MACBETH by Shakespeare
Reviewed by Alicia

“Macbeth,” in typical Shakespeare style, is one of those books that has a depth the reader must be sensitive to, or else the story will be dreadfully shallow, and extremely boring, as is the case with so many school-aged readers who wouldn’t dream of touching a novel by William Shakespeare unless assigned to as homework. I consider this habit a very unfortunate thing, because Shakespeare’s writings can be very interesting (although I, personally, wouldn’t call them “spell-binding”), if the reader digs deeply into the storyline. Each line of a Shakespeare masterpiece can be thought of as a mystery that must be solved. Shakespeare must only be read in a quiet, comfortable room where the reader can give it their full attention.
One could easily read “Macbeth” quickly and without understanding hardly any of the storyline by skimming over all the lines that are not easily understood (most of them, that is). However, if one reads carefully, thoughtfully -as I described in the first paragraph of this report- it will be a different story entirely. After reading “Macbeth” in this way I find that I have gained a greater understanding of not only the story of Macbeth, but of the times in which it took place. I don’t try to claim that I fully understood all of the novel -I seriously doubt if even Shakespeare himself understood everything he wrote!- but I certainly feel a great sense of accomplishment at getting the most out of the work as I could!
In truth, “Macbeth” is actually quite a gory story. One understands this better, although is not overly horrified by it -as a result of Shakespeare’s “gentle” writing, when they read as I’ve described. As I understand it, Shakespeare’s version of the story of Macbeth is actually not exactly truth. Even so, the legend which it has become is well worth the reading. In Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” the nobleman, Macbeth, is portrayed somewhat as a good man that loved his wife just a bit too much, so much that he even went so far as to kill for her. Thus, at least at the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the real villain. Later on, written so that neither the reader nor Macbeth seems to realize just how it happened, Macbeth gets carried away. In order to cover up his dirty deed, he feels he must continue his stealthy murders, killing even his loyal friend, and the wife of a nobleman. While Macbeth is convinced -a bit desperately, perhaps- that no harm can befall him, Lady Macbeth goes out of her mind with guilt.
The story ends tragically for Macbeth and his wife, but victoriously for Scotland when she is freed from the tyrant.
Although the three witches’ prophecies play a large part in “Macbeth,” their parts are not overly dramatized. I wouldn’t consider them Shakespeare’s strong point in the story, although he does seem to do his best to make their scenes as creepy and frightening as possible. As for the ghost of one of Macbeth’s murdered victims, the scene in which it appears, although thoroughly upsetting to Macbeth, is not of much concern to the reader.
Of course, I would recommend that anyone read at least one of Shakespeare’s works. However, if the person does and which one it is is their choice entirely. Just don’t rule out...
“Macbeth”

Another Macbeth review: by Annick (outside link)


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