Resources: Macbeth
To study William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, you start with the language barrier. Shakespearean English will make it hard for you to experience the play, even when performed, as you would any other story; the usual narrative beats and character development are often locked behind your ability to understand what’s being said.
I suggest you start with a summary, like the one provided here: Folger Shakespeare Library: Macbeth. You might want to wade into the Wikipedia entry, but remember that Wikipedia intends to be comprehensive — there is a lot of information there.
Macbeth is a great story, and the language used to tell it is worth the effort of decoding. Macbeth’s speeches are timeless; his wife’s, maybe more so. As a play, it is meant to be performed, so we will watch one of these performances:
Each can be rented for free with an Amazon Prime membership. The first one is probably more visually interesting; the second, through its lack of sets, emphasizes the actors more.
To read along, we will use the robust version of the play available online at Open Source Shakespeare:
This allows you to use Snap and Read to translate, plus any and all other online tools that might help you understand and appreciate Macbeth. In addition, we will encourage you to use SparkNotes, especially their translation of the text into modern English:
If that seems strange to you, remember that we approach reading as a source of empathy and experience. There will be no quizzes on plot nor tests on symbolism. If you can handle the intrusive ads on SparkNotes, you should use it to help you understand the play as we read it and watch a performance of it.
In the end, and in lieu of tests and quizzes, you will write a reader-response essay to enrich your experience of Macbeth. That process is outlined here:
Ask questions about the unit outline below. Save questions about the play itself, the reader-response essay, and any other related assignments for the relevant post here or on Google Classroom.