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Let's face it. Macbeth is a play full of jerks! We don't mean just the bad guys, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Even the good guys are jerks.

There's Macduff, the - quote - "hero" - unquote! He runs off and leaves his wife and kid behind! He's a jerk!

And Malcolm who later becomes King of Scotland. All he does is wander around and let other people do all the work! He's a jerk, too!

And they're not just jerks, but they have potty mouths! I mean they throw out the Big Big D (to quote Captain Corcoran) all the time. And they also speak to each other most discourteously. They toss out epithets like "shag-hair’d villain","cream-fac'd loon", "lily-liver'd boy", and even "rump-fed runion".

So you have to ask why do kids get their first introduction to Shakespeare by reading a play full of jerks? After all, the teachers could pick Othello which deals with issues that are relevant today. Or Antony and Cleopatra which has lots of action.

Well, maybe it's because Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare's plays. And so the teachers suppose the best play for kids would be the quickest one to read.

Unfortunately Macbeth is not necessarily a quick read. That's because you have to look up more stuff in Macbeth than in any other of Will's plays. At least if you want to know what's going on you do. For instance in the first part of the play where the witches - the "Weird Sisters" - appear, you'll find stuff like

Her husband's to Aleppo gone, Master o' the Tiger:

But in a sieve I'll thither sail,

And like a rat without a tail,

I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.¹

What the heck does that mean?

Or what about:

The temple-haunting martlet does approve

By his lov'd mansionry that the heaven's breath

Smells wooingly here. No jutty, frieze,

Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird

Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle.

Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ'd

The air is delicate.

Figure that out.

And although Macbeth isn't as verbose as Hamlet, he still talks to himself an awful lot. He'll stand on stage and start off and keep going until someone else comes on stage.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow ...

... and on and on and on.

But when other people are around, it seems he's at a loss for words (which maybe isn't so bad).

Lennox:	The night has been unruly. Where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say, Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death, And prophesying with accents terrible Of dire combustion and confused events New hatch'd to the woeful time. The obscure bird Clamour'd the livelong night. Some say, the earth Was feverous and did shake.
Macbeth:	'Twas a rough night.

But maybe the main reason kids get Macbeth first is because it's a play where the teachers can throw out a lot of questions that have no answers. If that's what you want, then Macbeth is the play for you.

For instance, when Macduff flees Macbeth's castle, why does he leave his wife and young son behind to come to a tragic end at Macbeth's hands? What's the point of Macbeth killing King Duncan so he can take his place while he leaves Duncan's two legitimate heirs alive? And why didn't Duncan's son, Malcolm, claim the kingship immediately after his dad was killed?

Macbeth himself doesn't make much sense either. He and Lady Macbeth are going to make the chamberlains drink so much they'll fall asleep. Then he'll kill Duncan and smear the chamberlains with blood and plant bloody daggers in their hands.

But then he kills Duncan and because that's "all that becomes a man", he doesn't carry through with the plan. Since her husband had wimped out, Lady Macbeth has to plant the daggers herself.

Lady Macbeth:	Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go carry them, and smear The sleepy grooms with blood.
Macbeth:	I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on't again I dare not.
Lady Macbeth:	Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal For it must seem their guilt.

But then when the plan works and the guards are arrested, Macbeth - who said he would do no more - goes ahead and kills them anyway. His rather long winded and not completely convincing explanation was that he was so angered by their dastardly deed that he didn't know what he was doing.

Macbeth:	O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them.
Macduff:	Wherefore did you so?
Macbeth:	Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood, And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature For ruin's wasteful entrance. There the murderers Steep'd in the colors of their trade, their daggers Unmannerly breech'd with gore, who could refrain That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make's love known?

One criticism of the play is its plot is based on the misogynistic stereotype of how a good man goes bad when pushed to it by "his woman". You almost expect Will to have included something like:

Others can fill in the rest. I mean if Woody Guthrie could condense a 450 page novel into a seven minute song, Shakespeare's shortest play should be a snap.

But whatever their motives, after Duncan was killed Malcolm and Macduff hied off to England to get help from the king. Naturally this leaves Macbeth to set himself up as King of Scotland. For good measure, he also bumps off his erstwhile buddy Banquo since the Weird Sisters had told him that even though Banquo will not be king, he will begat kings. But the new plan went awry since Banquo's son, Fleance, escapes.

Macbeth's conscience keeps bothering him so much that he sees daggers floating around. And if that's not bad enough, when he and everyone sits down for a nice dinner, he sees Banquo's ghost sitting in his chair. Naturally he thinks someone's playing a trick on him.

