The last couple of non-review, non-Macbeth Movie Madness-related posts have dealt with gender in Macbeth. Bawdiness. Women. Witches. Let’s continue in the vein and discuss what it means to be a man.
Now for those of you who are thinking, o, Bill, it must be that time of the review cycle when you just love Love LOVE to dip into the ol’ concordance to show us what words are featured most prominently in the play at hand. I’d love to answer in the affirmative on that one. Only if Macbeth has a primary word, it ain’t “man.” If we take into account all the “man”-ly variations, Macbeth has 55 instances, which sounds impressive. Except comparatively speaking, it isn’t. The top four in the Canon (Much Ado About Nothing, Timon of Athens, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar) all have more than 100 uses, the top three all have more than double Macbeth’s. So there’s that.
Regardless, the concept of manhood does seem to be a major topic in the play.
Continue reading “Macbeth: Oh, be a man…”