The Smell of Macbeth

Harris, Jonathan Gil

doi:10.1353/shq.2007.0062

Cited by 36 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…While the early deliberate use of scent tended to involve nothing more exciting than its pleonastic use to match the setting/scene on stage, over the last half century or so, it has sometimes taken on a more pointed/political meaning. As we saw earlier, the sulphurous squibs (fireworks) that were let off at the start of Shakespeare's Macbeth in the early 1600s likely had a polychromous meaning for the audiences of the day, referring not only to the action that was unfolding on stage but also to the recent Gunpowder Plot (see Harris, 2007). Ultimately, though, as McGinley and McGinley (2018) have noted recently, "Scent design should always add artistic value to a performance" (p. 224).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Harris (2007), audiences watching Macbeth in the early 1600s would likely have connected the pervasive presence of the sulphurous smell of gunpowder in the theatre, both to the on-stage events as well as to recent political events in England, namely the plot by Guy Fawkes and his Catholic coconspirators to blow up Parliament. The Gunpowder Plot had been uncovered in the months preceding the play's first performance.…”

Section: Scented Processions and Pageantrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the principal uses of scent in early performance may well have been simply to help mask the ambient malodour. According to Harris (2007), in Shakespeare's time, the theatre likely smelled terrible. People would often bring their own food and drink to the performance.…”

Section: Tackling Malodour In the Theatrementioning

confidence: 99%

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Scent in the Context of Live Performance

Spence

2021

i-Perception

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Ambient smell has long been a feature of live performance, no matter whether its presence was intentional or not. While, once upon a time, the incidental presence of malodour was an inevitable feature of proceedings, the deliberate use of scent can actually be traced all the way back to the earliest rituals. This review attempts to trace the long history of scent’s use in processions, pageants, and, most important, performance. From Shakespeare’s time onward, scent has been used as an atmospheric/ambient cue. It has been used to create a certain mood, to trigger memories/nostalgia, and, on occasion, it has also served a narrative role. While the use of scent has often been merely illustrative (or pleonastic), there have been numerous occasions where olfactory stimulation has taken on a far more important evaluative role, critical or otherwise. Most often, this has been in the theatre, but also on occasion in the context of the opera, musical, ballet, and comedy too. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in scenting live performance/entertainment, especially in the context of highly immersive and experiential multisensory events. While high-tech solutions to scent delivery have been a prominent feature of its use in the cinema, low-tech solutions have more often been incorporated in the live-performance setting. This and a number of other important differences between scent’s use in the theatrical versus cinematic setting are highlighted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scented Processions and Pageantrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scent in the Context of Live Performance

Spence

2021

i-Perception

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“…That said, the more successful use of scent often references both the action/setting seen on stage or screen but also symbolizes something else as well. For example, J. G. Harris (2007) gives the example of how early audiences watching Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the 1600s would likely have understood the pervasive presence of the sulfurous smell of gunpowder (from the squibs—these were fireworks that would have been set off at the start of the play) in the theater, to connect both to on-stage events and to recent political events in England, namely, the Catholic plot of Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament—the Gunpowder Plot—that would have been current at the time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scent and the Cinema

Spence

2020

i-Perception

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From the very earliest days of public cinema (moving pictures), there has been consideration about how odors and scents might influence the viewer’s experience. While initially this was primarily a concern with how to eliminate the malodor of the cinema-goers themselves, in more recent times, there have been a number of well-publicized attempts to add synchronized pleasant (and, on occasion, also unpleasant) scents to “enhance” the cinema experience. While early solutions such as AromaRama and Smell-O-Vision were beset by technical challenges, low-tech scratch and sniff ( Odorama) and, more recently, Edible Cinema-type solutions (where the audience get to consume flavourful, and often aromatic, morsels in time with the events on screen) have proved somewhat more successful. Nevertheless, there are a number of key psychological factors that will likely inhibit the uptake of scented cinema in the future, even should the technical and financial issues (associated with retrofitting cinemas, and providing the appropriate fragrances) one day be satisfactorily resolved. These include the phenomenon of “inattentional anosmia” as well as the “fundamental misattribution error,” whereby people (who are, by-and-large, visually-dominant) tend to attribute their enjoyment to the action seen on screen, rather than to smell, and hence are unlikely to pay a premium for the latter.

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“…/ If any plague hang over us, 'tis he" (V.iii. [1][2][3]. Bearing these contexts in mind, I would like to address the question of the smell of Love's Labour's Lost, and wonder in what way the olfactory system of the play could inform us about its aesthetics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“I smell false Latin, dunghill for unguem”: Odours and Aromas in Love’s Labour’s Lost

Sukic¹

2015

shakespeare

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The Smell of Macbeth

Cited by 36 publications

References 28 publications

Scent in the Context of Live Performance

Scent in the Context of Live Performance

Scent and the Cinema

“I smell false Latin, dunghill for unguem”: Odours and Aromas in Love’s Labour’s Lost

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