Survey on the Way of Representing the Ambiguous Three Weird Sisters in Macbeth Through the Style of Japanese Adaptation

CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by DSpace at Waseda University Survey on the Way of Representing the Ambiguous Three Weird Sisters in Macbeth through the Style of Japanese Adaptation UMEMIYA Yu (Assistant Professor at Waseda University) In 1623, seven years after the death of William Shakespeare, the book called First Folio was published. The incomparable value of this collective book is not only due to the fact that it contains 36 of Shakespeare’s works, but also because it holds several plays that have never been published in other format. Without the Folio, 18 plays could not have reached the present time, including some of the well-known ones such as Twelfth Night, Macbeth, or Antony and Cleopatra to name but a few. An Indian scholar Ranjee Shanani once wrote in his book Shakespeare Through Eastern Eyes as follows. His creations are not ideas but characters – real men and women, fellow humans with ourselves. We can follow their feelings and thoughts like those of our most intimate acquaintances. (177) Shanani’s recognition tells us that Shakespeare is no longer restricted even within the diverse space where Ben Jonson describes in the preface of the Folio, ‘He was not of an age, but for all time’ (Norton 10), but more so Shakespeare is now for all the world. On the contrary, some may still claim that Elizabethan senses are required to fully embrace the significance of Shakespeare’s art (Smith 一五三 17). The bard is widely understood to be a playwright who created his works for his contemporary audiences, and therefore we cannot totally deny the harsh remarks by rather conservative critics. In other words, without having the sufficient amount of knowledge of Shakespeare’s time, there are some fragments where we cannot comprehend. 66 Survey on the Way of Representing the Ambiguous Three Weird Sisters in Macbeth through the Style of Japanese Adaptation PORTER. Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven. (2.3.8-11) The quotation above is from Act2 , Scene 3 of Macbeth, known as the Porter scene. The noun‘ equivocator’ and the verb‘ equivocate’ can be the keywords of the entire play, because the plot describes the protagonist who is bewildered by the double meaning of the prophecies. More significantly, the scene works as a comic relief within the dense tragedy. The words are associated with a Jesuit, Henry Garnet, who was executed on 3rd May 1606 for treasonous complicity in the Gunpowder Plot. He is reported to be a person who testified at court by using the equivocation to escape the fatal sentence (Brooke ed. 59-60). By comically portraying the recent scandal in the play, the audience might have had the moment of laughter. It is not surprising if the same effect could not be achieved in the present auditorium, and most certainly the scene makes no sense to the ordinary modern audiences abroad. Even with the knowledge of this historical allusion, the scene now lacks the fresh topicality. Despite the problematic features contained in the play, Macbeth has attracted the interest of both academics and audiences for a long time. In the archive of the Royal Shakespeare Company, there are 46 records of performances in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon within almost 200 years of its history (see Appendix 1). In comparison to a much lesser acknowledged play, such as Titus Andronicus, with only six records including Yukio Ninagawa’s visiting production from Japan (see Appendix 2), the popularity of Macbeth is undeniable. Although the Royal Shakespeare Company produced only three productions after the turn of the century, within these 16 years, Macbeth has been performed six times at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, including two touring productions (see Appendix 3). This fact should confirm the play’s unchanging appreciation from the general public. In addition, Macbeth has appeared numerous times in the form of film. According to the list compiled by Graham Holderness and Christopher 一五二 McCullough, the first recorded film version of Macbeth was created by William V. Ranous in 1908 (34). Since then, 23 films have been premiered within the course of 75 years. It might not be surprising to see Hamlet on the top of the list with 34 examples, followed by Romeo and Juliet’s 24, Macbeth comes in third place. 