So for those of you who took AP Cosmetology instead of English Lit during high school, here’s a summary of the plot: Macbeth’s villainous wife, Gruoch, convinces her hubby to rub out Scottish King Duncan, clearing the way for Mr. Mac to assume the royal throne.... updated and continued here.
47 comments:
I liked the Men in Tights version of eye of newt, the witch used a real eye not a plant! HA!
P.G. Wodehouse is all that is awesome.
He also, might possibly, have been correct.
Gruoch, eh? Who knew? YOU, evidently! Love learning stuff like this--hound's tongue stuff. Thanks! But wait, did Patrick Stewart really do that?
I hope you will also cover the annual Haggis Hunt in your blog. And tell us all about oatmeal.
Thanks for the laugh AND the education this morning! :)
Gruoch - hmmm, never heard of that one and I thought I understood Shakespeare - guess not!
sandie
I have to admit always liking Gruoch. It comes toward the end when she's losing it and trying to wash the blood off her hands. THAT'S when S. really gets me...
otherwise, funny stuff! :D
I think you should be in print - you have such an interesting take on these things which is sheer genius. I especially love your comparison with a certain Paris Hilton.
Out damn spot, out!
You're too funny. I love your clever wit. Spotted Newts, indeed. :)
HAH! I knew it!! After I read your first line I thought, "Um, I don't recall her name being Gruoch... maybe Nick's read too much Beowulf lately?"
I could have sworn Paris Hilton interviews are the greatest written tragedies that ever existed, but don't quote me on that.
You also forgot my favorite quote from the witches: "Something wicked this way comes..."
True story: Richard Burton (of Liz Taylor husbandry fame) was in Macbeth once, playing a lowly servant. He and the actor playing Macbeth hated each other and every night, after Lady Macbeth goes offstage to kill herself in Act Five, Macbeth asks Richard Burton (as his servant) what has happened, and upon hearing of her death launches into his famous "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech.
Supposedly, on closing night, the actor playing Macbeth asked his servant what has happened... and Burton replied, "Nothing, my Lord," forcing the actor playing Macbeth to simply stand on stage for a few awkward minutes before excusing himself, and dropping the last speech entirely.
Yes, Richard Burton was an asshole.
But he was a funny asshole.
A very apt post! So Macbeth was true then!
BTW, I am sure only the Scots eat haggis!
Maggie X
Nuts in May
Oh snaps on the Kathy Griffin burn!
I studied MacBeth for 2 years for my final school exams.. whatever you do, do NOT watch the Roman Polanski film version.. I don't think I shall ever get the image of naked dirty old women out of my head. *shudders*
"You just don’t bump off a head of state, then introduce yourself to your new subjects by announcing, “The name’s Macbeth, KING Macbeth.”
HYSTERICAL!
Fabulous take on Macbeth.
BRAVO!
You should write Shakespeare cliff notes
Well, if my high school teachers had explained it this way...then I could have skipped my AP cosmetology course and learned this instead!!!
Congratulations on your featured articles on your side bar, I hadn't notice them before. By the way, the new look is awesome.
Paris Hilton interview???? I don't think I want to experience one of those, it's bad enough she's on the news every time she leaves her house.
Gruoch, ha, who knew! The name suites her well. So much irony and tragedy and suspense and scheming.
Spotted newt too funny
Love your site and regret not finding it sooner.
Fun, humor and Shakespeare, what better way to learn a different side of things.
I Love how you incorporated the "Newt" from GA into your enjoyable article.:-D)
Been awhile since I've seen Macbeth but I always thought Lady Macbeth was trying to humiliate Macbeth into killing the king by belittling his masculinity
supercalifragilistic! thanks for clearing that up--according to you i guess we're in for another remake of the classic, perhaps set in a small town in the midst of waring duncan donut and starbuck clans
I wish you would've been around when I was in high school. You are better than Cliff's Notes- fo' real! I also loved the red-spotted newts. Ha! That was funny.
