Bavetta 1
Julia Bavetta
Mr. V. Aggarwal
English
May 2020
Macbeth: Comparison of Two Modern Adaptations
Comparing two modern adaptations of the same story can be quite tricky. Since the plot
and the language are similar, one must rely on how the stories are told through the eyes of the
story-teller. The story of Macbeth is about a Scottish general named Macbeth, who was given a
message by three witches, saying that he will become the King of Scotland. Obsessed with this,
his wife convinces Macbeth, to murder the current King, King Duncan inorder to take the throne
for himself. After this occurs, he has to face the guilt and paranoia of his actions to become King.
When comparing: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth The Graphic Novel Modern Text and
Macbeth (2010 television film), one will find three main differences; the setting, the portrayal of
the witches, and the final demise of Macbeth, which leads to his death.
The most apparent difference between the two modern adaptations is the time in which
each version took place. The graphic novel took more of a medieval time take on the play, while
the movie takes place during an alternate history of World War Two (WWII). In the prologue,
the first sentence is “Scotland in the year 1040.” This sentence tells the reader that the time
period is in the Medieval period (1001 to 1100). Another indication of the setting is how the
illustrator drew the characters. An example of this is by the character Ducan. Ducan (the King of
Scotland) is seen in a green jacket-dress sort of outfit with a purple cape. These colours were a
Bavetta 2
symbol of being wealthy during the 11th Century. There are also gold trims along his large gold
crown with what could be rubies and emeralds. In contrast to the graphic novel, the movie is set
much later. The film was set in the early 20th Century, but mainly during an alternative WWII
(1939 to 1945) time period. This is evident by the Nazi-like symbols. In the official trailer, the
lasting image is the title “Macbeth” printed in text resembling the official Nazi Party font, and
this is also at the beginning of the movie. This gives the audience a time-period that they can
visualize in their head. The two modern adaptations are very different but still telling the same
story even though they are set almost one thousand years apart.
The witches are essential characters in the story of Macbeth. They are the reason
everything happens; without the witches, there would be no story to tell as they move the plot.
The witches representing evil and chaos are the roots of this tragedy. All they wanted was to
create madness by using Macbeth's ambition to trick him into completing his prophecy. The two
modern adaptations show very different versions of witches. The graphic novel’s version of the
witches is a classic witch. They are ancient, green, have moles, pointy noses, and overall just
frightening to look at. In act one scene one of the graphic novel, shows the witches looking
precisely what would come to mind if thinking about creepy witches. This version of the witches
matches the setting, and the look that the graphic novel portrays. On the other hand, the film
adaptation has them as war nurses that you would have seen in a WWII movie. They are equally
as frightening, but in a different way. The film’s way of portraying the witches shows them as
war nurses in the early 1940’s. They are very pale, wearing a blue/ gray dress with white collars
and cuffs with a white apron and a white headdress. This matches the setting of the film since it
is set during the war. The different adaptations allow viewers to see the witches in a different
Bavetta 3
light, while they still move the plot.
The killing of Macbeth is arguably the most crucial part of the play. Macbeth dies at the
hands of Macduff when they meet in battle. In the graphic novel, during act five scene eight,
Macbeth makes it clear that he does not want to fight Macduff, saying, "Of all the men here, I
have avoided you today. Get back away from me - my conscience is already too heavy with your
family's blood ... I will not fight you." Macduff then belittles Macbeth saying, "Then surrender,
coward! And live to be on public display! We'll exhibit you like a freak of nature, with a sign
that says 'see the tyrant here.'" By saying this makes Macbeth want to now fight with him, and
makes his death more profound. They fight with swords and shields, ending with Macbeth's head
on a spear, in act five, scene nine. In the film, while Macbeth is going to fight in the war, the
biggest difference is what they wear and what they fight with. Instead of wearing capes, crowns,
and metal armour, they are an army print with bulletproof vests, fighting with guns. They end up
fighting in a conference room, but in the graphic novel, there is no setting since the background
is just red. Which would make one infer the amount of blood that would be in the scene. When
comparing this scene, the language is the same, and they use smaller swords rather than the large
swords in the graphic novel. When Macduff shows that he has killed Macbeth instead of having
his head on a spear, he is just holding it as he walks in to show it off. The ending to Macbeth has
an ironic twist since Macbeth's original prophecy from the witches was to kill the current sitting
King. When he becomes King, he falls at the hands of those who wanted him initially dead.
When comparing: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth The Graphic Novel Modern Text and
Macbeth (2010 television film), one will find three main differences; the setting, the portrayal of
the witches, and the final demise of Macbeth, which leads to his death. The setting is, by far, the
Bavetta 4
most noticeable difference. The two texts are set almost one thousand years apart. With this
difference, the portrayal of the characters changes; this includes the way they dress, their
weapons and where the charters are. The witches are essential characters in this tragedy, since
they move the plot, and are the reason for this story. In the graphic novel, the witches look very
frightening and have the iconic witch look. The film has the witches as nurses. This allows them
to not be so out of place, based on the fact that the setting is a war camp. The final comparison is
the death of Macbeth. The graphic novel has Macbeth and Macduff fighting with long swords
and shields, the fight ends, and Macbeth's head is on a spear. While in the film, Macduff starts
with a gun, then they both pull out a smaller version of a sword and begin to fight. It ends when
Macduff walks out of the room, holding Macbeth’s head. The two modern texts of the tragedy of
Macbeth are telling the same story but in a different way.
Works Cited
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enCA878CA879&ei=RbRwXrD-Ceug_QaBsqr
wDw&q=is+11th+century+medieval&oq=was+11th+ce&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0i22i30l8j0i22
i10i30.5864.12870..15048...2.5..0.186.3136.30j7......0....1..gws-wiz.....2..0i71j0i67j0j0i13
1j0i362i308i361i357j0i273j0i10.nwYItb-AxAM&safe=active&ssui=on
https://www.google.com/search?q=when+was+wwii&rlz=1C5CHFA_enCA878CA879&oq=wh
en+was+WWII&aqs=chrome.0.0l8.4098j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active
&ssui=on
http://tipsfromchip.blogspot.com/2012/01/movie-macbeth-2010.html
