and ask him about "The Scottish Play", and he or she will most likely know exactly what you are talking about.
Even if the appellation "Macbeth" is unspoken, there is another concern to theatre personnel.
It appears as if every personage who has had part acting in or working backstage of the play has had some sort of strange story to tell. There are many eerie and unaccountable tales to tell. King James was so displeased with the first performance of the play that it was banned for five years. In Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted the blunt stage dagger with a real one, and unintentionally killed his co-actor playing Duncan directly in front of a live audience. There was a peculiar episode in 1721 where the army had to be called in. Apparently, some hecklers had been antagonizing some of the actors on the stage. The actors responded by violently attacking the hecklers with their swords, killing several of the audience
members.
During its 1849 performance at New York's Astor Place, 31 members of a crowd were trampled to death in a riot that had broken out in front of the theatre.
In 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned mute on stage, and his understudy developed scarlet fever and was hospitalized. In 1937, Laurence Olivier was playing Macbeth, and became also suddenly became mute. Being taken aback by this he fell backwards narrowly missing a stage weight, which crashed down where he had originally stood. Not only that, but the tip of his sword was broken by the weight and flew into the audience, striking a man in the neck, leading to a heart attack. Later in the same production, both the director and the actress playing Lady Macduff were killed in a car accident on the way to the theater, and the proprietor of the theater died due to a sudden heart attack during the dress
rehearsal.
In 1942, three actors in another production of Macbeth died unexplainably, and both the costume and set designer committed suicide. An actress in a 1948 production somnambulated off a rostrum and fell fifteen feet to the ground. In Bermuda, in 1953, Charlton Heston suffered severe burns in his groin and leg from tights that were suspiciously soaked in kerosene. An actor's strike struck a 1970 production in New York City, two fires and seven robberies plagued the 1971 version of Macbeth, and finally J. Kenneth Campbell, who played Macduff, was mugged soon after the play's opening in the 1981 production.
It was Macbeth that Abraham Lincoln chose to take with him on board the River Queen on the Potomac River one afternoon. The president was reading passages of the play to his friends that happened to follow the scene in which Duncan was assassinated. Within a week, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC. There are many other episodes and occurrences to sieve through, but their origins are scarce and untrustworthy. Though many choose to believe, there are those who are unmoved by these peculiar tales.
For example, Brian Dunning becomes simply livid in his blog on skeptoid.com. He is one of the skeptics that does not believe the so-called “curse.” In his article he states:
“Therefore, since we can't establish that the curse exists, we don't yet have a confirmed phenomenon to explain. We have a tall tale, told and retold over the centuries, and sufficient reason to suspect that wizened veteran actors may enjoy having a little fun at the expense of the newbie’s, perpetuating the story of a curse regardless of whether the actual number of associated accidents deviates from the norm.

Let's also keep in mind that the legend of the curse began almost right away when Shakespeare originally opened the play. Shakespeare was probably not a fool and knew that there's no such thing as bad publicity. What show's ticket sales would suffer if word got out that one of the actors might be accidentally killed during the performance? A little curse never hurt anybody (well, maybe a few).

So the curse of Macbeth: fact or fiction? I'm going to remain unconvinced that there's anything extraordinary going on, but will eagerly take a look at any good research that emerges. A list of anecdotes on the Internet is insufficient to prove that a supernatural force must be in effect.”
- Brian Dunning - Toil and Trouble: The Curse of Macbeth - WWW.Skeptoid.com Dunning is doubtful of any curse due to the fact that most of the incidents are without proof, and that Macbeth was automatically linked to a curse since there had been a death in the first production. Many agree, and use it in their arguments as two of their better points. Other arguments that skeptics use are:

- Dim Lighting = Possible Stumbling and Falling Due to Disorientation

- Stage Combat and Real Weapons = Real Danger when performing a choreographed fight (especially when real swords are in use)

- Under-rehearsal = A Logical Last-Minute Addition to a Company's Repertoire Causing Dangerously Under-Rehearsed Combat and Blocking.

Believers tend to disagree with such statements, due to either spiritual bias or the sheer of misfortunes. In response to dim lighting, believers state that dim lighting is usually ideal for actors, since bright lighting is blinding to those on stage. In response to Stage combat and weapons, they assure others that weapons were blunted for shows so such accidents would not occur. To the issue of under-rehearsal, most believers are prone to arguing that such lack of rehearsal time is impossible, since a set amount of time was and is given before the performance and of a show. Another argument of believers that is common is that there are too many of the traumatic episodes to prove them coincidence. Though very unlikely, it is still possible for the accidents to be a matter of coincidence, and so the argument of coincidence being “impossible,” is invalid.

To be candid, there is no way that we can know if such a “curse” exists. However, the greatest source of all, the Bible, states many different things about witchcraft. It says the following in Exodus 7:22 and 8:7:

*** “But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their SECRET ARTS, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard…”
Exodus 7:22

*** “But the magicians [Jannes and Jambres] did the same things by their SECRET ARTS; they also made frogs…”
Exodus 8:7

Also in Isaiah 47:12:

*** “Keep on, then, with your MAGIC SPELLS and with your many SORCERIES, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps, you will cause terror.”
Isaiah 47:12

It appears as if the Bible says that much of sorcery is illusion, since the term “Magician(s)” is used often. God tells us to beware of such magicians and sorcerers for they will lead us astray.

In conclusion, the “curse” cannot be proven false, but is more than likely the minds of the imaginative population at work. This is not certain of course; but, those who choose to believe, simply go against God’s own inspired word, and are therefore in the wrong. Though the “curse” may be false it still causes much debate today, and is truly an interesting and curious subject. As formerly stated, no one can be sure of the origin and validity of the tale, but it certainly makes a fun-filled debate and also a frightening thought to thespians worldwide.

Davis Harrison
Monday, November 28, 2010

*** NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION TEXT (NIV)