I was an exchange student while my class read Macbeth (though we read The Merchant of Venice in my Aussie class), so all of my Macbeth knowledge hinges on the sixth-grade performance my language arts class did. I was the third witch and got the "eye of newt" speech. I know a surprising amount of lines, probably owing to both the many, many weeks we devoted our classtime to practice and the weird memory of my male classmates in their sister's tights.
I found my grandmother's copy of Macbeth a few years ago, a beautiful little gilded thing. I plan on tackling it next year.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Ha! Interesting take. Needed the laugh in the midst of synopsis writing business. This post actually inspired me. :)
Shakespeare?!? SHAKESPEARE!!!!????
I thought you were talking about a new item menu at MacDonalds!
Darn, I hate when that happens.
So come back and read my real "G" post today involving a scintillating tale of word confusion...so much better then the G instruction link.
There is a store in San Francisco (where else?) that sells haggis. And I wasn't even looking for it.
My favorite is Julius Caesar.
You are so hilarious. Laughed right the way through. Love it.
Very much enjoyed your syllabus of MacBeth, but put me down as claiming Midsummer Night's Dream (not one of the tragedies, I acknowledge) for favorite Shakespeare.
I learned a lot. Thanks for sharing and helping my brain grow.
I studied macbeth at school but this has shown a totally new light on him....thanks for the insight! :)
And here I thought you were going to talk about Mac-n-Cheese.
Very entertaining take on Macbeth:-)
Hey! I studied beauty Culture but I still remember reading Macbeth and I appreciate your synopsis even though I don't remember much of it; your piece is impressive .
Shakespeare is awesome and you are really funny and I agree Gruoch is a wierd name .
I'm with you on McBeth. I especially love, "screw your courage to the sticking point" as one of the lines. Funny, but I always identified with Mac, who really wasn't such a bad guy - just led astray by an ambitious woman.
Very cool take on MacBeth..
The bard himself would be impressed!
Shakespeare and donuts. These are a few of my favorite things!!
Nice to meet you.
I loved your take on Macbeth. You have a nice sense of humor. Great post. BTW, thanks for becoming my 200th follower. I do not know how you found my blog but, thanks anyway.
I would not eat haggis if you gave it to me on a golden platter I could keep.
Okay. That's a lie. I might.
My friend Kathleen eats haggis, but only the vegetarian version which I fear is not really haggis.
Macbeth was never really my favorite play the the Bard but maybe I should revisit it, now that I am an adult. Sort of.
Thanks Nick, but you should of heard it ring before I broke it. It was glorious and my ears are still ringing.
This post is a hoot! I remember when we did Macbeth in high school... for weeks afterwards we were all screeching "Out damned spot!" Which was only slightly less amusing than when we watched West Side Story and everyone walked down the hall snapping for the next few weeks.
That was an interesting take on MacBeth, and easier to digest reading your post than when I studied it..
Ahhh...High School English. I had the best time in that class.
Great G post!
What a fun G post! I remember reading Macbeth in high school... I totally love all the tidbits about the play that you shared. So very fun!
I love your take on this! I once saw a God-awful modern production of MacBeth, where everyone dressed in black, and wore identical white masks (no, they didn't hint at this BEFORE we bought the tickets..)
As for the haggis, mmmnn - you can't beat it served with a plate of mashed neeps and tatties!
Yeeikes!
What a great G post for Alphabe-Thursday.
I'd like to say that Gruoch sounds an awful lot like my husband ex-wife but that would just be mean!
I really enjoyed your take on this work of literature. You can really write!
Thank you for linking.
A+
"As for Duncan, well, his descendants emigrated to America where they opened a successful chain of donut shops." LMAO!!
Nick, I really hope you posting this means you are recovered from your recent health woes. Miserable stuff and I'm sorry you went through it.
I have never enjoyed Shakespeare. The archaic language makes it too hard to read. My kids love it and so does my husband. This actually sounds like a fun story because I do like blood and gore. But you are the one who made it fun,not Bill.
You made me smile. This was EXACTLY how I eplained it when I tutored a bunch of brats who kept repeating that the plot didn't make sense! EXACTLY. I swear. hahahaha!
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