Monday, October 22, 2007

MacBeth (book review)


MacBeth, by William Shakespeare, is the story of a Scottish nobleman named MacBeth and his fall from glory due his hunger for power. After a great victory in battle, MacBeth meets three witches who tell him he will become king of Scotland. After he learns this, MacBeth kills the current king of Scotland, Duncan, and blames it on Duncan's bodyguards. He becomes king because Duncan's sons flee after their father's death. MacBeth also kills a general named Banquo, because the witches said his sons would become kings. Eventually, the other thanes become suspicious of MacBeth and attack his castle. MacBeth is finally killed by an honorable man named MacDuff.

I enjoyed this book, but it took a while to get used to the language, as this was my first experience with Shakespeare. I'd like read more of his work soon. I would also love to see this performed live!

I give this 9 stars out of 10.

2 comments:

Jean said...

Macbeth is a story that translates to almost any time and culture. I went to the Folger Shakespeare Theatre once and saw it done, in Shakespearean language, but set in late 1950s rural Louisiana. The Southern accents were, I admit, a bit disconcerting, but ambition, greed, and a lust for power are very universal themes. I think the best way to read a Shakespeare play is aloud, so you can roll your tongue around the language.

Debi said...

Jean--

It sounds interesting to see it done in that setting! I'd like to see that sometime.

--Annie