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What's done cannot be undone. – To bed, to bed, to bed!" [3] Shakespeare did not coin the phrase; it may actually be a derivative of the early 14th-century French proverb: Mez quant ja est la chose fecte, ne peut pas bien estre desfecte, which is translated into English as "But when a thing is already done, it cannot be undone".
The traditional origin is said to be a curse set upon the play by a coven of witches, angry at Shakespeare for using a real spell. [2] One hypothesis for the origin of this superstition is that Macbeth, being a popular play, was commonly put on by theatres in financial trouble, or that the high production costs of Macbeth put theatres in financial trouble.
William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name when in the theatre (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). Actors also avoid even quoting the lines from Macbeth before performances, particularly the Witches' incantations. Outside a theatre and after a performance, the play can be spoken of ...
The witches' first prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth immediately begins to harbour nervous ambitions of becoming king. King Duncan himself soon welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, saying they will Macbeth's castle in Inverness; also, Duncan's son Malcolm is announced as his official heir. Macbeth sends a letter about the witches ...
Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Three Witches by John Wootton. Many scholars see Banquo as a foil and a contrast to Macbeth. Macbeth, for example, eagerly accepts the Three Witches' prophecy as true and seeks to help it along. Banquo, on the other hand, doubts the prophecies and the intentions of these seemingly evil creatures.
The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest were the only two of Shakespeare's plays to comply with this standard. [ 6 ] Law professor Eric Heinze, however, argues that particularly notable in the play is a series of social relationships, which is in crisis as it sheds its feudal forms and confronts the market forces of early modern Europe.
In Act 1.4, Duncan declares Malcolm to be his heir ("We will establish our estate upon / Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland" – Duncan, Act 1.4 37–39). This act frustrates Macbeth. [3] Malcolm is a guest at Macbeth's castle when Macbeth kills Malcolm's father, Duncan, in Act 2.2. [3]
After their horrible act is done, Macduff knocks on the gate. Macduff's knock is the return of the world the Macbeths have left. It signals "the pulses of life are beginning to beat again: and the re-establishment of the goings-on of the world in which we live, first makes us profoundly sensible of the awful parenthesis that had suspended them".