Macbeth Themes

Today, many modern movies, dramas, and books include themes from and portions of The Tragedy of Macbeth written by Shakespeare. Besides influencing American entertainment, elements of the play are used in other countries, especially in the Korean drama, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. It is about a warrior during the Goryeo dynasty who was executed by a malignant king, but the soldier was resurrected as a goblin, known as dokkaebi in Korea. The goblin has a sword stuck to his chest and can only die when the goblin’s bride is found to pull out the blade. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God includes parts of The Tragedy of Macbeth like the motif of prophecies and Macbeth’s vantage about life.

From the play, the witches foretold the future to Macbeth and Banquo where Macbeth “shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.50) and Banquo “shalt get kings,” (1. 3. 67) for offspring but not Macbeth. Similarly, from the drama, a grandma fortune-teller delivered a prophecy to the warrior who was turned into a goblin. “Only the bride of the goblin will be able to draw the blade and once drawn, everything will turn to ashes, and peace will be granted,” (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Episode 1). Macbeth and the goblin are affected by their prophecies and try to find ways to achieve their fates. The drama expands the motif by showing what happens after a prophecy is fully achieved. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, it does

Macbeth says that life “struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more,” (5.5.25-26). The drama enhances the thought on pointless life by having the goblin, an immortal person, consider his “endless life [once as] a reward but in the end,...[as] a punishment,” (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Episode 2). He cannot rest in peace like other humans and sees many endless deaths. Compared to Macbeth, the goblin lived more than 800 years and had more experience with human