MacBeth vs. Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus

[DarthTofu]

Firs thing's first: If you don't want any LotF spoilers, don't read this thread. That means you, Rob. If you didn't know that Jacen Solo became Darth Caedus... well, you're really out of touch with the Star Wars universe.

 

Anywho- in reading MacBeth recently, I noticed a number of similarities between MacBeth and Jacen/Caedus. Chiefly in the realms of fates and the like; Vergere and Lumiya respectively acted as MacBeth's witches. They told him bits and pieces of what he wanted to hear, and shaped how he would act based upon their own desires (IE "None of woman born shall harm MacBeth" when they knew MacDuff wasn't of woman born (I assume)). The ball of prophesies Lumiya leaves for him is particularly "You shall be Thane of Cawdor"-esque.

 

Next up, Jacen's killing of Mara- rather similar to MacBeth's killing of Lady MacDuff. Granted, Caedus does it personally while MacBeth just orders Lady MacDuff's death, but the result is the same: it sends one of his enemies into a rage, and results in his downfall. While Luke doesn't directly kill Jacen, he gives Jaina the energy and Force points she needs to hack off Jacen's arm and make it easier for her to kill him in the end.

 

So far as Jaina killing Jacen... can't quite fit that one into the whole MacBeth theme. I may well be wrong- I've noticed that whenever I read a "classic" I start thinking that I say allusions to it in whatever I happen to be reading afterward. You all probably remember my list of similarities between Traitor and Dante's Inferno, eh? lol- I remember someone mentioning that they hadn't read Inferno, that being Dante's Inferno, but I thought he was talking about the LotF novel Inferno... rather funny.

[RenegadeMax]

You make a good case, Tofu.

 

Of course, one of the things about Star Wars, and the classics in general, is the eternal nature of the themes involved. I hadn't thought of MacBeth specifically, but I definitely felt the whole Greek tragedy vibe in the Legacy of the Force books. Jacen's fall felt a bit contrived. He just couldn't seem to break away from his "destiny".

 

There isn't a direct parallel between Jaina's killing of her brother and MacBeth's demise at the end of the play, but they both certainly go down hard for their ambition.

 

Sorry for the spoiler if anyone didn't allready know about the end of MacBeth! Heh.

[DarthTex]

... If you didn't know that Jacen Solo became Darth Caedus... well, you're really out of touch with the Star Wars universe.

I haven't been reading much of late, especially from young upstarts like Shakespeare. I've read some of his stories, but haven't gotten to MacBeth (and probably won't). So, ... Oh, you were talking about LofF (Legacy of the Force) , my bad . Actually I haven't read anything SW after the Vong plot, and I had a hard time swallowing that load of nerf fodder. Skipped Dark Nest, and will probably never read LofF. I just don't see the point in doing so. The SW EU up to the Vong was tolerable, with notable exceptions: X-wings series & both Thrawn series; all excellent. Anything that happened prior to the Battle of Endor (but after the Clone Wars, I don't even want to go there) that had Vader in it was pretty good as far as I can recall. All of the "good" stories would be in that time period. Now, all I see is money-grubbing GL proliferating $h!t so he can fill his over-stuffed pockets with more $ , therefore I refuse to cooperate.

 

But, otherwise based on your description Tofu ... sounds like a plausible theory. Keep up the good work