Slipping Realities: Difference between revisions
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{{byline|author=Concerned Reader|user=Concerned Reader}} | |||
{{author note|An essay on how Macbeth is really science fiction. Why is it on shifti? I have no idea.}} | |||
“Science fiction? That’s the one where the elves are called ‘aliens,’ right?” (Chris Roberson). Not quite. Science fiction is more than simply fiction with otherworldly science in it, nor is it fiction in the future. Though it is difficult to separate it from other genres of fiction, the one thing that sets it apart, the one thing that defines science fiction, is the extension of currently known society into a lesser tread path. It puts the audience inside of the protagonist, but also the unique world presented by the story. Macbeth falls right into this definition. The play has all the common elements of a good science fiction story, and Shakespeare uses them to build a narrative that is both engaging, but also makes one look at current events and draw correlations between the play’s world, and the real world. | “Science fiction? That’s the one where the elves are called ‘aliens,’ right?” (Chris Roberson). Not quite. Science fiction is more than simply fiction with otherworldly science in it, nor is it fiction in the future. Though it is difficult to separate it from other genres of fiction, the one thing that sets it apart, the one thing that defines science fiction, is the extension of currently known society into a lesser tread path. It puts the audience inside of the protagonist, but also the unique world presented by the story. Macbeth falls right into this definition. The play has all the common elements of a good science fiction story, and Shakespeare uses them to build a narrative that is both engaging, but also makes one look at current events and draw correlations between the play’s world, and the real world. | ||
One of the common tropes of science fiction, and a main theme of Macbeth, is “don’t mess with the flow of time.” If or when you do, it ultimately leads to a particularly tragic end. Its roots can be traced back to a story in the Book of Virtues called “The Magic Thread.” It’s the story of a boy who finds a spool of thread that controls time. When he pulls the thread, it speeds up time, but the journey is one way. He starts to skip all the boring, slow, or hard parts of his life, and then when he arrives at old age, realizes that he has missed most of what makes life worth it to live. This may seem to be a fantasy story, and given the construct of the thread being magic, it certainly falls into the definition of fantasy, but the idea it presents is entirely new and entirely in the realm of science fiction. Just replace “Magic” with “nano-bots”, or other sudo-science, or better yet, leave it as “magic.” Magic was the term used to describe things until a scientific explanation could be found. The name isn’t what matters; it’s the concept that defines science fiction. Macbeth takes this concept of time corruption and runs with it. As soon as he found out that he was to be “king hereafter” (Shakespeare I.III.50), he was set on making sure that this destiny came to pass. Time is like a four lane highway, you have multiple paths and multiple exits. Some may lead to greater things; others may take you to a dead end, or worse, rush-hour. Every time a change is made, it’s like changing lanes on the highway. As Macbeth chooses to kill or not kill to become king, he changes lanes, but if he changes over too many, he might miss his exit, leading to a road he doesn’t want to go down. Some exits lead to the same destination, but there is always a difference. | One of the common tropes of science fiction, and a main theme of Macbeth, is “don’t mess with the flow of time.” If or when you do, it ultimately leads to a particularly tragic end. Its roots can be traced back to a story in the Book of Virtues called “The Magic Thread.” It’s the story of a boy who finds a spool of thread that controls time. When he pulls the thread, it speeds up time, but the journey is one way. He starts to skip all the boring, slow, or hard parts of his life, and then when he arrives at old age, realizes that he has missed most of what makes life worth it to live. This may seem to be a fantasy story, and given the construct of the thread being magic, it certainly falls into the definition of fantasy, but the idea it presents is entirely new and entirely in the realm of science fiction. Just replace “Magic” with “nano-bots”, or other sudo-science, or better yet, leave it as “magic.” Magic was the term used to describe things until a scientific explanation could be found. The name isn’t what matters; it’s the concept that defines science fiction. Macbeth takes this concept of time corruption and runs with it. As soon as he found out that he was to be “king hereafter” (Shakespeare I.III.50), he was set on making sure that this destiny came to pass. Time is like a four lane highway, you have multiple paths and multiple exits. Some may lead to greater things; others may take you to a dead end, or worse, rush-hour. Every time a change is made, it’s like changing lanes on the highway. As Macbeth chooses to kill or not kill to become king, he changes lanes, but if he changes over too many, he might miss his exit, leading to a road he doesn’t want to go down. Some exits lead to the same destination, but there is always a difference. | ||
The introduction of Macbeths outside stimulus to the timeline of a predestined event lead to the exact outcome he had hoped for, but not under conditions that he, before his perversion of morals, would have accepted. This corruption of the intended outcome also has firm roots in science fiction. A modern example, circa 1954, is the short story “Meddler” by Philip K. Dick. Where by a series of glances into the future show a degradation of the state of the future, from idyllic to destroyed. In an effort to figure out what has caused the change, they send someone into the future to investigate, unknowingly bringing back the contaminate that caused the destruction. The concept of timeline degradation has been widely used as a fallback to cover up the plot holes in stories with time travel, but only in science fiction is the degradation allowed to happen. It goes hand in hand with reduction to the extreme, by showing what could happen if a technology or ability was available in the current, or past, time and presenting it realistically it brings