Comments | nwhyte: March Books 8) Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

nwhyte

March Books 8) Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

Mar 12, 2009 22:44

Macbeth is the last of the Shakespeare plays that I know well. It really is a good one: actually rather tightly plotted, with both lead roles undergoing transitions of character, in Macbeth's case egged on by the witches (who are memorable but a bit superfluous). The pivotal moments are in Act 3, where Macbeth thinks he is securng his rule by ( Read more... )

rereads, writer: shakespeare, bookblog 2009

Comments 4

loveandgarbage March 13 2009, 01:08:24 UTC

There's a great Trevor Nunn RSC version on DVD with McKellen and Dench as Macbeth and Lady M. The DVD is from Fremantle. Probably the best version I've seen.

anonymous March 13 2009, 16:31:27 UTC

I'm not sure the witches are superfluous - surely they are the equivalent of an oracle in a Greek tragedy, giving the character a shove in the direction of their fate. (On the subject of Greek, 'tetralogy' is the traditional term, 'quadrilogy' is a recent Hollywood invention isn't it ( ... )

coth March 13 2009, 19:22:33 UTC

Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter is a very fine fictional treatment of MacBeth - if you were to add it to your reading pile I would be very interested in your opinion bye and bye.

nwhyte March 13 2009, 19:49:54 UTC

I read that very shortly after it came out - I'd heard Dunnett being interviewed about it on Frank Delaney's programme. I thought she made (and still makes) a very interesting case. My own medieval studies of the period about a century later involved disentangling a lost scholar from multiple identities; the idea that this might happen to a king and earl was really provocative and fascinating. I cannot have been more than 16 when I read it but I really loved it.