Shakespeare’s Macbeth Sound, Fury, and Four Centuries of Bad Luck
Macbeth is to tragedy what frozen concentrate is to fruit punch; though notably shorter than any of Shakespeare’s other plays, it’s easily the bloodiest and most tragic. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth, who is second from the top in the totem pole of Scottish royalty, is told by three witches that he will soon be king, which makes him feel pretty good. After all, what could be more reliable than a cryptic, vaguely-worded prophecy involving hideous old crones and a cave stockpiled with reptilian body parts? To Macbeth’s credit, however, he bypasses the whole take-my-(spell-casting-)word-for-it thing by putting patience on the back-burner and killing the current king himself. Prophecy: accomplished!
After that, it’s only a small matter of killing everyone who suspects / might one day suspect / was college roommates with someone who might one day suspect that Macbeth is guilty. Though his wife initially egged him on to murder the king, she eventually becomes so horrified by guilt and the escalating violence that she throws herself off their hard-earned castle. The play then ends in an all-out war where, after slaughtering a bunch more guys for good measure, Macbeth is finally murdered, decapitated, and dethroned. Spoiler alert: murdering someone and robbing their place in the chain of command leaves you pretty wide open for, you know, being murdered and robbed of your place in the chain of command.