a moral or idea that can be applied to the present. | The introduction of Macbeths outside stimulus to the timeline of a predestined event lead to the exact outcome he had hoped for, but not under conditions that he, before his perversion of morals, would have accepted. This corruption of the intended outcome also has firm roots in science fiction. A modern example, circa 1954, is the short story “Meddler” by Philip K. Dick. Where by a series of glances into the future show a degradation of the state of the future, from idyllic to destroyed. In an effort to figure out what has caused the change, they send someone into the future to investigate, unknowingly bringing back the contaminate that caused the destruction. The concept of timeline degradation has been widely used as a fallback to cover up the plot holes in stories with time travel, but only in science fiction is the degradation allowed to happen. It goes hand in hand with reduction to the extreme, by showing what could happen if a technology or ability was available in the current, or past, time and presenting it realistically it brings a moral or idea that can be applied to the present. | ||
Another genre specific trope of science fiction is the displacement of the common man into a surreal situation. A good science fiction story includes a character whose “asperatoins and abilities are not so different from, and not less important than, those of the great and powerful” (Steven Godersky, Introduction). Such as the woman antagonist of “Captive Market” who uses her knowledge of the space time flowchart to “sell vegetables out of a wagon” (Godersky, Introduction). Macbeth is a common man. A violent common man, but no more violent than what was normal for the time. His aspirations and weakness of character cause him to attempt to enforce his predicted rise to the throne. While fantasy deals with more epic and powerful characters, Macbeth is about a common man attempting to cement his future. | Another genre specific trope of science fiction is the displacement of the common man into a surreal situation. A good science fiction story includes a character whose “asperatoins and abilities are not so different from, and not less important than, those of the great and powerful” (Steven Godersky, Introduction). Such as the woman antagonist of “Captive Market” who uses her knowledge of the space time flowchart to “sell vegetables out of a wagon” (Godersky, Introduction). Macbeth is a common man. A violent common man, but no more violent than what was normal for the time. His aspirations and weakness of character cause him to attempt to enforce his predicted rise to the throne. While fantasy deals with more epic and powerful characters, Macbeth is about a common man attempting to cement his future. | ||
Shifting realities are also key ingredients of science fiction and Macbeth. “Reality is approximately as dependable as a politician’s promise” (Roger Zelazny, Introduction), inside of these worlds. It may just be in the main characters head, Macbeth may not actually see Banquo’s ghost, or the floating dagger, but in a science fiction story, reality is relative to the characters. If Macbeth believes that it’s real, then for him it is. As in “The Matrix,” his mind makes it real for him. Lady Macbeth’s mind makes the visions so real for her that it ends up killing her. Inside of fiction, shifting reality for a character is considered a mental problem; but in science fiction, a shifting reality is usually a direct consequence of the characters’ actions. Be it Macbeths guilt or Bob Arctor’s use of substance D in “Scanner Darkly” (Philip k. Dick), the shift in reality is impossible to recover from, leading to the eventual downward slide of the characters into an instable state of mind. | Shifting realities are also key ingredients of science fiction and Macbeth. “Reality is approximately as dependable as a politician’s promise” (Roger Zelazny, Introduction), inside of these worlds. It may just be in the main characters head, Macbeth may not actually see Banquo’s ghost, or the floating dagger, but in a science fiction story, reality is relative to the characters. If Macbeth believes that it’s real, then for him it is. As in “The Matrix,” his mind makes it real for him. Lady Macbeth’s mind makes the visions so real for her that it ends up killing her. Inside of fiction, shifting reality for a character is considered a mental problem; but in science fiction, a shifting reality is usually a direct consequence of the characters’ actions. Be it Macbeths guilt or Bob Arctor’s use of substance D in “Scanner Darkly” (Philip k. Dick), the shift in reality is impossible to recover from, leading to the eventual downward slide of the characters into an instable state of mind. | ||
If the idea brought to the table by Macbeth hadn’t been original, or the characters too grand, the story would be firmly in thee root of fantasy; but by being one of the first to show the effects of trying to change the future from a predicted outcome, as well as creating characters that stand up on their own as common people, Macbeth is fully caught by the broad label of Science fiction. Until recently the classification of science fiction hadn’t existed, and I seriously doubt that the play would have sold many copies or seats if it was labeled as “fiction of science” or similar synonyms, but it definitely falls into the new category as a legacy novel. It wouldn’t do it justice to call it anything else. | If the idea brought to the table by Macbeth hadn’t been original, or the characters too grand, the story would be firmly in thee root of fantasy; but by being one of the first to show the effects of trying to change the future from a predicted outcome, as well as creating characters that stand up on their own as common people, Macbeth is fully caught by the broad label of Science fiction. Until recently the classification of science fiction hadn’t existed, and I seriously doubt that the play would have sold many copies or seats if it was labeled as “fiction of science” or similar synonyms, but it definitely falls into the new category as a legacy novel. It wouldn’t do it justice to call it anything else. | ||
Latest revision as of 00:22, 26 June 2009
{{#ifeq: | | {{#ifeq: Concerned Reader | |
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}} {{#if:| — see also [[:Category:{{{category}}}|other works by this author]]}}
An essay on how Macbeth is really science fiction. Why is it on shifti? I have no idea.
