Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's darkest play."The Scottish Play" is filled with brutality and savagery. And this still image evokes just that. This is a photograph from a modern adaptation by Rupert Goold, in which the actors are wearing soviet-style uniforms and machine guns to establish a 1950s Stalin-era mood as Macbeth tries to eliminate his rivals to the throne. The main reason for choosing this photograph, aside from being a fan of the amazing Patrick Stewart, is that it is such a brilliant narrative photograph. It is just the perfect example to show that a photograph is indeed worth one thousand words. This image shows the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, which is obsession; obsession for power and beauty, for everything. Macbeth has completely sold his soul to her, in all of its evil.
Macbeth and his wife are standing in a strange basement setting with a cold, metal table and white brick walls in the dark background and a sink in the foreground; all of these elements of the setting serve to provide a dark feeling to the play. Both of them get blood on their hands in order to become rulers. The red color of the blood is a significant element in this image, but just as important are the the looks in the actors' eyes and their postures. Lady Macbeth is looking at her hands and looks horrified and regretful and is standing in front of the sink, like she is about to get the blood of her hands. At the same time, Macbeth is not as close as her to the camera lens and seems to be looking at her and realize that she was the one who pushed him to murder. But is he really doing that? His gaze is mysterious, almost magical.
In "Macbeth", symbolism is used abundantly to exemplify the overall theme of murder. There are several obvious forms of this throughout the play. The contrast of light and dark represents good and evil. Blood symbolizes murder and their guilt and shame about the horrific crime.The archetypes of the ruler and warrior, which are present throughout the play for Macbeth, are not evident in this image. Lady Macbeth here seems the archetypal negative mother influencing him in a destructive way. From Macbeth, we can learn that there is a spiritual battle between good and evil inside everybody.
Works cited: "Patrick Stewart gives Macbeth new life." UK Reuters. Web.26 Oct. 2010. <http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0124949720071001>.
Image link: http://novaclutch.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/30/mac2650.jpg
that's a great one!
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