Macbeth:	Which of you have done this?
Lords:	What, my good lord?
Macbeth:	Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me.
Ross:	Gentlemen, rise. His highness is not well.

Naturally Lady Macbeth tries to defuse the situation.

Lady Macbeth:

Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus, And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary. Upon a thought He will again be well.

Seeing her husband about to spill the beans, she takes him aside. But he can't understand why she can't see the ghost.

Lady Macbeth:	O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear. Why do you make such faces? When all's done, You look but on a stool.
Macbeth:	Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you?

Then the ghost goes out and Macbeth goes along with the story.

Macbeth:

Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends, I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing To those that know me. Come, love and health to all.

So the dinner continues until the ghost comes back in. Macbeth freaks out again.

Macbeth:

Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!

Which finally puts the damper on the festivities and Lady Macbeth shoos all the guests out.

Lady Macbeth:

Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once.

With her husband clearly losing it, Lady Macbeth starts having problems of conscience, too. She starts walking in her sleep and her handmaiden - a "gentlewoman" - calls the doctor. They watch her as she comes on stage.

Doctor:	You see, her eyes are open.
Gentlewoman:	Ay, but their sense is shut.

As they watch her she seems to be acting strange - as if sleepwalking wasn't strange enough.

Doctor:	What is it she does now? Look, how she rubs her hands.
Gentlewoman:	It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour.

Then Lady Macbeth gives one of Shakespeare's most famous (and brief) speeches.

Lady Macbeth:

Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One, two, why, then, 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.

Later we learn that Lady Macbeth has died. Exactly what happened Will never said.

For his part Macbeth was really worried and so he went off to find the Weird Sisters again. They then put on a show for him where some apparitions give some prophecies that seem pretty rock solid.

The first apparition is an "armed head". That is, a head with a helmet. His prophecy is straightfoward.

First Apparition:

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.

The next apparition is a bloody child, no doubt an allusion to Macduff's son.

Second Apparition:

Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.

That sounds fine to Macbeth. After all, everyone is of woman born.

Macbeth:

Then live, Macduff! What need I fear of thee?

But then he has second thoughts about being so charitable.

Macbeth:

But yet I'll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live.

Then the third apparition, a child wearing a crown and holding a tree, gives the final prophecy.

Third Apparition:

Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.

Again Macbeth sees this as meaning he'll never be defeated since Birnam Wood is over 10 miles away from his castle which happens to be on Dunsinane Hill.

Macbeth:

That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root?

But of course, we know what's going to happen. Malcolm and his army approaches Birnam Wood on their way to Dunsinane. An English general, Siward, wonders where they are.

Siward:	What wood is this before us?
Menteith:	The wood of Birnam.

Then Malcolm has a great idea.

Malcolm:

Let every soldier hew him down a bough And bear't before him. Thereby shall we shadow The numbers of our host and make discovery Err in report of us.

Oblivious of this all, Macbeth gets ready to battle Malcolm's army. He's confident that he can't be defeated. But then he gets some disquieting news.

Messenger:	Gracious my lord, I should report that which I say I saw, But know not how to do it.
Macbeth:	Well, say, sir.
Messenger:	As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought, The wood began to move.

NOT what Macbeth wanted to hear.

Macbeth:

Liar and slave!

But the messenger sticks to his story.

Messenger:

Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so. Within this three mile may you see it coming, I say, a moving grove.

Well, that scotches the idea of Birnam Wood never coming to Dunsinane. It seems the Weird Sisters didn't really mean the whole forest had to come to Dunsinane. After all, having some wood from Birnam come to Dunsinane fits the bill nicely, thank you.

But Macbeth still has his ace in the hole. That was that no man of woman born shall harm him. And this prophecy seems to work OK when the son of Siward (also called Siward), finds Macbeth. But he's not quite sure who he is.

Siward:

What is thy name?

Macbeth replies with commendable brevity.

Macbeth:

My name is Macbeth.

They fight and Macbeth wins. Of course, that made sense as Macbeth reminds himself.

Macbeth:

Thou wast born of woman But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandish'd by man that's of a woman born.

So far so good. But then Macduff shows up and delivers a typical Shakespearean insult.

Macduff:

Turn, hell-hound, turn!

Naturally as they fight they have a nice chat which is typical of Shakespeare's characters. Macbeth boasts he has nothing to fear.

Macbeth:

Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests! I bear a charmèd2 life, which must not yield To one of woman born.

Macduff then plays his ace in the hole.

Macduff:

Despair thy charm; And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb Untimely ripp'd.

