Comments on: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

By: Darien Bond

Darien Bond — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:40:32 +0000

Had it not been for Lady Macbeth’s urgings to Macbeth, he would not have killed King Duncan at all. Sure, the witches prophesized that he would be King of Scotland. But it was Lady Macbeth who challenged him into murdering Duncan when he stayed as a guest in their house. (Bad hospitality manners, to say the least!) Her horrid wickedness brought about Macbeth’s defeat. The powerful and dominating figure of Lady Macbeth goes through a transformation as the play progresses and towards the end, suffers from a psychological breakdown and dies. Even her husband has no `time’ to think about her - 'She should have died hereafter;/There would have been a time for such a word'. Shmoop.com’s in-depth analysis of 'Macbeth' has a lot more to say on the characters in this play. I really enjoyed their take.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:29:57 +0000

Karen, no need to be embarrassed, as I hadn’t read it either until last month!

Damned Conjuror, wow, what a recommendation. I’ll have to watch it when I’m in a good mood…

Jane, I do like Lady Macbeth, probably more than the other characters! Thanks for the film rec. Maybe I’ll find that one!

By: JaneGS

JaneGS — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:41:46 +0000

Good review of Macbeth–it’s one of my favorite Shakespearean plays because of Lady Macbeth. She is a fascinating character. I prefer the Judi Dench filmed version of the play over the others I’ve seen because she is so great in the role, and the set/costumes are minimal to the point of non-existent (i.e., they sit in a circle and stand up to deliver their lines, almost theatre workshop setting), but very effective.

I’ll have to look for the Annotated Shakespeare series–sounds good.

By: DamnedConjuror

DamnedConjuror — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:00:57 +0000

I recommend you watch Roman Polanski’s version of Macbeth. It’s one of the most depressing films I’ve ever watched. It’s unrelentingly bleak and all the colour is washed out so you’re left watching this depressing dull grey.

If you want to feel like never smiling again then watch it.

By: Karenlibrarian

Karenlibrarian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:32:57 +0000

I must admit I skipped over much of your review because I’ve never actually read Macbeth! (So embarassing). But I’m encouraged since you said it was readable. I will have to check out this annotated version. And I loved your comment about reading with a bad Scottish accent. I’ll have to try it.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:46:02 +0000

Kim, it seems a lot read it in school. I didn’t but it’s one I wouldn’t mind discussing with a group because there are interesting issues at play here.

That movie sounds outrageous — kind of funny when you put Shakespeare into modern settings! How did it deal with all the witchcraft/supersition stuff? It seems a very 1600s play…

Heather J., I hadn’t an Shakespeare since college until this year! So don’t feel bad. And I’ve only read two this year.

Yeah, it was written in 1603, so just missed the deadline. But you could still read it and compare!!

Suzanne, I do think people who read this in high school have fond memories of it! So it must be a good one for high school!

Jason, Good point about fate versus human choice. Another thing to look at when I reread it.

Jodie, see, I don’t know ANYTHING about the historical setting. As I just said to Kim, I think the play relies on the 1600s setting a lot but I’m not familiar with it, so anything relevant kind of just passed over me. Sounds like I need to read up on James-onian England!!

By: Jodie

Jodie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:34:44 +0000

It’s all about the historical setting with Macbeth I think (just because that’s the angle I studied it from) – the fact that the play features witches to please King James and the ways Shakespeare probably shows himself to be aware of the massive witche scepticism that existed at the time. The fact that the historical story behind Macbeth is gretaly mangled to fit in with the politics of the time and James’ relation to the Scottish crown.

Examinign gender roles sounds like an interesting way to go as well though, what with Macbeth’s wife getting blamed for his lust for power and the importance of the three female witches.

By: Jason Gignac

Jason Gignac — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:03:33 +0000

I like Macbeth, and heartily second your point about reading sections aloud in a poor Scots accent (my friend and I in high school used to shout things like ‘Out Damned Spot’ and the part about makign the whole sea incarnidine back and forth to each other… sigh, I am such a loser… ).

From an analysis point of view, I agree, the gender roles are interesting, definitely, though for me, I thought the commentary on fate and human choice was really interesting – the witches never lie, so when they say Macbeth will be king, are they predicting it because they already know what Macbeth will do? And if so, does that Macbeth was incapable of choosing good? And in the end – I love how fate lies to us even when it tells the truth.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:32:46 +0000

I have a thing for Macbeth – when we studied it in grade 11 English we had to do group dramatizations. My group had one of the scenes where Macbeth meets the witches and Macbeth has a few soliloquies. I got to play Macbeth and had to memorize those soliloquies. For a long time afterwards I could recite those darn things after the smallest prompt. However I think because of this Macbeth is by far my favorite Shakespeare play.

By: Heather J.

Heather J. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:18:18 +0000

Confession: I haven’t read a Shakespearean play since high school, and I’ve never read or seen any version of Macbeth (or Hamlet for that matter).

Hmm, these plays aren’t quite old enough for the Really Old Classics challenge, are they? Because there is a book on my TBR list called LADY MACBETH by Susan Fraser King, and I’d love to read Hamlet followed by that book.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed this one even though it doesn’t seem to be one of your favorites!

By: Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:10:26 +0000

I liked Macbeth when I read it and saw it performed. You’re right — it’s not the most complicated of plays, plot-wise, but I think it does say some interesting things about good and evil and ambition and desire.

Sort of funny Macbeth related story — about a month ago Boyfriend and I rented a movie called Scotland, PA which is a version of Macbeth set in 1975 around the start of the fast food industry. Macbeth and his wife kill their boss (by pushing him into a fast food fryer) to take over his fast food franchise and then get possessed with guilt, etc. It was an ok movie — a dark comedy with Christopher Walken (who was very funny as McDuff). The silly part was that I didn’t get the Macbeth connection at all until Boyfriend mentioned it even though it was completely obvious!