How is the version of Macbeth created by Orson Welles similar to the originial Macbeth?

Answer 1

Both plays included the character Macbeth

Answer 2

Orson Welles adapted Shakespeare's play when writing the screenplay to his film Macbeth. If you watch the film you will notice that all of the dialogue is the dialogue from the play, although not always in the same order, and parts have been cut. Since Shakespeare's Macbeth character is 100% defined by the words he speaks and his actions, and the Macbeth in Welles's film does exactly the same things and says the same words, Welles's Macbeth and Shakespeare's Macbeth are not just similar. They are identical.

Answer 3

JRR Tolkien said that he was quite disappointed with Macbeth, because the Forest never actually moved. So, we see that in his 'The Lord of the Rings', the Fangorn Forest actually marches to battle, with the Ents going to Isengard and the Huorns going to Helm's Deep, and Tolkien's friend, C.S. Lewis, has walking and talking tress in his 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.

Both deal with a great deal of the internal and mental anguish, Macbeth contrasting nicely with the Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor.

Just to add on to this, the scene in which Macduff slays Macbeth is similar to the one in which Eowyn kills the Witch-king of Angmar.

In The Lord of the Rings, there is a prophecy that the Witch-king will not fall "by the hand of man," so in the end he falls by the hand of a woman, Eowyn.

In Macbeth, however, the prophecy is that Macbeth will not be killed by one "of woman born." In the end, it turns out that Macduff was born by cesarean section, so he does not break the prophecy when he slays Macbeth.

It looks like Tolkien plagiarized Shakespeare!

Answer 4

Since Orson Welles did not write a different version of Macbeth, but directed and performed Shakespeare's version, obviously his character of Macbeth was exactly the same as Shakespeare's. If you want to compare performances, you need to compare Welles with another actor who played the part of Macbeth, like John Philip Kemble or Richard Burbage (although we know practically nothing about Burbage's performance). If you want to compare versions of the story, you need to compare Shakespeare's play with someone who wrote a completely different version of the same story like Akira Kurosawa.

Answer 5

Well, of course, he IS Shakespeare's Macbeth. That is to say, he says the words Shakespeare set down for him to say, although not necessarily in the order Shakespeare put them in. Welles did a lot of cutting and reorganizing of the script, but the words are Shakespeare's as is the character of Macbeth.

Answer 6

I suppose you might say that Orson's career started with a bang and then slowly went downhill from there. In his twenties he directed the famous voodoo Macbeth and the modern-day Julius Caesar, and directed the film Citizen Kane, one of the greatest films ever. And then things began to get difficult--he got a reputation as a difficult person to work with and as a result less funding for his films, and Welles became a marginal figure in films. Macbeth starts off with a bang, defeating Macdonweald and getting himself made Thane of Cawdor, and shortly thereafter he becomes king. And then it all starts unravelling. There is a kind of a parallel to Welles's life.

Answer 7

(Apex) They both desire power.

Answer 8

they both desire power

Answer 9

Did not speak all original lines

Answer 10

A weak man