Macbeth vs Scotland, PA Essay -- essays research papers fc

mackintoshbethThe thin line between calamity and sad humor.William Shakespeares Macbeth has always been considered one of the literary worlds roughly celebrated tragedies. It is arguably the darkest and most gruesome of his plays. The protagonist, Macbeth, is the poster child for tragic hero, a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal damage that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy (www.dictionary.com). And until recently we were satisfied with that At the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, a natural depression budget comedy was unveiled. It was called Scotland, PA. This film was written by a first-time director, truncheon Morrissette, and depicts the familiar story in a surprisingly different form.The inaugurate of the plot is held in tact but the background is shifted several coulomb years, to the 1970s. The characters names even re of import familiar. The dialogue is contemporary English unless you can still recognize the simi larities in conversation. Major themes from the original toy revenge, guilt, self doubt, fate, and prophecy still exist in this manipulated adaption. He (Morrissette) is able-bodied to make an interesting point about how the end between tragedy and comedy is often how the material is viewed by the audience.(Berardinelli)Prior to Morrissettes Scotland, PA, Roman Polanski brought his adaptation of Macbeth (1971) to the silver screen. This more traditional adaptation follows the plays blueprint. The setting remains unchanged, as well as the plot and dialogue. This movie was make soon after a horrifically traumatic events in Polanskis life, the grievous murder of his pregnant wife by members of the Charlie Manson family. The film whitethorn bemuse been a therapeutic outlet for him. The extremely gory murder scenes may have been a result of his attempts to deal with his pain and show view as insight into the horror that filled his life at the time. Polanskis adaptation definitely a dded a horror flick tone with the gruesome limning of contemptible violence.The most notable difference in the portrayal of Mac and Pat, in Scotland, PA versus the portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, is the atrociousness, or neglect of, with which we view them and their crimes. Mac and Pat seem to be less despicable than Macbeth and Lady Macbeth for several reasons. One key reason is the omission of the legitimate murder of Macduffs family ... ...ind their evil deed. Lady Macbeth is aware of her position as motivator, and even states in the play that she wishes she were a man so that she could check out their plan herself. Even in Scotland, PA, Pat is continuously enjoin and instructing Mac in all of their actions pertaining to the murder and cover up. She tells Macbeth to get the synthetic rubber combination, to stop him from escaping, and talks him through virtually the entire process. The major difference in the two works is presentation and context. This r elates directly to the representation of the main characters. By keeping the premise but altering the way the track of events occurs gives the audience a different insight into the development and representation of the characters, curiously Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both adaptations were very well done, particularly Scotland, PA. It shows that, with a pocketable tweaking, comedy can be found in even the most bloody and tragic of stories.Works CitedDictionary.com. 2005, Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 3/8/2005 .Macbeth 1971 inspection EOFFTV. 2000, 3/8/2005 .Phillips, Brian and Douthat, Ross. SparkNote on Macbeth. 9 Mar. 2005 . Review Scotland, PA. 2002, 3/8/2005 .