Macbeth Comparative Essay

Film portrayals of classic literature have recently become popular. Studios use their creative freedom and budgets to display the works of literary artists in inventive ways. For example, many of William Shakespeare’s texts have been adapted to film (i.e. Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, etc.). One of these numerous adaptions is Macbeth (2010). While the transfer from text to screen frequently flops, it can be argued that this representation of Macbeth is successful in its attempt to accurately carry out the task. Macbeth’s theme – the causes of one’s ambition and hunger for power – may not be obvious to audiences who exclusively read the play’s text. For audiences not yet grown accustomed to Shakespeare’s ‘difficult’ writing prose, the deeper meaning (if you will) of Macbeth becomes lost within masses of couplets and soliloquies. Here is where a film portrayal is helpful. The theme of the original play is brought to life by the directing, filming, and acting presented on …show more content…
Lines spoken are essential to the both the play and movie Macbeth as they provide exposition, characterization, and a myriad other cardinal attributes of storytelling. The lines of a work establish the overall feeling and mood of the work, proving their importance. It is necessary that these characteristics are transferred from text to film in order to keep the theme intact. Macbeth (2010) uses almost all of the original lines from Macbeth and – as a result of the creative freedoms of Hollywood style films – leaves room for the actors to take creative liberties. Simply put, this is because lines alone do not make a movie. Emotion needs to reveal itself; a scene’s atmosphere needs to be felt by the audience. In a huge moment of characterization, the viewers need to be convinced they are truly undergoing that particular character’s sensations. For example, in Macbeth’s anagnorisis