Shakespearean Christmas Carols, part 2

Tomorrow is Christmas! And you know what that means... MORE SHAKESPEAREAN CHRISTMAS CAROLS!

Seriously, Cordelia... you better watch out...

I love The Holly and the Ivy, but it doesn't seem to be as popular as it used to be. It's so relentlessly up-tempo and goes on and on and on and on and on...

If you're in the mood for more Shakespearean Christmas Carols, check out my first installment and be sure to read the reader-submitted ones in the comments, including two different takes on Carol of the Bells and another jab at King Lear.

Happy holidays to all of you! I will be taking next week off, but will see you back here in 2016. It's been a busy and exciting year for me, and I am so very thankful to all of you for reading and supporting my work. I am looking forward to another year of sharing Shakespearean silliness with you!

Macbeth, part 28

THE STORY SO FAR: Macduff has fled to England to join up with Duncan's son Malcolm, who is planning to take back Scotland from the murderous Macbeth. But first they are going to get a bit of bad news...

This is really quite a powerful scene. I've seen a lot of different responses from Macduff, ranging from shocked stillness to cold fury to just white hot grief. It's always mesmerizing. There's some fantastic writing going on here:

MALCOLM

Be comforted:
Let's make us medicines of our great revenge,
To cure this deadly grief.

MACDUFF

He has no children. All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?

MALCOLM

Dispute it like a man.

MACDUFF

I shall do so;
But I must also feel it as a man:

That's some powerful stuff there. You can't really make this stuff funny. 

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 27

It's time for the so-called England scene! Paradoxically, the England scene is the longest scene in the Scottish play. 

This interaction between Macduff and Malcolm is pretty weird and it sometimes gets cut entirely from performances. I think that's a mistake, as it gives us a great insight into Malcolm's character. Up until now the apparently rightful heir to the throne of Scotland has been a complete cipher, but now he gets to flex his political muscles in a series of carefully considered lies designed to test and manipulate Macduff. 

He might be a capable and deserving leader, but we kind of get the sense here that Malcolm is not necessarily a savior in shining armor. 

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 26

THE STORY SO FAR: Dogged by the kind of paranoia that comes with usurping the throne and murdering a bunch of people, Macbeth went to get more prophecies from the three weird sisters and, being the kind of person who murders bunches of people, he decides to murder a bunch more people. 

Ba dum bum TISH.

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 25

It is with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to the witches today, mostly for the very selfish reason that they are very amusing and endearing somehow, but also because things get BAD after this. 

See? I told you things get BAD.

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 24

THE STORY SO FAR: Macbeth, hoping to find out more about how his ill-gotten reign will fare in the future, has once again sought out the three weird sisters, who have finally managed to get Hecate to go away and stop embarrassing them. 

So basically in Shakespeare (and, indeed, in most classical literature and drama), if there is a prophecy it will (a) totally come true, but (b) come true in a way that you totally didn't see coming. Prophecies are a pain in that way.

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 23

I know everyone wants to get on with the apparitions and the prophecies and the fun stuff like that, but I've suddenly become very fond of Hecate. Sorry.

Oh Hecate, baby. There's such a thing as trying too hard.

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

Macbeth, part 22

THE STORY SO FAR: After arranging Banquo's murder Macbeth has got it all, but he's still uncertain about the future. Determined to find out what will happen, he resolves to visit the weird sisters once more...

Poor Hecate. She just can't catch a break. However, to be perfectly honest, her interpolation here is just as unnecessarily silly as it was a few scenes ago. 

Anyways, this is the famous cauldron scene. Here are some samples:

Patrick Stewart's Macbeth

Ian McKellen's Macbeth

Roman Polanski's Macbeth (WARNING: CONTAINS NUDE WITCHES)

Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30