Macbeth - Shakespeare

BossArky

Finished Macbeth last night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up pleased.

A decade ago I studied Othello for the Leaving Cert, and enjoyed delving back into Shakespeare. The version of Macbeth which I read was basically a school book, complete with explanations, plot analysis and exercises which greatly aided my understanding of the play. I found it on ebay. Here is a link to the version I read:

http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521606861&ss=fro

I don't think I would have enjoyed it / followed it without the explanations in this book.

Has anyone else read the version I mentioned here, or something similar? Or just the standard text? What opinions do you have of Macbeth and Shakespeare in general? I'm contemplating finding some more stuff on ebay for the sake of it. What would you recommend?

John

I love Macbeth. We did it in transition year as our English teacher was disgusted that it was taken off the LC course and we wouldn't get a chance to appreciate it. Saw it performed once but it wasn't a great production.

I did Othello in college but didn't enjoy it as much as Macbeth. Hamlet is excellent too (a school version of this would be handy as there's a lot of hidden meanings and themes that add to the enjoyment of the play). Have a soft spot for The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet too. Never really got into King Lear. Bill's poetry is worth reading too if you like poetry.

Tar.Aldarion

Before I start, it's my opinion that Shakespeare is really over rated.

Anyway, MacBeth, I did enjoy this when I read it. I read it when quite young as we have all his works at home. It was just the plain text and the text looks looks about 50 years old.
It is one of my favourites of his. I did it again for the LC and it was quite enjoyable compared to the other, spit, texts we were doing.

Isn't there one point where there is a knock at MacBeth's door and he says a ten minute speech before answering it. I always thought that was funny, meh.

Odysseus

The best editions of Shakespeare is the Arden Shakespeare, IMHO the best reading you will ever engage with. The Arden edition can be a tad academic, but worth it. With I used to commute on a bus I got through 30 of the 36 editions, gerat way of putting CIE time to use. I commute on a bike for the past three years, I actually have the last six at home, must get around to finishing it. Was watching a video production of Henry V last night, now that is well worth a read.

Limerick Dude

Studying it at the moment for my leaving cert, i admit its quite enjoyable and easy to unserstand, the character of Macbeth is very interesting

''Stars hide your fires,
Let not light see my dark and deep desires"

NoDayBut2Day

Limerick Dude wrote:

''Stars hide your fires,
Let not light see my dark and deep desires"

I love the fact that he can rhyme and not sound cheesy.

Anywho, I enjoy reading Shakespeare, and have enjoyed reading MacBeth. My two favorites though were Hamlet and Twelfth Night. The plot line in Hamlet seemed deeper than MacBeth.

Oh and when I studied it, I also had one of those "helpful guide" type books.. it didn't "explain" anything per se, but it had the regular 'Shakespearian' version on one side and then an 'English' translation on the other, and so that really helped me understand the way Shakespeare writes. I'm pretty used to it now.

luckat

Good play, even though it's lying English nationalist propaganda.

marie_85

Studied MacBeth for my LC and adored it. Now doing Othello in college. I've also studied Romeo and Juliet and King Lear, and MacBeth is my favourite of the lot.

luckat

It's worth looking at a couple of interpretations of it - notably Polanski's version, and the Japanese film Throne of Blood.

Earthhorse

Studied Macbeth for the Leaving Cert and loved it. It's actually Shakespeare's shortest play if I remember correctly (could be just his shortest major play).

Was actually working on a screenplay of Macbeth last year but it got abandoned at some stage. Must get back to it.

In terms of Shakespeare's other works I only really know the poetry to read. The sonnets are great. Much easier to follow than the plays thanks to their concise nature. His longer poems are a step up, and require a big time investment if you're not used to reading poetry, but not as difficult as the plays.

Personally, I prefer going to performances over reading texts. I wouldn't be mad about texts with "translations" on one side of the page either, though I too would struggle without them. Taking a class would be better I think but that might not be for you.