Macbeth..."butcher?"

The Oxford English Dictionary describes a butcher as a “person who kills or has people killed brutally or indiscriminately.” Is this description, with which Malcolm condemns Macbeth, true or adequate? In this essay, I will consider whether “butcher” is the right term for this complex character. I will consider two different productions of Macbeth in my answer: Roman Polanski’s film of Macbeth, and a Royal Shakespeare Company production (hereafter referred to as RSC), which is a televised stage version.

When applied to Macbeth, the term “butcher” contains literal truth, since he brutally took the lives of many people. First, he assassinated Duncan to gain the throne. This, as Macbeth himself recognised in his soliloquy, is wrong; they are related, he should be acting as a loyal subject and it goes against the laws of hospitality:

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Furthermore, Duncan has treated Macbeth well; he bestowed the title of Thane of Cawdor upon Macbeth, sent money and diamonds to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and he wishe

All this shows Macbeth’s potential for greatness and the happiness that he had, which makes his descent into evil so tragic.

Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?

It seems that even if we do not accept that Macbeth is only a butcher, butchery and bloodiness do play a major part in Macbeth. Blood is mentioned throughout the script and both productions place emphasis on blood. In Polanski’s version, the sky is often red, notably at the beginning and when murders are taking place. The spilt wine of Duncan’s guards also symbolises bloodshed, as does the red wine which Macbeth spills at the banquet when he sees Banquo’s ghost. We can see this by the way the camera focuses on the wine. The RSC emphasises the blood itself by using a black background throughout, making red blood stand out. Red light is also used, which is more obvious than in Polanski because of the minimal set and plain background. Other symbolism with the RSC production reminds us of Macbeth’s butchery – Macbeth is dressed in black, showing his evil (light and dark costume is used symbolically throughout this production to show the “goodness” of a character) and wears a leather coat, reminiscent of a Gestapo uniform, comparing his tyranny and butchery to that of Hitler.

Macbeth’s return to greatness is accentuated in Polanski’s production in which Polanski shows us what a great fighter Macbeth is. He easily kills Young Siward and the fighters around him, driving his many attackers back. He is also shown to be merciful in that at one point in his duel with Macduff, he has him completely at his mercy, yet chooses not to kill him. Mercy is not a quality of a butcher. Polanski also stresses Macbeth’s courage by showing the complete hopelessness of his case – in the duel, he is surrounded by crowds that, should he defeat Macduff, would kill him anyway.

In Polanski’s production, the boy is stabbed in the back, emphasising once again how cowardly the murder is. He is also naked, showing his innocence. We can hear screams from the rest of the house and Lady Macduff rushes out of the room, only to see women being raped, other blood-covered bodies and her house on fire with flames all around her. The situation seems pathetic and we begin to lose sympathy with the Macbeth that has caused it. The RSC production was made for the stage, so special effects like this are not possible, but the brutality is still conveyed very well. Like Duncan, the mother and child are dressed in white, showing their innocence. One of the murderers bounces the boy on his knee and as in Polanski’s production, stabs him in the back at the same time. Lady Macduff gets down on her knees and appeals to the murderers, but they pull back her head and slit her throat.

Some topics in this essay:
Lady Macbeth, Till Birnam, Lay Macduff, Lady Macduff, Macbeth Shakespeare, Fleance Banquo, Malcolm Macduff, Macbeth Blood, MACDUFF MACBETH’S, Shakespeare Macbeth, lady macbeth, polanski’s production, rsc production, � macbeth, tragic hero, macbeth butcher, beginning play, play macbeth, macbeth �, killing duncan, descent evil tragic, hand hand multitudinous, clean hand hand, hand multitudinous seas, multitudinous seas incarnadine,