The Fate of the Weirdos

When I was on a California trip with my brother's, we were trying to look for origins of words that we would call each other like: nerd, geek or even dork; while looking on my phone for the answers, I found the word "weird".




Now I know what you're thinking, "What does this have to do with Shakespeare?" Rest assured, there is a reason behind all this. Originally, the word was spelled "W-Y-R-D". It still sounded the same, the only difference (other than the spelling) was that it meant "fate" or "destiny" in Old English. Over time the word eventually changed to the spelling it is now, "weird".


Anyway, knowing that the word "weird" meant "fate" and that it was talking about the "Fate Sisters" we can safely assume that Shakespeare took this well-known mythology and incorporated it into one of his bloodiest plays... "Macbeth"!
Back then, when they were talking about "fate", they were referring to the "Fate Sisters" found in Greek Mythology. You might know them from the Disney movie "Hercules" and even both versions of "The Clash of the Titans"(Side note, the 1981 version is better).

It makes sense, because of his continues references of Greek Mythologies throughout all of Shakespeare's plays. I mean he even coined the phrase "It is all Greek to me."

Going back to the Sisters mentioned in Greek Mythology. We may not know them as the "Fate Sisters" in "Macbeth" but we do know them as the "Weird Sisters", AKA the three witches who prophesied of Macbeth's future reign as king. The "Weird Sisters" were labeled this, because of their "supernatural" ability to see the future. As we all know "supernatural" can also mean something out of the ordinary, strange and even "weird."

So if you are ever called a "weirdo", just remember... you "pick" your own "destiny"! Wink wink!

The Devil in the Details

As I was listening to an audio book of the play "Macbeth", my ears were perked up by a familiar name of a character that Macbeth happened to be talking to near the end of the play. It was interesting, Macbeth was boasting about how fearless and indestructible he will be in the upcoming battle, when all of a sudden I hear him call for "Satan!" I paused first and took a double take, then I rewound the audio just to make clear of what I have just heard. Low and behold, the name was loud and clear. It was the correct pronunciation of one the devil's names... Satan!
 Just for reassurance I decided to put my trust in the ancient script by checking the spelling of this character's name. The name of the character was spelled "Seyton" but was pronounced the same way as "Satan." At first I was then relieved, but at the same time intrigued. I'll tell you why.

Picture yourself at this play, and Macbeth unexpectedly calls for "Seyton". You're then probably imagining a red-faced demon with horns, hooves, a pointed tail and a giant pitchfork. Instead you get a normal servant of Macbeth ready to aid him. I'm sure that was on everybody's heads when they first heard the name of that character. It was on mine. Very humorous Bill Shakespeare! Well played!

After finishing the play, I decided to do some research on the name "Seyton" just to see if it had any meaning, or even a subtle connection to the devil-ish name "Satan." To my surprise, after hours upon hours, my research seemed to be fruitless, because I could not find the origin of the name nor it's meaning. This baffled me, because it was a name mentioned in "Macbeth" and "Macbeth" alone. It was strictly a Shakespearean name that had no ground to stand on for it's whereabouts, other than the pronunciation being related to the name "Satan."
Then it hit me. Shakespeare is all about puns and double meanings. He made up the majority of his words for Heaven's sake! Could he have possible done the same thing with this name? 

 

Let's look at the facts found in the script shall we. In Macbeth's dire need for aid as he is about to meet his Maker, does he call upon He who created life? No! He calls for Seyton! A character that only appears once and has five simple lines.
Macbeth calls him not once or twice, but three times before Seyton finally responds, "What is your gracious pleasure?" It's almost like calling for Beetlejuice three times to wreak havoc in all of Scotland!
With Seyton working in threes, of which number is the "witching hour", it makes you wonder if Seyton is an attendant to Macbeth or an "Advisory to Mankind"?
You be the judge.
When Macbeth asks Seyton for his armor, Seyton says, "'Tis not needed yet." As we all know, Macbeth perhaps wanted "The Armor of God"(Ephesians 6:11) "...to stand against the wiles of the devil." Seyton was delaying his believed redemption.

Seyton's last words were discouraging news regarding The Lady Macbeth's mysterious death. It is an all time low for the King to hear and bare!
Well I guess the devil is in the details! How convenient!
Could Seyton be... oh I don't know... SATAN!!!

Top Ten Shakespeare Villains

 After doing my Top Ten Shakespeare Plays, I decided to do yet another Top Ten. This time I decided to do Top Ten Shakespeare Villains. So here we go:

10- Sebastian, Antonio & Caliban- The Tempest
Sebastian is the brother of Alonso. Antonio is the brother of the main character, Prospero. They both try to murder Alonzo and Gonzalo while they were stranded on the island. They are then stopped by Ariel's subtle influence and even forgiven by Prospero for their wrongs. As a result no casualties were present.

Caliban is the offspring of the witch Sycorax, and the devil himself. Being half devil and half witch, it gives him more reason to be ALL evil, but because he is a slave to Prospero he is limited to act on his evil intentions. Again no casualties.

 9- Don John, Conrade and Borachia- Much Ado About Nothing
Don John is the bastard brother of Don Pedro, and is the chief villain in the play. Out of pure jealousy, he literally wanted to make everybody "miserable like unto himself." As we all know "misery loves company." Don John had his servants Conrade and Borachio try to help him succeed in this selfish act. They fail in this because of one's big mouth.

