The Daunting Tale of the Scottish Play

If you are a Shakespeare lover or a junior who takes IB English then I’m sure you are familiar with the cautionary tale of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare. If not, I'm hoping this will convince you to read the extraordinary play. 

Macbeth takes place in 11th-century Scotland and follows Macbeth as he tries to navigate three strange witches’ prophecies that sound rewarding but in reality, prove to be worse than Macbeth had imagined. The witches tell Macbeth that he shall have three titles: Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. Macbeth had at first dismissed their words as ramblings of mad women but he was already the Thane of Glamis and shortly after hearing the Weird sisters’ fortunes, he had been given the title of Thane of Cawdor. This made Macbeth question if the witches were actually telling him the truth. However, he began to wonder, how does he eventually become king? The current king, Duncan, had a benevolent soul and was a great king. Everyone in Scotland loved him, and his eldest son, Malcolm, had already been appointed heir to the throne. Macbeth tried to dismiss the words of the Weird Women when his wife planted an idea in his head. What if they (the Macbeths) murdered Duncan? Macbeth wants to resist but he has “no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other” (I.vii) and he ultimately decides to follow his wife’s orders. Macbeth becomes king of Scotland but at what cost? All is not well in Scotland after he becomes king, so was it worth it? Was his ambition, no matter how vaulting it was, worth taking the life of a dear friend who loved Macbeth? 

Shakespeare starts the play off with a dynamic that was not very common in the 1600’s. Lady Macbeth was a very headstrong character. She was the one to take control of the entire scheme to overthrow the current king, Duncan, and she was always the one covering for her husband. Lady Macbeth was seen as the more masculine character in her actions while Macbeth was guilt-ridden, insane, emotional, and was more feminine in his actions. This version of Macbeth was only when he was around his wife, however. Other characters had described him as valiant, noble, and brave while his wife would describe him as weak, afraid, and a coward. I’m sure Macbeth defenders would disagree with my opinion, but I believe Shakespeare added this dynamic into the play as a way to show how insecure Macbeth truly was. Macbeth lived for the approval of others. He had practically talked himself out of murdering Duncan for he had come up with good reasons to not kill him. Yet there was only one reason to kill him. The reason—or the reason that he said —was his ambition. So what made Macbeth commit the murder? Was it ambition? Sure, his ambition played a role as it does for most tragic “heroes” throughout history, but there was more. There was a final straw, which was his wife’s insults. The person who knew him best called him weak, said he didn’t deserve to be called a man, for no coward such as himself should be associated with a word so great. This berating was what made Macbeth determined to murder Duncan. Did he truly want to kill him? No, but he didn’t want anyone, especially not his wife, to think he was weak and incapable of the murder. Did it matter that Duncan and a sergeant had just praised him for his incredible work on the battlefield five scenes before? No, not to Macbeth. No matter the ocean of compliments Macbeth received, a singular droplet of doubt from anyone tainted the entire body of water. Most of his actions were not done because he wanted to do them or he believed it was the right thing to do; he did them because of others. He was manipulative to the other characters yet he was the one most easily manipulated by those around him.  

If my thoughts and comments made you curious about the play and you wish to read the play but you are worried about reading Shakespeare, do not fear! Em the scholar is here! There are many different methods that I and others use to make reading Shakespeare as easy as possible. There are a ton of websites you can use to help you understand the play. Myshakespeare.com has modern English for the six major and most popular Shakespearean plays (Macbeth included). I go on Sparknotes.com to look up the summary for each scene I read to make sure I understood the scene (or if I’m confused about something important in a scene, Sparknotes is usually helpful). I also highly suggest making annotations. Find a cheap copy of a play—amazon.com has cheap copies; I’ve thrifted most of my Shakespeare plays; and check out your local and most likely dying bookstore and support them! Usually with a cheap copy you don’t mind marking it up and write words, words, words! I have my own highlighting system as well (I use pink for literary devices, orange for amazing diction, yellow for important plot points, green for motifs/themes, blue for characterization, purple for stage directions, and a red pen for anything else that doesn’t fit under the stated categories). This system not only makes for pretty pages but it helps me further understand the story. I really suggest looking up words you don’t know; if you are like me, there will be a lot but it is worth it. You can learn new words and impress your English teacher with your new Shakespearean vocabulary, and you can fully understand the piece. I read Macbeth two summers ago and understood the basic plot, but it wasn’t until this year when I really read it, annotated (a lot), and made sure I actually understood it that I fully appreciated the play and all its amazing qualities.  Thank you IB English and Mrs. LaManna.

Adieu, adieu. fellow Scots!