Macbeth - Macbeth

A five-act tragedy by the English playwright Shakespeare. There are differing opinions on the date of its creation, but at least it took on its present form in 1606. Based on the historian Holinshed's Annals of Scots (1587).

Macbeth, a Scottish military commander, is moved by the witches' prophecy and, instigated by his tomboyish wife, kills King Duncan, who visits his castle, and takes the throne. He then plots to assassinate his friend Banquo and his son, whose descendants are predicted to become kings, but the son escapes. Voices cursing Macbeth's tyranny spread throughout the country, and a rebellion breaks out. He seeks the witches' prophecy again, and becomes confident that he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood moves or a man who is not born from a woman's womb appears. However, the army led by Macduff, who has received King Duncan's surviving son Malcolm, advances to Macbeth's castle, hiding their presence by holding up the branches of the forest. Macbeth, dejected by the news of his wife's madness, tries to muster his last courage, but when Macduff hears that he was born by cutting open his mother's womb, he is defeated and killed in a hopeless one-on-one battle. At first, the lady does not understand the meaning of the murder of the king, but soon becomes vaguely aware of the meaning of their actions, and after sleepwalking, in a fit of madness, she throws herself off the stage and dies. This is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, and the pace is fast. However, the essence of this tragedy lies in the desperate struggle between Macbeth, who realizes that he has killed his own sleep immediately after murdering the king, and the fact that he cannot atone for his sin because the king's blood on his hands cannot be washed off even if the ocean is used up, and the consciousness that this cannot be washed off, and the consciousness that this cannot be atoned for, as well as the consciousness that he is struggling with.

[Jiro Ozu]

"Macbeth" (translated by Toyoichiro Nogami, Iwanami Bunko / translated by Isao Mikami, Kadokawa Bunko / translated by Tsuneari Fukuda, Shincho Bunko)" ▽ "Shakespeare's Complete Works 29: Macbeth, translated by Yushi Odashima (1983, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Ozu Jiro's translation of "Macbeth" (included in "Shakespeare's Complete Works 7", 1967, Chikuma Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの劇作家シェークスピアの五幕悲劇。創作年代については異説があるが、少なくとも現在の形をとったのは1606年のことである。歴史家ホリンシェッドの『スコットランド年代記』（1587）から取材したもの。

　スコットランドの武将マクベスは魔女の予言に心を動かされ、男勝りの夫人の扇動を受けて、自分の居城を訪れてきた国王ダンカンを殺して王位につき、さらに、その子孫が王者となると予言されている友人バンコー父子の暗殺を謀るが、息子は逃亡してしまう。マクベスの暴政を呪(のろ)う声は全国に広がり、反乱が起こる。彼はふたたび魔女の予言を求め、バーナムの森が動いたり、女の腹から生まれない男が出現するまでは敗れることはないとの自信を得る。しかし、ダンカン王の遺児マルカムをいただきマクダフに率いられた軍隊は、森の枝をかざして姿を隠しながらマクベスの城に進軍する。夫人狂死の報に暗澹(あんたん)たるマクベスは、最後の勇気を奮い起こそうとするが、マクダフは母親の腹を切り開いて生まれたと聞いて、絶望的な一騎打ちに敗死する。夫人は最初国王殺害という事柄の意味を理解しえなかったが、やがて自分たちの行為の意味をおぼろげながら意識するようになり、夢遊病にかかったすえ、狂乱のうちに身を投げて死ぬ。シェークスピア悲劇のなかでもっとも短く、進行のテンポも速いが、マクベスが国王殺害の直後に自分の安眠を殺してしまったことを悟り、手に付着した王の血は大海の水を使い尽くしても洗い落とせないと罪の償いえないことを意識しながら、その意識との必死の葛藤(かっとう)を重ねてゆくところにこの悲劇の本質がある。

［小津次郎］

『『マクベス』（野上豊一郎訳・岩波文庫／三神勲訳・角川文庫／福田恆存訳・新潮文庫）』▽『小田島雄志訳『シェイクスピア全集29　マクベス』（1983・白水社）』▽『小津次郎訳『マクベス』（『シェイクスピア全集7』所収・1967・筑摩書房）』

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