 8- Regan & Goneril- King Lear
Regan and Goneril are the rude daughters of King Lear. They lie to their own father about loving him, just to get their share of the kingdom. They even kick King Lear out of his own humble abode. They clearly had dad issues.





7- Tybalt- Romeo & Juliet
Tybalt is the cousin of Juliet(whom we will be talking about later). He is described to be fiery-tempered, especially when things don't go his way. He hates the whole house of Montague with a passion. Tybalt even considers Romeo a "villain" for loving his cousin, Juliet. He later kills Romeo's friend, Mercutio. Heck... he even hates the word "peace"!

6- The Weird Sisters AKA The Witches and Lady Macbeth- Macbeth
The Weird Sisters are the catalyst that later initiated Macbeth's lust for the future crown of Scotland. Their soothing words were music to Macbeth's ear holes. Those words even rang true to Lady Macbeth, of whom strongly encouraged her husband to make the prophecy come true by force. Due to this horrible act, it lead to sleepless nights and the fear of being caught "red handed"!


 5- Tullus Aufidius- Coriaolanus
Tullus Aufidius is the leader of the Volscians. He is also the arch-enemy of Coriaolanus. He later becomes a brief ally to Coriaolanus.
Both Tullus and Coriaolanus loathed each other entirely. When Coriaolanus was betrayed by his own people he decided to switch sides to seek revenge on the people that wronged him. Tullus embraces him with opened arms, but later ended Coriaolanus' life because Coriaolanus had a change of heart for "two drops of salt!"




4- Aaron, Tamora, Chiron & Demetrius- Titus Andronicus
Aaron is an evil moorish character in the play. With his villainy, he incites most of the other evil characters to carry out violence against the house of Andronicus.

Tamora is the evil queen of the Goths. After Titus sacrificed one of her sons to pay for the loss of his men, Tamora swore to avenge her son's death, but needed help from a cunning moor, and her remaining two sons.
Speaking of her sons. Chiron and Demetius are best known for raping and mutilating Titus' daughter Lavinia. Leaving her with no "helping hands" and literally "speechless".

3- Claudius- Hamlet
Claudius is the uncle and stepfather of the main character, Hamlet. He murdered his own brother to take the crown, married his brother's wife, and when his dark secrets were beginning to unravel he had his nephew Hamlet killed by Laertes with a poisoned tip of a sword. Speaking of poison, The irony in that act, eventually was the cause of his death. Talk about bad karma.

Now for first and second on the list it was going to be a close tie, but based on one being a fictional character and the other being an actual historical figure; reality took the lead. But before we get to that, here are some Honorable Mentions:

My friend Nathan Hatton suggested that Shylock from The Merchant of Venice should be in the list of Shakespeare Villains. This is what he had to say:

"Okay, my reasoning for Shylock is that he is the only anti-villain in Shakespeare's works. Even though his speech at the end during the trial would not have conjured sympathy from the audience, it was still present. That is what makes his case so special. And now today we have the opportunity to use hindsight in order to gain a better appreciation for Shylock's plight. He is probably the only 'villain' in Shakespeare's works that readers can actually understand why he did what he did. He's an incredibly complex character and I love that. Not to mention seeing Pacino's performance as Shylock is simply brilliant and worthy of the sympathy he deserves."

My friend Cody Christensen, was not only humorous, but also had some logic behind it. He convinced me that Juliet from Romeo & Juliet, was a perfect villain for this list. Here is what he had to say:
"I think it is totally Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. She made Romeo fall in love, kill her cousin, and even tricked him into thinking she was dead so he would kill himself. What a shrew! (Pardon my old English)."
Well played... well played!








 2- Iago- Othelo
 Iago is one of Shakespeare's most sinister villains ever created. Due to the unique trust that Othello places in him, Iago uses this to eventually betray Othelo while maintaining his reputation an honest guy. A perfect example of leading a double life
Iago is a schemer and a manipulator. He is very skilled in deceiving other characters so that his suspicion is covered by his act in being truthful.

Andrew Morrison said:
"My favorite villain in all of Shakespeare would have to be Iago from "Othello". The brilliance of the character is that! Were not for his asides and soliloquies, we would be in the same boat as Othello and believe that he is only serving Othello."


Britney Whipple adds in:
"He seems to do evil just because he can. It's a game to him. He's always jealous of Othello which is his justification for the crap he does."

Cody Christens concludes:
"I second Iago he is awesome and his only excuse is that he is a bastard."


1- Richard III- Richard III

Though Iago did lead Othelo astray with his trickery. Richard III did more then that! He ordered people to be killed, killed as well and to make it worse he even killed his own blood!

Rebecca Pearson went on by saying:
"Richard III for me [took] it to a whole new level considering he was a REAL person! I don't think he was as evil as Shakespeare paints him, but I think it's incredibly plausible that he may have killed his nephews. For me that just makes him an even more interesting character because it's fun to pick at what is exaggerated and what may be based on fact. Previously, few believed he was hunchbacked like in the play until they found his bones a few months ago..."

To add on to that. I think back then, when they said Richard III was 'twisted', it meant that he was 'pure evil'... 'twisted' if you will. Historians in the past took it quite literally, and pictured him with a hump on his back. 



Do you agree with the list? What is your Top Ten Shakespeare Villains?