The therapist has just finished a session with a patient and Macbeth is going to be the next patient. The therapist shouts a body guards’ name before Macbeth is about to enter. His body guard enters his office and the therapist tells him…
Therapist: Now listen to me. This patient’s case is not an everyday case I have to deal with… It is unlike ANY other case I have heard about before! So this patient might be… slightly… CRAZY…or mentally disabled…. So could you please stand by the door and keep an eye on him in case anything bad happens during our session?
Body Guard: Yes, sir.
Macbeth knocks on the door…
Therapist: Yes… Please come in.
Macbeth opens the door and enters… He is looking around him with crazy eyes. The therapist and Macbeth greet each other and the session begins.
Therapist: So, Macbeth, I have heard briefly about your case and I will try to do my best to help you. So tell me… What has happened to you recently that you find the most disturbing?
Macbeth is silent for a few seconds… He is thinking…
Macbeth: …Well… I don’t know… There was a celebration for my king becoming and everyone was happy… and the entire ceremony was going well. As we were about to sit down for dinner, I noticed that the table was full… But no one else noticed this. They pointed at my seat… but it was already taken. I saw HIM sitting on that chair….. I swear it…..I…
Therapist: Wait a minute…. You saw someone sitting in your place, but no one else at the table saw him? Who was this person?
Macbeth: I saw HIM……I swear I saw him. It was Banquo… He was covered in blood… No one else at the table could see him; but I could. They thought I was crazy… He was there… Covered in blood…and…
Macbeth pauses for a moment. He looks at an empty chair as if he sees a person sitting there… He suddenly gets up and shouts…
Macbeth: AND THERE HE IS AGAIN….. HE IS HAUNTING ME!!!!!!!...DAMN YOU, BANQUO!!...I AM GOING TO GET YOU!!!!!! I will kill you!!!!
He walks towards the empty chair in anger as he speaks to the imaginary Banquo sitting on the chair…
The body guard goes towards Macbeth to seat him back in his chair…
As Macbeth says the words ‘I will kill you’, he suddenly sees another image in the air…
Macbeth: OH MY GOD……it’s the same dagger I see before me… that BLOODY dagger….OH NO….THEY ARE ALL COMING BACK FOR ME !!!!!!
Therapist: Please, Macbeth… Calm down… It’s only your imagination… What you’re seeing is NOT real!!!!....
Macbeth: YES it IS real….it’s Banquo… I CAN see him!!!!!!…. and it’s that BLOODY DAGGER floating in the air……!!!!!
Macbeth says this while moving around anxiously and struggling with the body guard.
The imaginary Banquo vanishes… so does the floating dagger…
Tears start to roll down Macbeth’s face; in sadness of why this is happening to him…
Therapist: Please, Macbeth! Calm down… It’s all going to be all right. Calm down…
There are a few moments of silence…
Macbeth: I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew that blood will have blood. I knew that killing the king and then Banquo would be a mistake…. I felt that I had stepped in so far into murder that there was no chance of returning to whom I used to be. So I continued… with killing… with mistakes…
But what’s done, cannot be undone…
The body guard looks at the therapist in confusion about what to do next…
The therapist is in shock of how Macbeth reacted to the session…
Therapist: I… I think that’s enough for today… He has clearly had enough to deal with for one day… Go…Take him away…
The body guard leads Macbeth to the door…
This is an engaging and entertaining piece, and I love the decision for the two hallucinations to recur here in his therapy; and the bodyguard is an interesting touch too. It really comes alive as a piece of drama too!
ReplyDeleteThere is, perhaps, insufficient use of quotation early on, however; and it would have been good to get some detailed insight into what led him to this point. (Please be careful you don't overuse those ellipses though!)
Content: 7/10
Organisation: 7/10
Style and Language Usage: 8/10
Achievement Grade = 5