The curse of Macbeth

Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most renowned tragedies, was written sometime between 1603 and 1607. The story centers around prophecies and the murder of a monarch to gain power. In the opening of the story, The Three Witches appear and address Macbeth in various titles of royalty, causing a chain of events to be set in motion. Macbeth sees these as prophecies and begins to try and fulfill them. He plots with his wife to kill the king so he can gain the position as ruler. After a grapple for power ensues, and the drama unfolds, Macbeth is sent to his death by beheading.

This solemn story, dark enough on it's own happens to carry an even darker legend along with it. The story goes that if you speak the name of "Macbeth", or you are involved with the production of the play, you will bring bad luck upon yourself. If you do happen to utter the name, there many supposed ways to counteract the "curse" such as leaving the room and closing the door, then turning around three times. It is also said that quoting lines from Shakespeare's other work, Hamlet, can also do the trick.


Of course a curse like this wouldn't be taken too seriously but the odd thing is, ever since the first performance of the play on August, 7, 1606, misfortunes have seemed to pop up around it. A little too many perhaps to be purely coincidental. Opening night, the actor who portrayed Lady Macbeth was taken backstage and died from fever. This was only the very beginning of a string of bad luck that seem to follow Macbeth wherever it goes. Countless occurrences ensued. For example, in 1672, in Amsterdam, a stage knife was substituted purposely for a real dagger, and used to stab an actor to death in front of a live audience. And in a 1942 staging, three actors died, and then later a fellow actor who was also in the play committed suicide. Shortly afterward in 1947, and actor was stabbed on accident during the final sword battle and died of the wound. The list goes on and on. Death and destruction following it everywhere.


No one quite knows the meaning behind all the coincidences. Some people brush it off as superstition arguing that since the play is so popular and has countless showings over the years, there are bound to be things that go wrong, and sometimes those things mighty be quite severe. However some say that all the misfortunes are too strange to be purely coincidental. As for the truth, no one knows. Until these strange events are explained, whether you put weight on them or not, I would think twice before uttering the fateful name: "Macbeth".


Bernauw, Patrick. "The Curse of Macbeth." 10 Aug. 2009. Web. .

Dex. "What's the Story on the Curse of Macbeth?" The Straight Dope. 16 Oct. 2007. Web. 23 May 2010. .

"Macbeth." Wikipedia. 23 May 2010. Web. 23 May 2010. .