Note: This page is intended for teachers of Macbeth. Although students are welcome to browse this page, they are not obligated to do so, nor are they obligated to view the films or film clips. The clips or film recommendations here are not universally suited for all audiences. I have attempted to make clear where this is so but cannot reasonably anticipate all possible objections.
Text of the Play: The Folger Digital edition allows you to download this and print it out in five different versions. Scroll down to Macbeth and choose your favorite format.
Act I, Scene i: Enter Three Witches
Below, I have linked a number of scenes from a variety of productions. Not every single scene may be appropriate for all audiences. Viewing this is OPTIONAL, not mandatory. PRE-SCREENING IS HIGHLY ADVISED. My thanks to YouTube contributor School of Bramm for his excellent questions listed below:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Instructions, Part I
Before Seeing the Film Clips:
Listen to/read Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1. Determine what the witches are saying. Figure out what the various words/phrases mean. Paraphrase what is going on in the space below before we watch film clips of the same scene from many different productions.
BEFORE we see any of the following scenes, answer the following questions for discussion:
How would you personally stage this scene?
What would you do with the Witches' clothing, appearance, presentation, mannerisms?
What would you do with the setting? (Note: It does NOT have to be set in 1050's Scotland).
What would you do with lighting and music? Sets or location shooting?
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Film Viewing Directions Take notes from each of the various film clips, being careful to jot down your impressions and analyzing what characteristics of the witches are the same in each version and which are different. Develop an opinion as to which version you feel is most effective and least effective. Be able to explain – with multiple details – your reasoning. NOTE: Not all links are viable or active. I have kept the listing on this page in case they mysteriously reappear.
Some are linked to the full play. I cannot vouch for the entire production of every one of these links being appropriate for all audiences all the time. PRE-SCREEN ALL MATERIALS BEFORE SHOWING TO A CLASS.
_____________________ Questions In the space below, answer the following questions. (You MUST use complete sentences to get full credit.)
What qualities of the witches are the same in all or almost all versions? Include at least four qualities in your response.
What qualities of the witches are different in some of the versions? Include at least four qualities in your response (and the film the difference was in).
Which version of Macbeth has the most effective use of the witches? Explain why you think that, using multiple details from the film clip.
Which version of Macbeth has the least effective use of the witches? Explain why you think that, using multiple details from the film clip.
BONUS QUESTION: Which version of Macbeth do you predict would be the most understandable version overall of Shakespeare? Why do you think that?
* All of the above questions were written by and are credited to Mark Bramm.
Questions In the space below, answer the following questions, using complete sentences.
How did our perception of Macbeth shift or change when the dagger was visible to the audience, as it is in the Jon Finch version?
How did our perception of Macbeth shift or change when we could not see the dagger, as in the Stewart and McKellen versions?
In the Patrick Stewart clip, the camera keeps at a middle distance, while in the McKellen clip, the camera is at a closer angle, tight on McKellen's face. What different effect did that choice of camera distance have on the audience?
Which version was the most effective at communicating both the horror and the awkwardness of this scene?
How did our perception of Macbeth shift or change when the ghost of Banquo was visible to the audience, as he was in the Welles version?
Which is the more effective choice, in your opinion -- Visible Banquo or Invisible Banquo?
How did our perception of Macbeth shift or change when we could not see the ghost of Banquo?
In this scene, Lady Macbeth attempts a number of strategies to smooth out and normalize Macbeth's unwarranted behavior. In which version was she the most believable or successful at quelling her guests' suspicions and concerns?
In which version was she the least successful?
Does this scene increase our sympathy for Macbeth? For Lady Macbeth? Do we lose sympathy for them here?
Consider the costuming for Lady Macbeth in three very different versions: the Marion Cotillard, the Kate Fleetwood, and the Judi Dench. What effect do the colors, style, and cut of the women's gowns have on our perception of them as a character? In what way do the costumes here reflect the motifs of the play?
Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Note: The appearance of Banquo might be too intense. Previewing strongly advised. Start after :59.
Act IV. i -- The Three Apparitions
RSC Macbeth - Ian McKellen/Judi Dench. NOTE: This production features McKellen shirtless and under the influence of a poisonous/mind-altering ointment or cauldron medicine.
Michael Fassbender, Macbeth (From 1:07:55 to 1:12:30)
Patrick Stewart Macbeth (from 1:37:30 to 1:45:12 NOTE: The first few minutes of this scene until approximately 1:38:30 contain material that may not be suitable for a general audience due to violent /suggestive imagery. The rest of the scene is similar in tone and content. Pre-screening is strongly advised.
What do all productions -- even Animanacs -- have in common? What does each do differently?
The Fassbender Macbeth cuts the scene dramatically, leaving out what is probably some of the most oft-quoted lines from the play, specifically "Double, double, toil, and trouble..." What is the effect of that change? Does it make the events less supernatural?
Both the Fassbender and McKellen productions suggest that the apparitions are brought about as a result of drinking the (apparently vision-inducing) contents of the potion. This would tend to reduce or diminish the supernatural elements of the play if the apparitions are the result of Macbeth's own imagination -- a very active one, as we have seen. Does the play benefit from a diminishment of the supernatural? Do we find the events more believable as modern viewers, or has some "magic" (no pun intended) been lost that way?
The Stewart production makes considerable use of cinematic effects in its depiction of the witches, including a jittery camera, fast-forward filming, and music in order to increase the tension and "uncanniness" of the scene. Did you find that cinematic technique effective, or does the technique essentially overshadow the acting?
Act V.i - The Sleepwalking Scene
1. Jane Lapotaire as Lady Macbeth -- NOTE: This is the full film. The sleepwalking scene starts at 1:57:57. This scene itself is appropriate for all audiences, but I cannot vouch for the entire production. Please be advised. 2. Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth 3. Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. Begin at 1:22:51. This scene itself is appropriate for all audiences, but I cannot vouch for the entire production. Please be advised. 4. Orson Welles' Macbeth. Begin at 5:27.
Questions
Which of the three productions was most emotionally affecting to you? The Lapotaire is very traditional, while the Dench and Cotillard productions are less so, and very different in tone.
One of the most difficult lines for an actor is Lady Macbeth's "O, O, O" near the end of this speech. How did Lapotaire treat this line? Dench? Cotillard? Which of the three was most effective in rendering Lady Macbeth's state of mind?
Cotillard's Lady Macbeth performs the end of the speech by walking out of frame, with the strong suggestion that she has committed suicide -- a suspicion believed by Malcolm and the Scottish/English force that defeats Macbeth. Did we also believe that Dench's and Lapotaire's Lady Macbeth also committed suicide?
McKellen advised Stewart that the "and" is actually the most important word in that speech. We saw that both Stewart and McKellen hit the "and" in their renditions of this line. What effect did hitting the "and" with that extra emphasis do to the speech? Why did both actors find that choice to be transformative and important?
What concrete, visual images does Shakespeare give the actor to talk about in this speech? What is your mental image of this scene -- your "mind movie," as it were?
In the Fassbender and Stewart productions, Lady Macbeth's body is present. What effect does the presence of her body have on our understanding of this speech?
In the Fassbender production, Fassbender lifts Cotillard's body from the bed toward the end of the speech. What was your reaction to that choice? How did it emphasize particular aspects of this speech or the Macbeth's marriage or relationship?