FerdinandGriffon wrote:Avoidance is one mode of denial. Seeking refuge in alcohol is one way of avoiding a problem. Therefore, drinking is one way to achieve denial, and making Macbeth drink is one way to represent his denial in performance.
Am I missing some crucial part of your argument?
Macbeth
can't avoid himself. The whole question of denial only came up as a way to explain Welles' choice to have Macbeth stumble through a large part of the later half of the play. To me, this is not a particularly effective way to illuminate Macbeth's inner dilemma. Macbeth vehemently desires to avoid himself but Shakespeare plants devices within the narrative so that Macbeth is forced to look at his actions. (Incidentally, Raphael Holinshed's version of Macbeth, from which Shakespeare's version largely derives, is absent of character motivations, so this aspect of the story is largely Shakespeare's invention.) Now if the particular inner workings of Macbeth's mind are not made absolutely clear to the audience then
Macbeth remains some spooky hybrid, full of wonderful poetry, but ultimately unfathomable, like much of the reputation of Shakespeare (in the US, anyway). I really loathe this sort of attitude toward
The Bard. It's a way to keep him a distant, top shelf, remote playwright, not mention its effect on films of Shakespeare.
). As I'm sure you are aware, this box set is in no way an official release.