67 Interestingly, after the completion of the list by Holderness and McCullough in 1994, six more versions of Macbeth became available, while Hamlet remains at the summit of the list with five additions, butRomeo and Juliet opening up the post for Macbeth with three records (see Appendix 4). Thus, the story of Macbeth has maintained its popularity, and various attempts have been explored by people from both stage and film. Because of its frequency, the ways of interpretation or representation vary. Compared to the filming technology in the early 20th century, diverse means of capturing the scenes have become available. Up till 1945, the films of Macbeth remained silent, and from 1951, it gradually shifted to colour images (Holderness and McCullough 34-5). The list may now also include the ones created for television broadcasting, reenactments of the stage or even direct recordings from the theatrical productions. In Macbeth, with the story dealing with the feature of unnatural elements, how to express the three Weird Sisters, Banquo’s Ghost, and Apparitions can often be the obstacles when creating a stage version. Additionally, as Macbeth himself mentions in the play as,‘ Who can impress the forest, bid the tree / Unfix his earthbound root?’ (4.1.110-1), there are several scenes‘ That will never be’ (4.1.109) realised in the live performances. On the contrary, John Emerson, a director who created the film version of Macbeth in 1916, once mentioned, the supernatural atmosphere of the play is obtainable by the aid of the camera (Ball 229), and therefore, this essay is, henceforce, going to explore the various visualizations of the significant, yet problematic characters, the three Weird Sisters, in order to highlight the unique image created by Japanese film director, Akira Kurosawa. Before moving on to the survey of the features in the films, it is worth considering how these characters are treated by Shakespeare’s hands, and believed to be existed in the real world. When we especially look at the Japanese translated works, 15 versions out of 20 use Majyo (魔女), the direct replacement of the word ‘witch’, to signify these characters. In the Folio text, there are six stage directions with the noun‘ Witches’, and therefore, it might be plausible to agree on calling the 一五一three sisters,‘ witches’. However, as the embodiment of the equivocator, the way to interpret and represent their figures should require further consideration. Nicholas Brooke does not ignore the fact that the word‘ witch’ is only used once in the play (Act 1, Scene 6) to connect the sisters to this mysterious being (Brooke ed. 3). The line is delivered by one of the three when she recollects her encounter and the 68 Survey on the Way of Representing the Ambiguous Three Weird Sisters in Macbeth through the Style of Japanese Adaptation scorn from the Sailor’s Wife. To be precise, the word is mentioned once more in Act 4, Scene 1, as an ingredient thrown into the cauldron to complete their spell.‘ [W]itch’s mummy’ (4.1.23) is treated carelessly just as they drop‘ poisoned entrails’ (4.1.5),‘ Toad’ (4.1.6),‘ snake’ (4.1.12),‘ Eye of newt, and toe of frog, / Wool of bat, and tongue of dog; / Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, / Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing’ (4.1.14-17),‘ Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf’ (4.1.22), ‘maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt-sea shark; / Root of hemlock’ (4.1.23-25), ‘Liver of blaspheming Jew, / Gall of goat, and slips of yew’ (4.1.26-27),‘ Nose of Turk, and Tartan’s lips; / Finger of birth-strangled babe’ (4.1.29-30),‘ tiger’ s chawdron’ (4.1.33), and‘ baboon’s blood’ (4.1.37). Brooke even adds‘ blood of a bat’ (4.1.51),‘ lizard’s brain’ (4.1.52),‘ The juice of toad, the oil of adder’ (4.1.53), ‘red-haired wench’ (4.1.56), which are restored from the possible revision of Thomas Middleton (Brooke ed.53 -4). Some of the components we see here are not realistically obtainable, but moreover handling the mummified body of their kind should foster the impression of the three to be different from the actual witches. Their relationship with Hecate would of course draw them back to the image of the witches, but since the part is thought to be an addition made by Middleton (Brooke ed. 57), Shakespeare’s interpretation for the three could have been different. The understanding of the witches in the real world should also be significant to distinguish the model that the directors of the films decided to visualize. The tradition of witchcraft and magic has a long history, deriving from the Greeks and the Romans that‘ attempts to manipulate the natural and supernatural’ (Maxwell- Stuart 2). The activity includes‘ curing illness, dividing the future or destroying one’s enemies’ (Maxwell-Stuart 2). From various historical records of witch trials, we may discover evidences of their acts and contracts with the devils or familiars, which end up with the subjects’ imprisonments or executions. Having surveyed the witchcraft cases that happened during 1560 to 1705 in Fife, Scotland, Stuart Macdonald concludes that most of the accused were the ones who had the‘ power to harm, and troublesome neighbour[s]’ (50).

Load more