Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504140052
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MARIE S. BEAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In "Witches and Jesuits," Garry Wills, author of the Pulitizer Prize-winning "Lincoln at Gettysburg," applies his protean intellect to the problem of the so-called "curse" of "Macbeth." Actor after actor has been frustrated by the seeming unplayability of the piece.
Wills points out that actors and directors have not always considered the play to be a curse. It was once playable. By "historical accident," he argues, we have forgotten what kind of play "Macbeth" really is. He proposes to correct this by placing the play in its own historical context.
In developing his thesis - that the setting for "Macbeth" is none other than the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605 - he concocts a potent brew of religion, politics and theater.
To help us in the United States appreciate the atmosphere in which people attended plays in 1606, he asks us to imagine what it might have been like in the days of the Cold War if a communist cell - Americans acting under foreign direction - had planted a nuclear device under the United States Capitol. This device is timed to go off when the President is addressing both houses of Congress, with all executive officers in attendance, as well as all justices of the Supreme Court. The three branches of government would be wiped out; every constitutional successor to the president killed.
Then, at the last minute, the plot is discovered and disarmed. A clue that puzzles both the FBI and the CIA is deciphered by none other than the president himself. "The Leader of the Free World thwarts godless communism, vindicating the providential role of the United States in an apocalyptic time of confrontation between Good and Evil."
Just so, Wills says, godfearing English subjects interpreted the attempt on their king in 1605 when a religious cold war existed between England and papal Rome. He points out "buzz words" in "Macbeth" that seem so obscure and meaningless to us, but which appealed to the inflamed emotions of the time in much the same ways that "grassy knoll," "conspiracy" and "sneak attack" affect us.
Because the commemoration of the event is called Guy Fawkes Day, the real significance of the Gunpowder Plot is lost on us. We know vaguely that Guy Fawkes was the demolition expert involved in some plot to blow up King James I. Less known is that the whole thing was planned in revenge for the laws against Roman Catholics.
Also, pertinent to an understanding of the play is some understanding of the importance of the belief in witches in the theological politics of the time. Wills cites other Gunpowder plays (and other witch plays) to show that their overriding message is that "traffic with the devil mounts a threat to good government and involves traffickers with a devilish community of higher and lower spirits" [emphasis his].
Macbeth was intricately involved in that traffic.
Wills holds that the witches of "Macbeth" have a political role and are, therefore, central to the play. The view that the witches provide mere atmosphere, and the desire to spare audiences from the theological politics of the piece have led to the editorial practice of eliminating them, especially from the second half. Wills argues that this secularizes the play and eviscerates it of its power which is in its depiction of the awful reality of evil and the frightful consequences of trifling with evil for personal gain.
He concludes that "a play cursed by the witches will escape the theatrical curse."
"Witches and Jesuits" will be a rare find for a wide reading audience. As he did with "Lincoln and Gettysburg," Wills demonstrates that language has power beyond the mere utterance of words. As he says at the beginning, "I try to consider Shakespeare as creating performable meaning, not just words on a page" [emphasis his]. He uses his considerable critical skills and mastery of the English language to the end that the meaning of "Macbeth" may be recovered.
We are all the richer for it.
Marie S. Bean is a retired college chaplain.
by CNB