To Strut and Fret Upon the Stage:

Theatrical Interpretation of Sources for Macbeth

Literary and theatrical criticisms of drama, particularly of Shakespeare, have long been at odds with each other, with a rapprochement coming into sight only within the last few decades. Literary criticism tends to concentrate on plays as tissues of symbols and philosophy, to the ire of practical actors searching for clues to characterization. Theatrical criticism, on the other hand, leans more towards character analysis, the sort of psychological study sometimes leading towards nebulous theorizing like "How many children had Lady Macbeth?" Too often it leaves dramatic source material only to the minute examination of literary scholars and historians. Yet studies of sources can open a world of ideas to the dramatic artist, in either conceptions of a play as a whole or for specific character sketches.

In this paper, I plan to examine Shakespeare's primary source materials for Macbeth, including extracts from Raphael Holinshed's historical works, in light of their suggestions for practical production. The performance side of analysis will appear in examples drawn from the recent Baker Shakespeare performances of Macbeth (in which I played Banquo) and the production notebooks of Glen Byam Shaw for his 1955 production at Stratford-upon-Avon (edited by Michael Mullin and published by the University of Missouri Press in 1976 as Macbeth Onstage).

Examination of Macbeth spins a complex web of textual history, comprising interrelated and plagiarized historical accounts, other plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and a host of current political events surrounding the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England, thus forming the United Kingdom. This paper will cast primary emphasis on the historical sources: potential political sources, such as the Gowrie conspiracy or the Gunpowder Plot, are by far secondary to the historical influences, and, while interesting, supply more information about chronologies than characters. Similarly, many sources are notable for influencing word-choice or metaphors in Shakespeare's work but, except where such borrowing sheds significant light on characters or situations, it will be ignored.

Raphael Holinshed and his predecessor historians supply the basic historical data for the story of Macbeth, and Shakespeare's modifications to that story can tell actors and directors a great deal about his possible intentions on the way the tale should be played. The most obvious change to the historical events is compression: Shakespeare's two main sources in Holinshed (Donwald's murder of King Duff when "kindled in wrath by the words of his wife" in 967 A.D. and Macbeth's usurpation around 1040 A.D.) lie over seventy years apart chronologically, and each spans several years. Yet the play itself passes in a blur and rush of realized ambition and consequent death, lasting perhaps two months. The three invasions in Holinshed, by Makdowald and his "kerns and gallowglasses," by Sueno and his Norwegians, and by Canute's Danes in revenge for Sueno's defeat, combine to one mammoth battle related in I.ii. Macbeth's ten years of beneficent rule are swallowed up in the pause between Acts II and III with no notice by any of his associates or enemies, and his seven years as a tyrant pass in a welter of short and action-filled scenes.

This compression and streamlining of source material confirms what many directors of Macbeth have come to realize: the play must move lightly, quickly: "as though one were running down a great flight of steps in a nightmare" (Mullin, p. 17) as Stratford director Shaw put it. The play cannot be bogged down in cumbersome set changes or long pantomimes or dumb-shows, or else the pacing, the ruinous speed Shakespeare has been so careful to build into his version of the source materials, will fail -- as will the show. Shaw designed a simple set, with flying backdrops and alternate use of forestage and back areas, to allow seamless transitions between prepared sets, often with blackouts as short as five seconds. Baker's production this year, though working with a much smaller budget, managed similar speed with mimimal set and frenetic percussion music to enliven even the longer blackouts.

But what type of man is the title character himself, Shakespeare's Macbeth, cobbled together from historical accounts and playwright's imagination? As mentioned, Macbeth's decade of good rule is eliminated -- his decay is swift and sudden after Duncan's murder. That crime itself, the killing of Duncan, receives different treatments in source and in drama. Donwald has his servants kill King Duff and then spirit the body away to a secret grave under a river in the fields: much is made of the process of the murder. Holinshed's Macbeth accomplishes his dirty deed in a much shorter narrative, but even he has assistance, from "his trustie friends, amongst whom Banquho was the chiefest," and then takes up the kingship for a peaceful and just reign a decade long.