“Science fiction? That’s the one where the elves are called ‘aliens,’ right?” (Chris Roberson). Not quite. Science fiction is more than simply fiction with otherworldly science in it, nor is it fiction in the future. Though it is difficult to separate it from other genres of fiction, the one thing that sets it apart, the one thing that defines science fiction, is the extension of currently known society into a lesser tread path. It puts the audience inside of the protagonist, but also the unique world presented by the story. Macbeth falls right into this definition. The play has all the common elements of a good science fiction story, and Shakespeare uses them to build a narrative that is both engaging, but also makes one look at current events and draw correlations between the play’s world, and the real world.
One of the common tropes of science fiction, and a main theme of Macbeth, is “don’t mess with the flow of time.” If or when you do, it ultimately leads to a particularly tragic end. Its roots can be traced back to a story in the Book of Virtues called “The Magic Thread.” It’s the story of a boy who finds a spool of thread that controls time. When he pulls the thread, it speeds up time, but the journey is one way. He starts to skip all the boring, slow, or hard parts of his life, and then when he arrives at old age, realizes that he has missed most of what makes life worth it to live. This may seem to be a fantasy story, and given the construct of the thread being magic, it certainly falls into the definition of fantasy, but the idea it presents is entirely new and entirely in the realm of science fiction. Just replace “Magic” with “nano-bots”, or other sudo-science, or better yet, leave it as “magic.” Magic was the term used to describe things until a scientific explanation could be found. The name isn’t what matters; it’s the concept that defines science fiction. Macbeth takes this concept of time corruption and runs with it. As soon as he found out that he was to be “king hereafter” (Shakespeare I.III.50), he was set on making sure that this destiny came to pass. Time is like a four lane highway, you have multiple paths and multiple exits. Some may lead to greater things; others may take you to a dead end, or worse, rush-hour. Every time a change is made, it’s like changing lanes on the highway. As Macbeth chooses to kill or not kill to become king, he changes lanes, but if he changes over too many, he might miss his exit, leading to a road he doesn’t want to go down. Some exits lead to the same destination, but there is always a difference.
The introduction of Macbeths outside stimulus to the timeline of a predestined event lead to the exact outcome he had hoped for, but not under conditions that he, before his perversion of morals, would have accepted. This corruption of the intended outcome also has firm roots in science fiction. A modern example, circa 1954, is the short story “Meddler” by Philip K. Dick. Where by a series of glances into the future show a degradation of the state of the future, from idyllic to destroyed. In an effort to figure out what has caused the change, they send someone into the future to investigate, unknowingly bringing back the contaminate that caused the destruction. The concept of timeline degradation has been widely used as a fallback to cover up the plot holes in stories with time travel, but only in science fiction is the degradation allowed to happen. It goes hand in hand with reduction to the extreme, by showing what could happen if a technology or ability was available in the current, or past, time and presenting it realistically it brings a moral or idea that can be applied to the present.
Another genre specific trope of science fiction is the displacement of the common man into a surreal situation. A good science fiction story includes a character whose “asperatoins and abilities are not so different from, and not less important than, those of the great and powerful” (Steven Godersky, Introduction). Such as the woman antagonist of “Captive Market” who uses her knowledge of the space time flowchart to “sell vegetables out of a wagon” (Godersky, Introduction). Macbeth is a common man. A violent common man, but no more violent than what was normal for the time. His aspirations and weakness of character cause him to attempt to enforce his predicted rise to the throne. While fantasy deals with more epic and powerful characters, Macbeth is about a common man attempting to cement his future.
Shifting realities are also key ingredients of science fiction and Macbeth. “Reality is approximately as dependable as a politician’s promise” (Roger Zelazny, Introduction), inside of these worlds. It may just be in the main characters head, Macbeth may not actually see Banquo’s ghost, or the floating dagger, but in a science fiction story, reality is relative to the characters. If Macbeth believes that it’s real, then for him it is. As in “The Matrix,” his mind makes it real for him. Lady Macbeth’s mind makes the visions so real for her that it ends up killing her. Inside of fiction, shifting reality for a character is considered a mental problem; but in science fiction, a shifting reality is usually a direct consequence of the characters’ actions. Be it Macbeths guilt or Bob Arctor’s use of substance D in “Scanner Darkly” (Philip k. Dick), the shift in reality is impossible to recover from, leading to the eventual downward slide of the characters into an instable state of mind.
If the idea brought to the table by Macbeth hadn’t been original, or the characters too grand, the story would be firmly in thee root of fantasy; but by being one of the first to show the effects of trying to change the future from a predicted outcome, as well as creating characters that stand up on their own as common people, Macbeth is fully caught by the broad label of Science fiction. Until recently the classification of science fiction hadn’t existed, and I seriously doubt that the play would have sold many copies or seats if it was labeled as “fiction of science” or similar synonyms, but it definitely falls into the new category as a legacy novel. It wouldn’t do it justice to call it anything else.