Friday, February 13, 2009

Kingis Quair


Our next book of influence will be King James I's Kingis Quair. Leaders throughout history have been concerned with assassination in one form or the other. In 1423, poison was the weapon of choice. The unicorn seems to be a useful substitute for a body guard since he refers to "The lufare vnicorne, That voidis venum with his euoure horne." (The friendly unicorn that renders venom harmless with his ivory horn). This fabulous beast can be seen in the Unicorn Hunt tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Unicorns are referenced in many ancient texts by authors of reliable reputation. Did they really exist or are they only from the world of mythology and fantasy?

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Superstition

Before closing the posts on Macbeth, I would like to cite a couple sources that give a reason for the theatrical superstitions on the Scottish Play, here is the second:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrical_superstitions

Shakespeare's play Macbeth is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). Actors also avoid even quoting the lines from Macbeth inside a theatre, particularly the Witches incantations. Outside of a theatre the play can be spoken of openly. If an actor speaks the name Macbeth in a theatre, he is required to leave the theatre building, spin around three times, spit, curse, and then knock to be allowed back in. There are several possible origins for this superstition. One is the assumption that the song of the Weird Sisters is an actual spell that will bring about evil spirits. Another is that there is more swordplay in it than most other Shakespeare plays, and the more swordplay must be rehearsed and performed, the more chances there are for someone to get injured. Yet another option is that the play is often run by theatres that are in debt and looking to increase patronage.

Macbeth's financial boost

Before closing the posts on Macbeth, I would like to cite a couple sources that give a reason for the theatrical superstitions on the Scottish Play, here is the first:
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/Defymcbeth/Super2.html

The superstition actually began in the old days of stock companies, which would struggle at all times to remain in business. Frequently, near the end of a season a stock company would realize that it was not going to break even and, in an attempt to boost ticket sales and attendance, would announce production of a crowd favorite . . . MacBeth.


If times were particularly bad, even 'the bard's play' would not be enough to save the company, therefore, MacBeth often presaged the end of a company's season, and would frequently be a portent of the company's demise.Therefore, the fear of MacBeth was generally the fear of bad business and of an entire company being put out of work.