31 Days, 31 Villains: #8-#7, The Macbeths

We dig further into the top ten with the regicidal duo of Mr. and Lady Macbeth – bad people, bad rulers, ambitious, mentally unstable, and viciously insecure, they’re a match made in hell and do a number on their nation.

The Villains so far:
#31 – Iachimo, Cymbeline
#30 – Saturninus, Titus Andronicus
#29 – Cloten, Cymbeline
#28, #27 – Chiron and Demetrius, Titus Andronicus
#26 – Caliban, The Tempest
#25 – Shylock, Merchant of Venice
#24 – Cassius, Julius Caesar
#23 – Proteus, Two Gentlemen of Verona
#22 – Duke Frederick, As You Like It
#21 – Don John, Much Ado About Nothing
#20 – Duke of Buckingham, Richard III
#19 – Antonio, The Tempest
#18 – Dionyza, Pericles
#17 – The Queen, Cymbeline
#16 – Leontes, A Winter’s Tale
#15 – Antiochus, Pericles
#14 – Duke of Cornwall, King Lear
#13 – Oliver, As You Like It
#12 – Queen Margaret, Henry VI and Richard III
#11, #10 – Goneril and Regan, King Lear
#9 – Claudius, Hamlet

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Shakespeare’s Themes: End of a Tragedy

While Shakespeare tragedies often kill off many of the relevant characters, those left behind to lead the way into the future are interesting too. Here is a discussion of three characters who are raised to power by the end of their respective tragedies: Lucius (Titus Andronicus), Malcolm (Macbeth), and Fortinbras (Hamlet).

And, with a much pithier statement on the end of tragedies than I could ever muster, here is TheGeekyBlonde’s Hamlet, which ends with her Fortinbras summing up how Shakespeare ends his tragedies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mHQ8te8Rfk

Shakespeare Answers: What About Fleance?

Cassius takes on the question of Fleance – why isn’t he in the finale of Macbeth? Should he be? Cassius doesn’t think so.

And as promised, a link to the Slings and Arrows season 2 theme – if you haven’t seen the show, just see this intro and try to resist this hilarious show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPpTR1hXekQ

Remember, if you have any questions about Shakespeare that you’d like answered on the site, let me know at Cassius614@gmail.com!