But Shakespeare's Macbeth is all alone with his Lady in his crime, and the plan for the murder is simplicity itself: the action and interest of the play lie in the aftermath of the deed. This change, more than any other, rebukes those literary critics who argue that the Folio Macbeth has had extensive cuts, including a murder scene: any such addition would be dramatically superfluous, contrary to Shakespeare's obvious intentions. Indeed, on stage, "[Shaw's] staging emphasized not the murder, but the discovery of the murder" (Mullin, p. 249). The events of II.iii -- the suspense during the Porter's banter with the audience and then with Macduff and Lennox; the confusion of the discovery, as Lady Macbeth faints and the princes Malcolm and Donalbain discuss flight from the country -- are all additions by Shakespeare. Malcolm and Donalbain's departure appears in Holinshed, but the immediacy of their argument on stage makes it a significant part of the chaos of regicide, a more vital spectacle than Holinshed's tale of Donwald's overzealous murder of King Duff's drunken chamberlains.

Indeed, Shakespeare seems to have taken pains to make Macbeth less effective in his plotting than Holinshed's semi-historical figure. Holinshed's Macbeth invites "Banquho with his sonne named Fleance, to come to a supper that he had prepared for them, which was in deed, as he had devised, present death at the hands of certeine murderers, whom he hired to execute that deed, appointing them to meet with the same Banquho and his sonne without the palace, as they returned to their lodgings, and there to slea them...." Shakespeare's character's plan is much more prone to disaster: the invitation is to a large, well-attended feast, and the murder occurs beforehand, so that the murdered guests are sooner missed and suspicion is sooner aroused (as in Lennox's speech in III.vi). Holinshed's ruler is a cruel tyrant, Shakespeare's a growing paranoiac whose mind is slipping away under the weight of guilt and supernatural forces. This mental fragmentation, already apparent in the play, becomes even clearer in light of Shakespeare's modifications to his sources.

But it is in the minor characters that theatrical criticism of the sources proves most helpful. Small parts are often considered the most difficult for actors to play: fewer lines in the script means fewer clues around which to construct a character. The sources can provide additional clues, by either pointing out contrasts with the play or by supplying additional information or viewpoints.

I found Holinshed's Chronicles of great use during rehearsals for Baker Shakespeare's Macbeth, while I was trying to "find" Banquo. My first concept for the character was that of a serious, forthright, virtuous, slightly "stuck-up" Scottish noble who eschewed flattery. But this preliminary concept refused to fit the text: my so-called "ornithology monologue" ("This guest of summer, / The temple-haunting martlet...." (I.vi.3-4)) would not read as anything but pure flattery towards Duncan, and the annunciation scene with the witches (I.iii) always seemed to play flatly with a stern Banquo. Then I read Holinshed's Chronicles, and found traces of a different sort of thane.

Shakespeare had to be wary of how he portrayed Banquo, since the semi-legendary thane of Lochquhaber was the ancestor of King James I. But Holinshed describes Banquo's assistance in the murder of King Duncan, and that was the spark to make me realize that Banquo could be ambitious too: he had as much, or more, riding on the witches' prophecy as Macbeth. "Why, by the verities on thee made good / May they not be my oracles as well, / And set me up in hope?" (III.i. 8-10) suddenly took on new force as plotting on the part of Banquo. He might not be tempted to such dire acts as Macbeth, but could still maneuver for political position, as when my Banquo cut off Rosse (an evil schemer himself, in the Baker production) to agree with Duncan about the "temple-haunting martlet." The character as I conceived him suspected Macbeth of the murder, yet kept his peace, waiting to see how the witches' prophecy would turn out.

On reading Shaw's production notebook, I find I was not alone in my interpretation, for in the 1955 Stratford production Banquo was even more involved in the murder plot. In II.i, as Banquo encounters the seething Macbeth before the murder, Shaw's Banquo seems to guardedly agree with Macbeth with his "I shall be counsell'd." (II.i.29) At the end of III.iii, Macbeth enters to observe (and, indeed, to some extent frighten off) the fleeing Malcolm and Donalbain. Then, "as he goes into the hall he meets Banquo. Nothing is said." (Mullin, p. 109). But a look passes between the two -- a moment of complicity. Shaw even writes that "[Banquo] is the first person, I think, to suspect the truth about the murder of Duncan, but he says nothing. Why?.... I think his silence about the Witches is mostly on account of his own interest in the future of the Crown.... I don't think that it is possible to believe that he remains silent only out of friendship for Macbeth; & if it is fear that prevents him from telling the truth, & he is completely honest, then he could leave the country. Of course he is not a villain but is not a simple honest man either. He has his own particular form of ambition." (Mullin, p. 116)

