Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-08
,SHAKESPEAREs "MACBETH.'
pARTI.

beth by saying: "0f Macbeth have
already spoken once in passing, and who
could exhaust tho praises Of this sublime
work I? Since the Eumenides OF ASschy-
los nothing 20 grand and terrible has over
been written. The witches are not. 1t IS
true. divine Eumenides, and are not in-
tended to be- They are the i2noble aud
vulgar instruments OF hell u This praise
of Macbeth by the great German critic
is az once deserved and Discriminating,
and the terrible and sanguinary passions
of /" Macbeth 4" find a fit associate in the
Eumenides" Of Eschylos not that
there il A concurrence OF incident in the
two plays. but they are fit associates IN
their terrible grandeur.
The first edition OF "Macbeth was
printed in the folio OF 1923. and its place
in that publication was between "Julius
Caesar" and "Hamlet." 1t was regis
tered in the books Of the Ststioners
Company on the sth Of November, 1923.
by Blount & Jaggsfd, who Published
the folio, and they stated that IT was one
OF the plays mot formerly entered to
other men," The best information seems
10 be that the play was written In l60o
or 1905. There is a remote possibility
that there might have been a play sm-
bodvine the same subject as "Mscbeth
snterior 10 Shskespeares play, but the
evidence in support of sny ante-Shakes-
pearisn play is very sparse, meagre, and
unreliable.
The plot OF Macbeth ia q simple one,
and Shakespeare obtained the facts on
which no based this play from Holm
sheds "Chronicles of Englande, Scot
lande, and Ireland" and he blends In
the play the principal events OF two sto-
ries, one being the murder OF Duncan
by Macbeth, and the other being that OF
King Duiie, the great grandfather OF
Lady Macbeth, by Donwald. Shakes
peare. however, departed from the
"Chronicles" in his portrayal OF Ban
quo, and this no did in Difference 10
James l., whose ancestor Banquo was
represented as being. An examination
of the "Chronicles, however, would
satisfy any one that wonld make it how
closely Shakespeare followed their incl
dents and events. especially in the case
of 1.-The History of Makbeth," even
taking whole sentences from 1t.
II was the opinion OF Stevens ana
Malone that "The Witch" by Thomas
Middleton, WAS an earlier production
than Shakespeare Macbeth, and that
70 IL he was indebted for the witch in
carnations in Macbeth" Malone sub
sequently changed this opinion and
wrote very strong argument TO show
that il was written several years later
Shau Macbeth" There can be no
donbt that Malone's second and later
opinion on this subject was the correct
one. An examination OF "Ihe witch,
by Middleton, and comparison oil 1t
with the INSTRUMENTATION scenes IN
"Macbcth" will show how thoroughly
inferlor Middeton's production is to the
work of Shakespeare in both versifica-
ton and matter. is must be remember
ed in estimating the intellectual charac-
teristics OF the Instrumentation scenes
in Macbeth with view oil ascertain
ing whether they were the produc-
ton OF Shakespeare, that they we're
written as the speeches OF witches. and
that Shakespeare was giving uiterance
10 thoughts suited to that condition, and
that they are not the metaphysical soT
llouuies of Hamlet, or the not less sub
lime soliloquies of Macbeth himself
and never has the pen OF any writer put
into the nor ms OF witches speeches that
are so perfectly and wonderfully chsrac-
teristjc as those to which Shakespeare has
caused his witches in " Macbeth togiye
utterance. There can be no doubt that
Shakespeare has taken this whole idea of
the "Werd Sisters" from HOhnshed's
of Makbeih," for IN 1t he says " II
fortuned as Macbeth and Banquho
iournied towards Fores, where the
iiug then laie, they went sport
ing by waie together without other
companie, save onelie themselves.
passing through the woods and
fields. when suddenlie, in the middst
of a laund, there met them three women
10 strange and wild apparel, resembling
creatures of elder world, whom when
ihev attentivelie beheld, wondering
mach at the sight, the first Of them
snake aud said 'All halle Macbeth,
tnahe of CLAIMS i Qor he had lathe en-
tered into that dignitie and office by the
death Of his father. Smelly The second
of them said: Halle Macbeth, thane
of Cawder. But the third said. All
halle Macbeth, that hereafter shall be
King of Scotland i" In Act l., Scene
2. in which Macbeth and Banquo first
meet the three witches, the text reads as
follows:
First Witch: AN hail, Macbeth hail to thec,
'" second witca: IAN hail. Macbeth hail to
50 thee, thane Of CawdOr! -
Third Witch: AN hail. Macbeth that shalt
Dc King hereafter !"
Il will thus be seen by comparing the
text Of the play with that of Holinshsd,
how closely Shakespeare follows 1t,
almost copying it word for word, and
that in il he found the suggestion for the
witches in Macbeth" for not only does
this scene occur between Macbeth, Ban
quo, and the three witchesin Holinshed,
as shown, but they supply the same mo-
tive to the storyin the Chronicle " that
they do to the play of macbeth as
written by Shakespeare. There can be
40 question, therefore, that the t0ltcheS
in Macbeth acre absolutely the crea-
ton Of Shakespeare, excepting f1 so
far as the suggestion came from IfotiII-
shcd's CIsr0Ricie."
Ht play bNoAc
taxable marks OF hssty composition, and
there can be no doubt that it was very
rapidly written by Shakespeare, and
written doubtless under a pressure In
duced by the needs of the theatre or thea
tres in which he was Interested, but it IS
also true that il was written in the full
maturity of his genius. So unmistaka-
Bile are the evidences of rapid compost
ton that some critics have declared that
portions of the play we're not written by
Shakespeare at all In this, however,
cannot concur, for most critical exami-
nation of the play, and all the testimony
supporting the other view, convince me
that eVery line Of "Macbeth waS
seritten by Shakespeare.
have already referred to that portion
OF this play that relates to the witches,
aud think have established that Shake
speare wrote it. Another part OF this
play which some critics have declared