In Star Trek The Next Generation episode "Conundrum" the Enterprise crew's memories are erased. Suddenly out of no where we see Commander Macduff. It turns out that he was an alien pretending to be human. His species was at War with a nearby world. Neither species had the technology to defeat the other. He hoped to convince the Enterprise crew that they were at war with his enemy. The Enterprise weaponry would allow him to win that war.
In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth was told that he could only be killed bu a man who was not born of a woman. In the story, that man was Macduff. He was born by Cesarean. He eventually did kill Macbeth.
When I first saw "Conundrum" I was not that familiar with Macbeth and had never heard of the character Macduff. When I read Macbeth, the minute I saw the character of Macduff, it made me think of the Star Trek character. I wonder if the writers of Start Trek had the Shakespearean Macduff in mind when they created this man.
There are similarities and differences between the two characters. Macduff of Star Trek was an alien pretending to be a human where Macduff of Shakespeare was a man not born of a woman. Macduff of Macbeth was the hero of the story. He was the only one who could end the dictatorship of Macbeth. On Star Trek, Macduff was the villain. He was trying to manipulate the crew into ending his war. Star Trek tries to incorporate other literature into his stories. It routinely makes references to other works. This may be one of those examples.
hmmm I guess I don't realy see any similarities between the two characters mcduff other that the name. it is possilbe though that gene roddenberry used the name as inspiration and not the actual character.
ReplyDeletethe only simularites are they both were not born of a women.
ReplyDeleteahhh gotcha
ReplyDeleteWell that and neither character wanted to be ruled by the current or winning party they were against.
ReplyDeleteTNG episodes often refer back to literature more so, in my opinion, than any of the other Trek series. But then, TNG had Patrick Stewart who was trained in Shakespearean theatre.
No, Macduff is not the hero of "Macbeth". Macbeth is the hero - the tragic hero - of the play. In Shakespearean tragedy, a hero is not a noble guy who does all the right things. The hero - or protagonist - is the main character, whose downfall proceeds inevitably from his own character flaws.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I may have to go read MacBeth now.
ReplyDeleteWell, probably just rewatch the Next Gen epidose. :)
Did you read Shakespeare in high school or college? Who are your favorite authors of fiction?
ReplyDeleteI took a corse on british literature in high shcool.
ReplyDelete