The entire play can be found at the following nodes:
I am reformatting it for E2 from http://tech-two.mit.edu/Shakespeare/Tragedy/macbeth/macbeth.html
Macbeth Dramatis Personae.
Act one
"What happened to your hands?" I asked.
"Dad hit me," she said plaintively. "Just kidding. It's fake blood. I was playing Lady Macbeth. Isn't that funny?"
Of course, she had had her Halloween party the day before, which I had conveniently missed, afraid as I am of hordes of screaming nine-year-olds. "Bah, what do you know about Lady Macbeth?" I asked her.
"Lady Macbeth was the wife of Macbeth in the play Macbeth. She convinced her husband to kill the king and his servants. And then she had a dream where she had blood all over her hands, which she couldn't wash off. And it's ironic, because now I have all this fake blood on my hands that I can't wash off."
Now this kid is NINE FREAKING YEARS OLD, and can make a complex literary allusion as well as accurate applied criticism. I think that means she's going to grow up more like me than like our other sister.
On the subject of "the curse" of Macbeth, the play's name is said to have been cursed by 17th Century Witches, who resented real spells appearing in the play's text. For example, in act 4, scene 1
"Round about the cauldron go; In the poisn'd entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venum sleeping got. Boil thou first i' the charmed pot"
This whole "curse" business just goes to show that in the theatre, as in the rest of life, bad things happen around superstitious people. You could say that I am very superstitious about superstitious people, as the catalogues of disaster they seem to command are quite extraordinary. If you meet one, I can recommend performing the cleansing ritual of spinning widdershins thrice, then applying your fist firmly to the offender's nose. Otherwise you might end up as just another statistic. On the other hand, I understand that encountering two such individuals is a good omen.
As to the play itself, I will only add that Akira Kurosawa directed a masterful Japanese adaptation, which goes by the name Throne of Blood in English.
In this scene, Macbeth seeks out the weird sisters, and seeks further advice from them. They show him three apparitions that relate to the future events of the play, leading to Macbeth's downfall. There is a fourth apparition, however, the sisters and Hecate call up after Macbeth demands to know what will come of Banquo's children. Out comes a line of eight kings and Banquo's ghost, as described with Macbeth's narration:
Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo: down! Thy crown does hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. A third is like the former. Filthy hags! Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes! What, will the crack of doom? Another yet! A seventh! I'll see no more: And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass Which shows me many more; and some I see That two-fold balls and treble scepters carry: Horrible sight! Now, I see, 'tis true; For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me, And points at them for his.
Each of the eight kings in this line, are kin of Banquo, the leading king, James' father, being the youngest, most recent (to James) king. When he holds up the looking glass, James, being in the seat of honor at the premier (obviously - he's the king!), would see himself at the head of this line of kings that Macbeth himself was so impressed with (and afraid of). Macbeth says the glass shows him "many more," while James would've been the only king reflected in the glass; this line hints to James' lineage retaining the throne in the generations to come, a sentiment he was sure to have appreciated.
It is told that Shakespeare did receive the patronage of King James, and I have heard evidence (via the Holy Tabernacle Church), that Shakespeare was even one of the many interpreters of the King James Version of the Bible. I'll dig that evidence up, and submit it when it's found.
Maslow in Macbeth
According to George Meredith, "the true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." In other words, the best examples of comedy lead to laughter but also contribute to the meaning of the work and contain some degree of subtle commentary. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the porter scene following Duncan's heinous slaying evokes this brand of "thoughful laughter." Although the grotesque gatekeeper character immediately prompts comedy, it also hints at a deeper significance. This "thoughtful laughter" primarily provides comic relief, but it also contributes to the meaning of the work by serving as a metaphor for the gates of hell and as a transition from the murders to the continuation of the drama in a less supernatural setting.
Macbeth's porter scene functions above all as slapstick comic relief following the slaughter of King Duncan. The grotesque, troll-like gatekeeper dissipates the tension with his drunken banter, presenting a raucous parody of Macbeth's internal torment. For example, he paints a darkly comic caricature of the suspense that now pervades the Macbeth household by making light of the sudden knocking at the gates that so startled Lady Macbeth. Yet this also serves as a paradox - the parody also furthers the tension by prolonging the time between Duncan's murder and the continuation of the plot. This scene immediately prompts laughter with both the porter's light soliloquy and the heightening of the suspense.
However, the character's drunken stupor also gives rise to one of the second act's central metaphors - the house of Macbeth as the gates of hell. His speech refers to satanic images, and he views himself as Beelzebub's gatekeeper. In this act, Shakespeare sees Castle Macbeth as the central dominion of death and corruption, evidenced by the sadistic machinations of its Lady and the bloodthirsty acts of its Master. The porter scene emphasizes the fact that all who enter the castle and stand in the way of Macbeth's ambition might as well have entered Hell, as they will certainly find a fiery demise within. While this scene elicits laughter, it also contributes to Shakespeare's condemnation of Macbeth's escapades.
Macbeth's porter scene also furthers the drama's structure. The previous deeds in Act II have all transpired in a fantasy netherworld - these shocking murders could not have occurred with Shakespeare's normal tone. The porter scene, by evoking laughter, serves as a transition from the supernatural world of murder to the more mundane realm of political plotting. The Bard accomplishes this suddenly - the trollish porter's maniacal hilarity contrasts sharply with the portentous tone of the previous scene, thereby snapping the audience back into the real world. Thus, the scene provides a dramatic transition into normality.
Shakespeare's porter scene causes "thoughtful laughter" in Macbeth because of its immediate comic tone, yet it also illuminates one of the play's central metaphors and transforms the macabre aura into a more earthly one. This scene passes George Meredith's "true test of comedy" with its blend of slapstick and meaning. Macbeth receives both a break in the incessant suspense and an expansion of Shakespeare's dramatic modus operandi. Thus, the "thoughtful laughter" prompts both exaggerated comedy and a deeper understanding of the play's symbolism.
