What If Lady Macbeth Were Pregnant?

Amativeness, Procreation, and Future Dynasty in Maqbool

Authors

William C. Ferleman Oklahoma State University

Abstract

Cluster: Asian Shakespeares on Screen: Two Films in Perspective

Edited by Alexa Huang

In Maqbool, Vishal Bhardwaj's unusually perceptive rewriting of Macbeth, an emphasis on Macbeth's future dynasty is rather conspicuously developed and reinforced (Trivedi 2007, 153). Murder and betrayal are not of much consequence in the modern Mumbai criminal underworld; these acts are quite simply part of the Mafia trade, and Macbeth/Maqbool is from the start an ignoble, cold-blooded murderer. It is love (or rather, sexual desire) and not treacherous murder that is the predominant transgression in Maqbool. The transgressive love affair between Macbeth/Maqbool and Lady Macbeth/Nimmi (including Nimmi's scandalous pregnancy) is developed as a key motif in the film. Maqbool seeks to combat the policemen's prophecy that Kaka's (Banquo's) children will attain political rule in the future. Maqbool fights for his own future dynasty and is not seriously concerned about his personal political rule within the Mumbai gang. The film concerns forbidden sexuality, procreation, and Maqbool's desperate but determined hope for a future dynasty.

Author Biography

William C. Ferleman, Oklahoma State University

William C. Ferleman is a doctoral student at Oklahoma State University, studying English Renaissance literature. His interests also include performance studies, literary theory, and music criticism. His essay "Wedding Interrupted: Women's Political Will in The Two Noble Kinsmen" appeared in both Genre and Postmodern Essays on Love, Sex, and Marriage in Shakespeare, edited by Bhim S. Dahiya (2008). Currently, he is doing research for a future article on Milton's polemical works. He has a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Kansas.