Recently I was talking to one of my friends outside of KO, and I mentioned that I was reading Macbeth in my English class. She said that her sister had told her something about Harry Potter and Macbeth being really similar. I like to think of myself as a true Potterhead and seeing that we were reading Macbeth in English, I had to investigate the matter. Upon researching the topic, I discovered that Macbeth is actually J.K. Rowling’s favorite Shakespeare play and she implemented a lot of parts of Macbeth into the Harry Potter series (including the movies!). After reading this, I can now see a lot of parallels with Macbeth, one of the most significant being Harry’s prophecy. This is something that has actually been discussed by Rowling herself. She says, “What if Voldemort never heard the prophecy? It’s the Macbeth idea…If Macbeth hadn’t met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen?” On her website she referred to Macbeth again when talking about Harry’s prophecy: “The prophecy (like the one the witches make to Macbeth) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made.” I definitely didn’t think about that when I was reading the books or even after. Relating more to the movies, I found out is that the director for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban actually came up with an idea for a song in the movie with the majority of its lines quoted straight from Macbeth Act IV Scene 1. I’ll put the video down below. Not only this, but the poster for the same move (below) also nudges at a line in Macbeth. There are a lot more parallels and a lot of them are discussed on this great website called "Shakespotter" and if you're interested in reading more about the parallels or you just like Macbeth or Harry Potter, I highly suggest you go read some of their posts. I'll put the link to that below too. ALSO, I just found out that the actor who plays King Duncan in the Fassbender version of Macbeth plays Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (MIND BLOWN).
Shakespotter: https://shakespotter.wordpress.com/
This is so interesting! I have read all of the Harry Potter books and I've seen all of the movies, and I didn't even think about this connection. I love the idea about how the prophecies in both Harry Potter and Macbeth are the main causes of the stories. Also, I love the fact that you brought in actual parts from the Harry Potter movies (the song with lines from Macbeth and how Lupin plays Duncan). Thanks for posting this cool idea!
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