LibGuides: English: Macbeth

Useful Links

Absolute Shakespeare
As the name suggests, this site has everything you need to know about Shakespeare: his plays, the Globe Theatre, his life.
Shakespeare Learning Zone: Macbeth
Discover loads of facts, videos and in-depth information about Macbeth - all of the information you need about the play, divided into four sections: Story, Characters, Language and Staging.
Podcast: Approaching Shakespeare: Macbeth
'Approaching Shakespeare' is a series of lectures from Oxford University's Faculty of English Language and Literature. This lecture explores the question of agency: who or what makes happen the things that happen in Macbeth? Duration: 46 mins
Royal Shakespeare Company: Themes in Macbeth
This document outlines the main themes in Macbeth, and the location of relevant quotes in the play - very useful!
Article: "Macbeth and the Contingency of Future Persons" by Luke Wilson
One of many articles about Macbeth available on Ebsco.
SparkNotes: Macbeth
Provides a summary and analysis of the play.
No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth
No Fear Shakespeare puts Shakespeare's language side-by-side with a facing-page translation into modern English—the kind of English people actually speak today.
LitCharts: Macbeth
A detailed study guide that provides an overview and analysis of the themes and symbols of Macbeth. From the creators of SparkNotes.
Video: Lady Macbeth
Louise Lombard, who plays Lady Macbeth in this version, examines the character of Lady Macbeth and compares how she has been played by other actresses, including Judi Dench (who you can see performing the role in the 1979 video of Macbeth, below). The version of the scene in this program is set about 50 years in the future.
Production Year: 1996
Duration: 18:44

Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's Macbeth summary

Quick and easy Macbeth synopsis, analysis, and discussion of major characters and themes in the play.

Duration: 9:20

Video: Macbeth: Globe on Screen

Shakespeare's Macbeth dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Performed at the Globe Theatre, London.

Production Year: 2013

Duration: 2:21:28

Video: Macbeth: Shakespeare - The Animated Tales

The Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly called Macbeth, is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. From the series: Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

Production Year: 1995

Duration: 25:53

Video: Macbeth (1979 stage play)

This is a video of Trevor Nunn's 1979 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth. It features Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth.

The original stage production was performed at The Other Place, the RSC's small studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It had been performed in the round before small audiences, with a bare stage and simple costuming. The recording preserves this style: the actors perform on a circular set and with a mostly black background; changes of setting are indicated only by lighting changes.

Production Year: 1979

Duration: 2:25:53

Video: Macbeth - film directed by Justin Kurzel (2015)

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself. The film stars Michael Fassbender in the title role and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

Production Year: 2015

Duration: 1:48:42

Macbeth books, eBooks and audiobooks

Macbeth by William Shakespeare; De Jager Haum (Editor)
ISBN: 9780521786584
The play is summarised in lively line illustrations that present the story in pictures to assist students to recognise the plot and major issues. This is followed by an introduction to Shakespeare's life, historical background and settings, and the attitudes of the period. The full text of the play is included with copious notes on language, historical significance and cross-references to other scenes.
The Tragedy of Macbeth (eBook) by William Shakespeare
ISBN: 9781909676978
The witches announce the prophecy that Macbeth will be the next king of Scotland, the elderly King Duncan proclaims that his son, Malcolm, will be heir to the throne. Lady Macbeth learns about the prophecy prompting her to ask the gods to remove her femininity so she can make her weak husband kill the king. When Duncan comes to visit Macbeth's castle, he is murdered in his sleep. Macbeth kills the guards, claiming they were the murderers. In fear of their own lives, Duncan's sons flee the country and Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland. Riddled with guilt, Macbeth goes mad and sees horrible visions while the witches announce the prophecy of his downfall.
Macbeth (audiobook) by William Shakespeare
ISBN: 1405697784
Ken Stott stars as Macbeth and Phyllis Logan as Lady Macbeth in this BBC Radio 4 production of Shakespeare's notorious 'Scottish play'. Shakespeare's famous tragedy, describing how a lust for power and the prophecy of three witches transform a brave nobleman into a traitor and murderous tyrant, has mesmerised audiences since its first performance over four centuries ago. Macbeth's temptation and descent into evil, his wife's ruthlessness and subsequent madness and the overarching presence of the supernatural are brilliantly evoked in this BBC Radio archive production from 2000, directed by the renowned Richard Eyre. Featuring a distinguished cast and specially-composed music, it brings new depth and excitement to this classic, chilling tale of malevolence and terror.

