Macbeth- William Shakespeare

The Overview:

Macbeth is a tragic play written by the infamous William Shakespeare and allegedly first performed in 1606. It describes the dramatic fall of the titular Macbeth from revered war veteran to psychotic king. After years of war, Macbeth is declared a war hero. Then he comes across three witches who make for him a startling prophesy: Macbeth will become first, Thane of Calder, then king. He dismisses the witches, until immediately after,  he is named Thane of Calder. This starts a Domino Effect, until Macbeth becomes mad with power and plagued by guilt over the terrible things he has done to achieve it.

The Diction:

As one would expect of anything of Shakespeare’s, the diction is very, for lack of a better term, Shakespearean. It was, for me at least, next to impossible to read and understand simultaneously without prior exposure to Elizabethan language. I would most definitely advise reading aloud, as that is how it is intended to be heard, and is far easier, though still tough, to comprehend.

Potential Turn-offs:

For me, there were many turn-offs. For one, it seems like even the great Shakespeare isn’t perfect. There are subjects that are brought up and dropped later in the story as if they never existed. The problem is, besides the obvious creation of a major plot-hole, is that when you include prophetic elements in a story, you had better fulfill it. Obviously, there are going to be loopholes in it, which makes the wording of the prophesy crucial. There are also abrupt changes in character that bothered me greatly. The story is also far too political for my taste.

An Appealing Factor: 

I’m thinking really hard to come up with even the smallest thing that I enjoyed in Macbeth. The best I can come up with is the smart mouth of Macduff’s son, Macduff’s loyalty, and savagery of Lady Macbeth’s reasoning. I won’t give any spoilers, but not all of the aforementioned  traits survive to the end.

(BONUS) The Hype:

Supposedly, Macbeth is Shakespeare’s second most popular play, right after Hamlet.  I haven’t read Hamlet, but I’ve seen loose adaptions of it. I’ve also read and seen Romeo and Juliet, another famous play of his. So, I went into Macbeth completely ignorant of the plot and hoping to enjoy it as much as I did Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The only thing I knew about Macbeth was just the bare bones of Lady Macbeth’s characters, and I was looking forward to it. And I must say, I came out of it more disappointed than ever. There is discontinued plot elements, a terrible character’s de-evolution, and if I hadn’t been had an audio-book to listen to, I wouldn’t have understood a word. I wouldn’t have even kept reading.

My Rating:

I don’t think I’ve ever been so let down by such a hyped up piece of literature. Without a doubt, I am never going to read Macbeth again. I’ll give it 3 stars out of 10, and I’m being generous.

Author: Jordyn Harper

If I were to describe my writing style, it would be... volcanic. Most of the time, I sit, looming, silent, harmless. My writing is generally romantic, pleasing to the eye. I imagine a scenario that in my opinion would be mutually satisfying. But every now and then, maybe after a particularly odd dream or an especially horrible day, I will erupt. And these eruptions might last for a long time. My writing devolves, or evolves, however you choose to view it, into madness. Scrawls of controversy and scribbles of the chaos of my inner mind. That is my best writing, and I can rarely summon that at will, which means, I have plenty of room to improve. But then again, don't we all?