Yet Banquo need not always be a stern Scot. Holinshed describes how, after encountering the witches, it "was reputed at the first but some vaine fantasticall illusion by Mackbeth and Banquho, insomuch that Banquho would call Mackbeth in jest, king of Scotland; and Mackbeth againe would call him in sport likewise, the father of manie kings," and "the same night after... Banquho jested with [Macbeth]." These descriptions solved the significant problem for Pab Schwendimann (who played Macbeth) and me of how to interpret the characters' lines after the witches disappearance in I.iii: should we be entirely believing or absolutely incredulous, or some mixture of the two? On first encountering the witches, my Banquo was scornful -- "Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear / Your favors nor your hate." (I.iii.60-1) Pab's Macbeth was more trusting, already partly under the influence of the witch's wound-up "charm," interested but still doubtful. The witches' mysterious disappearance forced a more serious note, but we soon fell to jesting, giving a comic motivation to lines such as "Your children shall be kings. / You shall be king!" (I.iii.86-7). Not until the arrival of Rosse and Angus and their news of Cawdor's death were we forced to realize that the witches might have spoken truth. Sources for the play thus provided motivations and subtext for a difficult acting passage, proving theatrically practical as well as literarily interesting.

King Duncan, too, can be significantly "fleshed out" by reference to the sources. Often he is played as a weak, doddering old man -- perhaps as counterpoint to the virile young Macbeth, perhaps because Holinshed says he was "soft and gentle of nature" and "had too much of clemencie," causing the rebellion of Makdowald through over-leniency to offenders. Yet later, says Holinshed, Duncan "began to assemble an armie in most speedie wise, like a verie valiant capteine: for oftentimes it happeneth, that a dull coward and slouthfull person, constrained by necessities, becommeth verie hardie and active," and he cleverly laces his enemies' supplies with sleep-inducing milkwort berries to free himself from seige.

Shakespeare's Duncan is more remote than Holinshed's: he does not lead the army himself, but hears of Macbeth and Banquo's exploits from behind the lines (I.ii). Yet he has no compunctions about sentencing Cawdor to death. Very possibly, Shakespeare's Duncan is a ruler similar to Duke Vincentio in Measure for Measure: ready to hand the cares of state (warfare, in this case) over to lieutenants when dirty work must be done, and then watching to ensure his commands are executed. But Duncan's lieutenant turns on him, and he has no time to corral him again, as Vincentio does with Angelo. While he is alive, though, Duncan shows a fair mind for political maneuvering. Holinshed sets a span of time between Macbeth's victory and Duncan's appointment of Malcolm as successor. As Shaw explains it, "the old King senses the power & ambitions of Macbeth & having honoured him, deliberately chooses this moment [I.iv] to name Malcolm as his successor & make him prince of Cumberland.... He again shows his good will to Macbeth by telling him that he will spend the night at his Castle at Inverness." (Mullin, p. 56) "Crowning Malcolm is a calculated risk, and by favoring Macbeth with his presence, Duncan hopes to cancel any resentment Macbeth might feel" (Mullin, p. 25) -- Duncan himself has his own ambitions. The audience will feel more horror at Macbeth and pity for Duncan if he is an effective ruler cut down in his prime than if he is a doddering, ineffective Lear: Shakespeare's variance from the sources again shows his dramatic intentions.

Analysis of Shakespeare's sources can prove invaluable to dramatic production as well as literary criticism. For either character sketches or purposes of subtext, source documents can provide additional information or views on the events and personalities that make up the tangled skein of a Shakespearean plot. Directors and doctors can thus come together, examining texts in different ways, but all for the purpose of enlightening and enlivening Shakespeare's complex and multi-faceted works.

Quotes from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland are taken from the ENGL 511 text.

Quotes from Glen Byam Shaw's production notebooks are taken from Macbeth Onstage: An Annotated Facsimile of Glen Byam Shaw's 1955 Promptbook, edited by Michael Mullin, copyright 1976 by University of Missouri Press.