So it's now clear what the Weird Sisters really meant. That was that no man born in a normal delivery will defeat Macbeth. They didn't say anything about a caesarian.

Now they tell him!

Well there's not much more to do. But Macbeth is a stubborn cuss.

Macbeth:

I will not yield, Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou opposed, being of no woman born, Yet I will try the last.

And just before they fight, Macbeth delivers his most famous lines.

Macbeth:

Lay on, Macduff, And damn'd be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!"

So we see both Macbeths have potty mouths.

In any case, Macduff holds Macbeth enough, and Malcom takes his rightful place on the throne.

Of course, there is one way you can understand what's going on in Macbeth without looking up all the words. That's to watch it as a play. That way the action more or less does the explaining even if you don't catch each and every word.

And gun teagamh amongst the best performances were when Ian McKellen and Judi Dench took the title roles. Yes, creid e no nach eil, Ian and Judi have done more than play Gandalf and M.

Ian played the Indecisive Scot as early as 1958, and Judi was Lady Macbeth in 1963. But it was their performance in 1976 that gained them the greatest accolades. That play was even put on television in 1979.

In the television show there was one change that wasn't for the squeamish. In the original play when the murderers come for Lady Macduff, she runs away and is killed off stage. But in the television play she's killed right in front of everybody and in what's sure to appeal to modern audiences with rather gruesome special effects.³

Of course, there's other great performances of Macbeth. One particularly suited for Beginners at Shakespeare is the radio adaptation from the BBC starring Paul Scofield and Peggy Ashcroft. You can read along and pretty much understand what's going on. Paul, of course, played Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons. Peggy, although remaining primarily a stage actor won an Academy Award for her role in A Passage to India.

Of course, Macbeth has been put on film. The first feature length movie from a major studio was Orson Welles's production in 1948. There was quite of bit of change from Shakespeare's play, a lot of cut scenes and some removal of the suggestive parts such as when Macduff is speaking with a porter before he finds out Duncan has been murdered.

Macduff:	What three things does drink especially provoke?
Porter:	Marry, sir, nose-painting4, sleep, and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes and unprovokes. It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance:

That would have been a bit too much for mid-20th century Hollywood's permission. But such reticence has been more than made up by later productions.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's later plays. It was probably performed in 1606 or maybe it was 1611. At least it was included in the famous First Folio printing in 1623. Sometimes Shakespearean scholars are as uncertain about things as Macbeth was.

Will's next play - also from 1606 - was Antony and Cleopatra and the two plays could hardly be more different. Only one character's conscience bothers him and that's toward the end of the play. And at the beginning, there's lots of partying going on. But best of all, the action moves along and some scenes are literally only a few lines.

And some of the speeches are as good as anything Will wrote, like when Enobarbus describes the first meeting of Mark Antony and Cleopatra

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,

Burn'd on the water. The poop was beaten gold,

Purple the sails, and so perfumèd that

The winds were love-sick with them. The oars were silver,

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made

The water which they beat to follow faster,

As amorous of their strokes.

But beneath the levity there's trouble. At one of the parties, Sextus Pompeius is entertaining Antony and Caesar (this is, Julius's nephew, Octavian) after they all agreed to a truce. But then one of Pompey's soldiers, Menas, sidles up.

Menas:	Wilt thou be lord of all the world?
Pompey:	What say'st thou?
Menas:	Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That's twice.

Menas then tells Pompey of his plan.

Menas:

These three world-sharers, these competitors Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable, And when we are put off, fall to their throats. All there is thine.

Although not objecting in principle, Pompey, finds some fault with the plan.

Pompey:

Ah, this thou shouldst have done, And not have spoke on't! In me 'tis villany, In thee't had been good service. Being done unknown, I should have found it afterwards well done But must condemn it now. Desist and drink!

But to find what happens next you can either read or see the play. It's really one of Will's better ones.

References and Further Reading

Macbeth, William Shakespeare (Author), Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard (Publishers), 1623.

Macbeth, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare Online.

Macbeth, William Shakespeare, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Macbeth", Richard Armour, Twisted Tales from Shakespeare, McGraw-Hill, 1957.

Macbeth, Ian McKellen (actor), Judi Dench (actor), BBC, 2009, Internet Movie Data Base.

Macbeth, Paul Scofield (actor), Peggy Ashcroft (actor), BBC Radio, 1966.

Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare (Author), Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard (Publishers), 1623.

"Macbeth", enotes.

"Dates and Sources", Royal Shakespeare Company.

Musescore.