Macbeth in the Park and AU HP Heroes

[sistermagpie]

petitesoeur and I had great luck last night taking a chance on Shakespeare in the Park We got on the stand-by line after 7 and got tickets--woo-hoo!



Liev Shrieber was doing Macbeth. The production was entertaining, if uneven. In the really important parts the one that was weakest was Macduff--I liked Banquo a lot. petitesoeur was worried Macduff's stage fighting skills were so bad Macbeth was going to beat that prophecy. I'd only ever seen this play performed one other time that I can remember, when a friend of mine was in a production, so I don't know if they often do this, but I liked that they decided to not show Banquo's ghost at the banquet. Macbeth was just reacting to an empty chair that sometimes had a spotlight on it. It made for, I must say, a funnier scene with Macbeth jumping on the table and spearing the chair with his sword before looking around like, "Oops. I look a little crazy, don't I? Sorry about that."

I'd never thought of it before, but there was a note in the program pointing out that Macbeth is kind of the anti-Hamlet. He's got lots of doubts, but they never keep him from acting. In a way he seems to just be compelled to follow his impulses and then wonder about it. Another friend said she always feels like Macbeth's kind of underrated as a part while Lady Macbeth is a bit over-rated. I admit I do find Lady Macbeth an annoying character, pushing her husband into doing stuff and then going mad herself. I considered making a joke about Shakespeare totally ripping off JKR with that prophecy that only happens because Macbeth acts on it (leaving out the part where JKR seems to undermine that by saying that had Voldemort picked Neville it wouldn't have worked), but instead I'll confess to the dorkier confession that at times I did look at Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and think I might be watching H/G, the later years. Seriously. ("If the king hadn't looked like my father when he was sleeping, I'd have stabbed him myself!")

That just made me think of

Another random HP thought I had yesterday. Someone was making a comment about Dumbledore talking about how he couldn't believe he'd have somebody so great as Harry to deal with. I think the person was contradicting another person's reading of that line as saying that DD had never felt close to someone personally the way he did Harry, and presenting this as a more acceptable reading. What struck me was that I really disagree with the whole idea behind this interpretation, which I think is backed up in canon. There's always all this focus on how great Harry is with his great power for love yadda yadda, and I think there is a suggestion that DD feels what he does for him because he's so personally special.

But that makes me think a lot less of Dumbledore (not that I have all that far to fall there!). I feel like he should have felt that way about any kid he decided to focus on specifically. Like, if he decided to take special interest in Ron Weasley wouldn't Ron have seemed just as great? Or even a kid who's decidedly not great, like Draco? I mean, obviously Draco's not a hero in canon but what I like about his story in HBP is even the little we see of it, imo, sets him up as a legitimate protagonist in his own story who's conflicted enough to hold his own and be worth rooting for. Obviously his being in Harry's role would be a very different story because he'd be going against his own, but I'm talking here just about rooting for him in the story he had.

Really I guess what the comment really did was made me imagine AUs in which other characters were put in Harry's role. I mean, we all know that whoever the hero was would have to win; they'd just have a different path to get there because of their own personalities. Ron would face a lot more confidence issues in the TWT tournament and might have just barely scraped it. Hermione would have more troubles with going too far. Neville would be more about the contrast between his timidity and abilities, and we'd probably get more of a sense that winning wasn't everything.

I don't think it's a flaw that I can imagine other characters in the role. That kind of seems like the point that a kid put in the situation makes good. I just can't help but think of it whenever it's suggested that it couldn't be anyone but Harry.

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

That is so totally the way I see Draco's story and why I love it--it's the whole story of the House of Black. Plus it's interesting the way the kid upon whose shoulders all hope lies on that side actually has these flaws that makes you wonder if he'll succeed. (And not being the hero of the book series he very well might not.) He's not even got anyone to explain to him what right and wrong is; Snape's having to play the part of a DE, Dumbledore isn't guiding him. I really hope Regulus, even in memory, gives Draco some kind of guidance, helps him see a path he could take.

I remember pre-OotP telling somebody that besides Harry Draco was the kid with the most to fear from Voldemort's return and they completely didn't get why. (I think they thought surely that was Hermione as a Muggleborn.) I was like dude, talk about the Dark Path--Draco might have everything he's ever known or had stripped away from him. And that's pretty much what happened. Unfortunately I think a lot of people don't read Draco's story from Draco's own pov. He's only judged on whether he did what Harry would do instead of understood for what he is.

[strangemuses.livejournal.com]

Most readers view Draco's story solely through Harry's eyes. People can say what they want about the shortcomings in Rowling's writing abilities, but I think she's done a masterful job of embedding her readers inside of Harry's POV so completely that they they automatically take for granted that if Harry thinks something, it must be both true and just.

Harry is only just becoming mature enough to start seeing the world around him in shades of gray instead of black and white, and JKR is only just starting to show us the changes in his outlook. Simultaneously, she's showing us facets of the characters around Harry that should make readers question their understanding of all of these people: Draco crying over his fate with only Myrtle to console him; the Twins selling their 'prank' items to DEs; etc. If you can pull yourself *out* of Harry's POV and just look at what is actually happening, it becomes painfully clear that both Harry and Draco have been used like pawns in other men's fights. Draco has had to face this before Harry. (I note with amusement that JKR just gave Draco an official birthday and he is just a few days older than Harry, so it's fitting that he gets to 'grow up' first.) Harry still sees himself as being "Dumbledore's man" (ie, a pawn). In the final book, they're both going to have to take that final step into adulthood and declare their own path. Be interesting to see what happens.