TEXT:
ACT II - SCENE IV. Outside Macbeth's castle.
Enter ROSS and an old Man
OLD MAN
Threescore and ten I can remember well:
Within the volume of which time I have seen
Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night
Hath trifled former knowings.
ROSS
Ah, good father,
Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act,
Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock, 'tis day,
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:
Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame,
That darkness does the face of earth entomb,
When living light should kiss it?
OLD MAN
'Tis unnatural,
Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last,
A falcon, towering in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.
ROSS
And Duncan's horses - a thing most strange and certain -
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make
War with mankind.
OLD MAN
'Tis said they eat each other.
ROSS
They did so, to the amazement of mine eyes
That looked upon’t. Here comes the good Macduff.
NOTES:
Book of Psalms
The Book of Psalms is among the more mysterious books of the Bible, featuring as it does a compendium of prayers and hymns with less of a concrete narrative. It contains some of the good book’s most beautiful poetry, and so it is a lovely gentle touch that Shakespeare has the old man describe his lifespan with an echo of Psalms 90:10.
The Globe Theatre
Even the name of the theatre that Shakespeare and his colleagues built for themselves was The Globe - the whole world. No surprise then that different parts of it had nicknames linked to heaven, and hell, and that the language in this scene talks of the bloody stage that man acts upon. (Remember As You Like It, wherein Shakespeare insists that “all the world’s a stage”…!
For a lovely description of how the theatre space worked at the original Globe, via the workings of the new Globe Theatre in London, you can read an excellent article by Prof. Farah Karim-Cooper here.
Horses in Shakespeare
Horses were an essential part of everyday life in Shakespeare’s world, and there are equestrian references and metaphors in just about every play. It’s all the more shocking that, as a portent in Macbeth, he describes horses attacking and eating each other - this is an almost unimaginable image. For a very thorough breakdown of Shakespeare and Horses (and Queen Elizabeth I for good measure), there’s a splendid article from Horse and Rider Living here.
Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic fallacy is a literary device, wherein human responses and feelings are attributed to animals, inanimate objects or (particularly) the weather. This portion of Macbeth is a very good example - we heard in the previous scene that the weather was appalling during the night, and now we’re hearing that animals from owls (already very ominous creatures) to horses (reliable, domestic and decent animals) have been behaving very strangely. The natural world and the weather appears to be responding to the chaos of Duncan’s murder.
Théâtre du Soleil
If I hadn’t gone off to Japan to study Ninagawa, I very possibly might have gone to France to write about the work of Ariane Mnouchkine and Théâtre du Soleil. (I still might!) For the company’s 50th anniversary in 2014, she translated and directed a production of Macbeth with a cast of 42 performers - the largest the company ever staged. It was monumental and quite extraordinary. Every scene had a meticulous, fascinating setting, effortlessly choreographed into existence by this extraordinary company. Lady Macbeth read her husband’s letter in a conservatory full of plants. The banquet scene was unimaginably grand. And the scene mentioned in this episode - the murder - took place in the stables, made all the more fractious by the nervous whinnying of the horses. It was unforgettable.
The horse and the acting company of Macbeth by Théâtre du Soleil.