V fo r Vendetta'. A Graphic Retelling of Macbeth
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emotion. This was demonstrated in 1.4 after the news that he had become Thane
of Cawdor; Macbeth ruminates to himself until Banquo reminds him of his place
with “Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure” (1.4.149). It happens again
in 2.1.33-61 when he perceives the floating dagger. And he does it, perhaps
most dramatically, with Banquo’s ghost in 3.4. Macbeth speaks aloud to the
ghost even after it is known that no one else can see it. This aspect of Macbeth’s
character is remarked on also by Bradley. Bradley sees these “lapses into
reverie” as Shakespeare’s concentration “on the obscurer regions of man’s
being, on phenomena which make it seem that he is in the power of secret forces
lurking below, and independent of his consciousness and will” (Bradley, 270). It
does not seem a stretch, therefore, to believe the question “Wherefore did you
so,” like the dagger and like Banquo’s ghost, removed Macbeth from his
surroundings, caused him to be overcome with emotion and provoked him to
answer the question, just not the question Macduff and the others thought he was
answering.
The question of tyranny remains the last obstacle to Macbeth’s fulfillment
of the first requirement. The belief of V’s society as unjust is clear through the
description of the government. Mr. Susan is The Head of the government,
literally. Called Leader, by those operating under him, the government has been
divided into pieces of the human body: The Eye is responsible for the
observation of citizen’s activities through cameras “for [their] protection;” The
Ear is responsible for phone surveillance and listening in on private
conversations through audio surveillance equipment; The Finger is the
militaristic aspects of the police force; The Nose investigates any supposed
criminal activity and; finally, The Mouth is responsible for all “news”—
propaganda—released to the public.
Through The Mouth the public is exposed to the “Voice of Fate”—the
broadcast that is the government’s direct contact with its citizens. Lewis
Prothero, the Voice of Fate, is unknown by the public, even by Mr. Almond, the
leader of The Finger who exclaims, “The whole idea is that people think it’s
Fate talking. It makes Fate appear more human. Gives people confidence” (17).
Almond’s words are revealing here, about the state of the government, the
character of V in the story, and the people who allowed cameras “for their own
protection” to be erected all over England. The government has systematically
worked to reduce its citizens to children: powerless, weak-willed, and
submissive. Its propaganda campaigns, the news broadcasts by “Fate” and signs
hung everywhere that say “STRENGTH THROUGH PURITY, PURITY
THROUGH FAITH” and “PUT YOUR TRUST IN FAITH” enable the belief of
the citizens that their lives are not their own, that free will is a burden they
shouldn’t bother with, and that trust in the government, belief the government is
right, is the best course of action. The government—The Head, The Eye, The
Ear, The Mouth, The Nose, The Finger—is comprised of pieces of a body, a
mutilated body, and the civic body is the one that has been mutilated.