She is the cold-hearted, scheming villain who casts her dark shadow over one of literature’s most famous plays.
As generations of pupils learned in English classes, Lady Macbeth – driven by a lust for power – persuaded her weak-willed husband to commit murder most foul.
Yet according to one of Scotland’s top crime writers, Shakespeare got the tragedy of Macbeth all wrong.
Novelist Val McDermid – with a bit of help from former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – has written a book exploring the real story of the woman who became Queen Macbeth, first Queen of Scotland.
And part of her aim, she says, is ‘setting Shakespeare straight’.
Macbeth and his wife as portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the play penned by William Shakespeare
According to the Bard of Avon, the Macbeths are motivated by merciless ambition which ultimately leads to their downfall. Their tragedy stems from their decision to seize the throne by killing King Duncan while he is asleep.
But McDermid, whose novels have sold more than 19 million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages, recasts the tale in a feminist light – as a historical romance seen from the perspective of a strong and determined woman fighting for life and love.
As befits a crime writer, the book contains a major plot twist. But in a departure from the gritty ‘tartan noir’ genre for which she is famous, McDermid also ventures into the realm of erotic fiction.
In the author’s notes at the start of the book, she claims the Macbeths were ‘not the power-hungry bloody tyrants that Shakespeare wrote of in his Scottish play’.
And in highlighting other inaccuracies she says: ‘For a start, Macbeth wasn’t even his name – it was Macbethad. His wife wasn’t Lady Macbeth – she was Gruoch. If he couldn’t get their names right, how can we trust anything else he tells us?’
She also claims the Elizabethan playwright made a error about the death of King Duncan.
‘Yes, Macbeth did kill Duncan, but it was on the field of battle, not in the dead of night when Duncan was a guest in his castle.’
Queen Macbeth, released next month, tells the fictionalised life-story of Gruoch Ingen Boite, who is forced into a loveless arranged marriage but finds true love with a nobleman called Macbeth.
In the acknowledgements, McDermid thanks her friend and fellow book lover Ms Sturgeon, ‘whose animated dinner conversation resolved an awkward plot point for me’.
Val McDermid says her new book is aiming to ‘set Shakespeare straight’ on Macbeth
The crime writer has recast Shakespeare’s tale in a feminist light
She added: ‘It’s amazing how a few glasses of red wine release the imagination…’
The novel contains echoes of Shakespeare, but imagined from a feminist perspective. The witches who prophesy Macbeth’s doom are replaced by three women – a healer, a weaver and a seer – whose powers make the men of mediaeval Scotland deeply suspicious.
The tale starts with Gruoch and her companions fleeing from plotters who believe she stands in the way of their ambition for power.
As the action develops, Gruoch recalls the stirrings of her love for Macbeth, including a racy description of their first moment of intimacy, saying: ‘Where our bodies touched it was like a lick of flame running through me.’
Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to commit murder, but McDermid’s version urges caution when Macbeth considers revenge against a rival, saying: ‘Better to be slow than to shed innocent blood, surely?’
The book is part of Polygon’s Darkland Tales – dramatic retellings of key moments from Scottish history, myth and legend.
Pre-publication publicity promises McDermid will reveal ‘a new Lady Macbeth, bringing a schemer in the shadows out into the light and exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.’
