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Macbeth

Jurgens 1

The famous play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, has greatly influenced past societies and continues to be an influence in today’s society. There is not only one great influence either, as there are many smaller ones that have affected society. Of these influences, Macbeth has had its greatest impact on the movie and literature industries. In literature, the play is kept alive in more than one way. There are many full-length books that just discuss and explain the play of Macbeth. Other ways the play is kept alive is through other authors rewriting it, but making slight changes or even using some of his lines or themes in their own plays or other pieces of literature. The movie industry was also greatly affected by Macbeth. Since the invention of movies, there have been many different versions of this play that have been adapted to the movie screen. Macbeth is a play that can last forever as it has everything that still interests and has always interested people such as murder, deceit, and a trip into the human psyche. This play has lived on in many facets of and had many important influences on society, but two of those greatest influences are on the movie and literature industries.
Macbeth actually started its "afterlife" while William Shakespeare was still alive. Simon Forman’s Book of Plays is an example of the influence of the play. 1611, Simon Forman wrote a book in which he described the performance of four plays at the Globe Theater. Book of Plays is one of the only reports of how Shakespeare’s plays were actually performed on stage. However, many parts of the play were omitted in Forman’s summary. For example, he did not include the entire second appearance of the witches.
Jurgens 2

Forman also included details that could not have possibly occurred on the stage of the Globe Theater. One example of this is when Forman reports that he sees Macbeth and Banquo riding through the woods. The Globe Theater’s set...