William Shakespeare (1564-1616) can be considered one of the best dramatists of history. He portraits the mankind through the various characters presented, bridging the moral and the historic man in his fascinating dramas. The specific play that is going to be discussed in this paper is the most bloody and sinister tragedy ever written by Shakespeare, named Macbeth.
It is important to mention beforehand the sources I have based my work on. Firstly, the film Macbeth - Reinado de Sangue, as the main supply in which I lay my comments on; and secondly, a translation on the original book Macbeth, held by Manuel Bandeira, as an additional source that surely has influenced my thoughts. Although I have used different communicative vehicles, I do not aim to develop a semiotic comparison, but a general analysis about one of Shakespeare's masterpiece.
There are many speculations about the existence of a Macbeth pre-Shakespearean (J. M. Robertson), which assume that the writer had based his works - not only Macbeth - on several early peaces. English, Scottish and Irish Chronicles, by Rafael Holinshed, Lancastre and Iorque Nobel Families Union, by Eduardo Hall are mentioned as the main Shakespeare inspiring sources by Manuel Bandeira, from which the English writer would have literally copied or adapted some passages regardless of permission. Bandera's translation of Macbeth was first printed in 1996, when many scholars had already studied Shakespeare from many facets. The Brazilian writer even affirms that the long dialogue between Macduff and Malcolm on the fourth act was a literal transcription of a Holinshed text. Yet, Shakespeare changed some aspects of the chronicler text, as King Duncan's death: in his work, Macbeth had stabbed him while he was asleep - just like in the movie, and in Holinshed, he had died in combat, in a dwell against Macbeth. Moreover, there are also beliefs that Shakespeare had used Witchcraft Discourse, by Reginald Scott, Demonology, by Jaime I, and folklore elements as other sources of inspiration.