William Shakespeare's work has not just stood the test of time, it manages to still have relevance today. So many of his great lines still call to mind current events - like this one, from the comedy "The Twelfth Night," which rings especially true given our nation's current political situation.
If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.
An improbable fiction indeed, with the fundamentally unserious Kamala Harris only a breath away from occupying the most powerful position on the planet. But it is Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth," not "The Twelfth Night," that presents the most interesting parallels.
Consider Kamala Harris as a gender-swapped Macbeth. In this scenario, there is no good candidate for Lady Macbeth, as the "Second Gentleman" does not seem quite so manipulative or ambitious, at least not that we know of. But Kamala/Macbeth, having been exhorted to strive for the ultimate power (I think we can safely have "The View" stand in for the trio of witches) does not murder old King Duncan (Joe Biden) but through a combination of concealing the king's weakness and maintaining her own clutches on the levers of power, manages to remove the king in the second act.
I confess I'm very fond of "The View" as the evil witches; that may be the best parallel of the piece. I can see Joy Behar mouthing the introductory lines:
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks.
Kamala Harris as Macbeth may seem a stretch to some, but none other than Texas Senator Ted Cruz cautions us to underestimate her at our peril.
See Related: Ted Cruz Cautions GOP About Underestimating Kamala Harris
For the young MacDuff, I can only think of the young, ambitious JD Vance, Donald Trump's VP pick. Vance was not (so far as I know) like MasDuff, "from his mother's womb untimely ripped" but he fills the role in other ways. He was no doubt itching to take on Kamala Harris in the vice-presidential debates, but the vice-presidential candidate is often the campaign's attack dog. While Donald Trump (Malcolm) is pretty good at attacking in his own right, it's not hard to see the young Vance confronting not only whoever Kamala Harris/Macbeth's vice presidential pick is but also the upstart king (queen?) herself.
Donald Trump, while much older, is nevertheless Malcolm, who regains the throne that is his by right at the end of the play, after MacDuff's defeat of Macbeth, after Lady Macbeth's suicide.
With any luck, Kamala Harris's electoral hopes will not fare any better than Macbeth's quest for the throne. Early indications are not favoring the latter-day Macbeth's odds - at least, so far.
See Related: Amid Democrat Jubilation Over Kamala Harris, Electoral Reality Comes Flying in Off the Top Rope
I struggle with the Lady Macbeth character. Here there are no really good parallels; Lady Macbeth was the one who exhorted her husband to kill the king, to seize the throne, and then suffered what we would now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after the act. But were we to dive into the labyrinthian corridors of the administration, particularly among the vice president's staff, we may well find a candidate - or several. Where that comparison fails is in Lady Macbeth's apparent remorse. I doubt seriously that any of the faceless, nameless staffers would feel a moment's regret at shoving Duncan/Biden aside to propel their principal, Macbeth/Harris, to the throne/White House.
There's another comparison. Macbeth is considered a bad luck play among theater actors. There is a tradition in the theater that one never speaks the word "Macbeth," instead referring to the work as "The Scottish play."
The legacy media sort of served as the messengers, who served as a sort of chorus, responsible for exposition. Where this comparison collapses is that the legacy media are not impartial; they make not even the pretext of impartiality, instead openly favoring Harris/Macbeth. So they aren't good at the exposition, which was Shakespeare's usual intent of chorus figures. In the end, the legacy media are probably best represented by one of my favorite lines from my favorite character in "Midsummer Night's Dream," Puck:Up and down, up and down,
I will lead them up and down:
I am fear'd in field and town:
Goblin, lead them up and down.
Yes. That suits the likes of the legacy media very well - goblins, leading the masses to self-delusion.
This comparison isn't perfect, but then, none ever is. The broad strokes are nonetheless there, and they serve to show that the works of William Shakespeare, of whose work I am unapologetically a fan, are still relevant today. "Macbeth" carries a lot of parallels - but so does "A Midsummer Night's Dream," in some ways, as we look at the strange, almost unbelievable events of the day; it would not be surprising to see Gavin Newsom actually growing donkey's ears.
If you have some reading time available, don't rule out the Bard's work - or if it's viewing you're looking for, one of the best big-screen takes on "Macbeth" is Sir Ian McKellan's 1979 take on the piece. As for non-Macbeth pieces, I can recommend the BBC's "The Hollow Crown" series, Kenneth Branagh's great 1989 movie "Henry V," and also Branagh's wonderful take on "As You Like It," set for some reason in Japan and starring the delightful Bryce Dallas Howard as Rosalind.
There's a lot of Shakespeare to absorb, and a lot of it is still relevant. And, I suspect, we will see the gamut, from comedy to tragedy, unfold between now and November 5th.