Books available in the NCC

Shakespeare Made Easy: Macbeth (eBook) by Saddleback Educational Publishing
ISBN: 9781602914247
Shakespeare's plays are thought-provoking and complex texts that explore the human themes of romance, deceit, tragedy, comedy, and revenge. These activity guides are designed by teachers for teachers to help students navigate the complexity. Each guide contains a total of 30 activities divided into six sections of four activities and one review. At the end of each guide is a final test, a variety of culminating activities, and an answer key. Each reproducible activity eBook is approximately 68-pages.
The Tragedy of Macbeth (eBook) by William Shakespeare
ISBN: 9780300138276
Perhaps no other Shakespearean drama so engulfs its readers in the ruinous journey of surrender to evil as does Macbeth. A timeless tragedy about the nature of ambition, conscience, and the human heart, the play holds a profound grip on the Western imagination.
Acting in the Night (eBook) by Alexander Nemerov
ISBN: 9780520947443
What can the performance of a single play on one specific night tell us about the world this event inhabited so briefly? Alexander Nemerov takes a performance of Macbeth in Washington, DC on October 17, 1863--with Abraham Lincoln in attendance--to explore this question and illuminate American art, politics, technology, and life as it was being lived. Nemerov's inspiration is Wallace Stevens and his poem "Anecdote of the Jar," in which a single object organizes the wilderness around it in the consciousness of the poet. For Nemerov, that evening's performance of Macbeth reached across the tragedy of civil war to acknowledge the horrors and emptiness of a world it tried and ultimately failed to change.
Insight Study Guides: William Shakespeare's Macbeth by Robert Beardwood; Kate Macdonell
ISBN: 9781921088605
This comprehensive guide to Shakespeare’s play Macbeth contains detailed character and scene analysis, along with evaluations of genre, structure and language. Important contextual information on Shakespeare, his sources and Elizabethan England, as well as an exploration of themes such as honour, power and deception, give students a deeper understanding of the text. Challenging essay questions and advice on approaches to writing responses help students develop the ability to engage critically with the play.
Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary by David Crystal; Ben Crystal
ISBN: 9780192737502
The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary is the first of its kind, a brand new illustrated alphabetical dictionary of all the words and meanings students of Shakespeare need to know. Every word has an example sentence selected from the twelve most studied plays including Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Henry V. Usage notes and theatre notes provide additional background to Shakespearean times and the performance of his plays. Further support is provided by language panels on select topics like the humours, swearing, and stage directions, and full-colour illustrated thematic spreads on special feature topics from clothes and armour to music and recreation. The dictionary is easy to use with its clear signposting, accessible design, and expertly levelled contemporary look and feel.
30 Great Myths about Shakespeare by Laurie Maguire; Emma Smith
ISBN: 9780470658505
Think you know Shakespeare? Think again... Was a real skull used in the first performance of Hamlet? Were Shakespeare's plays Elizabethan blockbusters? How much do we really know about the playwright's life? And what of his notorious relationship with his wife? Exploring and exploding 30 popular myths about the great playwright, this illuminating new book evaluates all the evidence to show how historical material - or its absence - can be interpreted and misinterpreted, and what this reveals about our own personal investment in the stories we tell.

Alternative Versions of Macbeth

Macbeth (eBook) by Joeming Dunn; David Hutchison (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781616412661
A retelling, in comic book format, of Shakespeare's play about a man who kills his king after hearing the prophesies of three witches.
As I Descended by Robin Talley
ISBN: 000821011X
Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school's ultimate power couple - but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn't know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything - absolutely anything - to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. Together, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school.
Lady Macbeth's daughter by Lisa Klein
ISBN: 9780143203698
Albia has grown up with no knowledge of her father, the powerful thane Macbeth, and her mother, the grief-stricken Grelach. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood and the moors, where she's been raised by three strange sisters. When the ambitious Macbeth seeks out the sisters to foretell his fate, Albia's life becomes tangled with that of the man who leaves nothing but bloodshed in his wake. She even falls in love with Fleance, Macbeth's rival for the throne. When Albia learns that she has the second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she foresees, or to change it.

Film: Shakespeare Retold: Macbeth
Set in a three Michelin star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty (Vincent Regan), with Joe Macbeth (James McAvoy) as the sous chef and his wife Ella (Keeley Hawes) as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo (Joseph Millson) are annoyed that Duncan takes the credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm (Toby Kebbell) has, in their opinion, no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children. Joe and Ella are inspired to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter Macduff (Richard Armitage), the head waiter.
Production Year: 2005; Duration: 1:26:39 - Via Clickview (login required)
Film: Macbeth (Australian version)
Directed by Geoffrey Wright and featuring an ensemble cast led by Sam Worthington in the title role. Macbeth, filmed in Melbourne and Victoria, was released in Australia on 21 September 2006. Wright and Hill wrote the script, which — although it uses a modern-day Melbourne gangster setting, and the actors deliver the dialogue in Australian accents — largely maintains the language of the original play.
Production Year: 2008; Duration: 1:44:29 - Via Clickview (login required)