2011 Book Review #89: Macbeth

[jethrien]

Title: Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare
Genre: Classic literature/drama
Thingummies: 5

Synopsis: Don't listen to the witches. It never ends well.

Thoughts: I've seen Macbeth performed, but I'd never actually gotten around to reading it until now. Of the super-famous Shakespeare tragedies (R&J, Hamlet, Lear, Othello, Julius Caesar), I think this one's my favorite. (My actual favorite is Antony and Cleopatra, but that one gets a lot less love.)

I think a lot of it is that the lead characters are a lot less annoying. Oh, Macbeth wobbles a bit, but his wife pushes him right back on track to Tragedy Land. It's not like Hamlet's endless indecision. At the same time, while he's an evil guy, I hated him a lot less than Lear. Macbeth's honest with his ambition and what it makes him do. He's not completely delusional like Lear or Othello, and so I don't spend half the play wanting to strangle him.

Meanwhile, he and his wife each get some amazing speeches. But I have to say that (spoilers?) Macduff mourning his family is one of the most touching, even if it can descend to maudlin in the hands of a bad actor.

Plus, the pacing is excellent, moving right along with unstoppable force, as any good parable of destiny should. It also has somewhat fewer of the convoluted puns that tend to trip up modern audiences.

I'm not even going to bother comparing this to works by people other than Shakespeare.

Have you read this? Or at least, seen it? No? It's not going to take you much time, I promise. Go on. Shoo!

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I wonder why you're reading this...?

(I just read a synopsis at lunch. And all the reviews.)

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

What is the rule for spoiler alerts for classic literature, I wonder?

[freekofnature.livejournal.com]

I have read this and it is very obvious that Shakespeare was trying to get into the good graces of James I, having his previous royal backer (Elizabeth I) passing away. I am sure he was aware that James I once wrote a book (before becoming regent) on how to spot and identify witches (He was terrified of them!)

Some important Royals from Europe were visiting, and in honour of the new Caledonian King of England, to get onto the good side of King James, and to sort of educate the public about the history of Scotland, he wrote this play.
I must have worked because afterwards his company was granted the royal warrant and renamed The Kings Men

The Scottish Play

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm woefully under-read in Shakespeare, but I found Macbeth truly excellent. It helps that I have seen amazing productions of it and that it's underlying tensions adapt well to interpretation. There was an Australian movie that used the basic plot to tell a tale of rival drugs gangs and it was brutal. (Poor, poor Macduff.)

I feel it is unfairly derided as a junior effort on Shakespeare's part--something that doesn't stand up to the maturity of later works like Hamlet or King Lear, both which DRIVE ME UP THE FUCKING WALL. I'm so, so annoyed by Hamlet's dicking around and Regan's refusing to suck the fuck up to Daddy and be done with this shit, I cannot even tell you. The one redeeming feature of Lear is Edmund's scheming, and even that is a pale shade of the magnificent bastardy of Iago.

But Macbeth, for all its flights into fantasy and insanity towards the end, is the most human of stories--of pride and delusions of grandeur that run full-smack into a most unforgiving reality. Lady Macbeth is one of the most challenging roles ever, as is Macbeth, and yet, done right, they are both sympathetic characters worthy of our attention. Great stuff.

Re: The Scottish Play

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Regan's evil, Cordelia's Miss Goody Two Shoes.

Re: The Scottish Play

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

God, I hate that play so much I can't even remember who's who. Haaaate.

Re: The Scottish Play

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kinda hate it too.

[elissali.livejournal.com]

Don't listen to the witches. It never ends well.

I love you so much!!!!


I am also a fan of the play... Also check out the adaptation by Kurosawa, Throne of Blood. We saw a play adaptation of the movie up at OSF which was fantastic. (How meta - I haven't seen the movie, though)