The book: Macbeth
The author: William Shakespeare
The rating: 3 stars
As I've lamented about other classic yarns, I have little unique to say about Macbeth. I suppose the strongest of my opinions is that I do not have any strong opinions one way or another.
While I'm not necessarily a Shakespeare fanatic, I do consider myself a fan of the bard, both written and performed. I count plays such as Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Comedy of Errors amongst some of my favourites in theatre, but I wasn't really drawn in by Macbeth. Perhaps this is due to its twists being so ingrained in popular culture so as to render them unimaginative; I've heard the 'none of woman born' riddle and its answer before, not knowing its original context, and this lack of intrigue may have been the source of my apathy.
I was also ambivalent regarding the characterization. In Hamlet, for example, I found almost the entire cast compelling - Hamlet, of course, as well as Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and so on and so forth. In Macbeth, the only character who engaged me in such a way was Banquo, and by prophetic necessity he was obviously not long for this world. As a tragic hero, I much prefer Hamlet to Macbeth. Hamlet's slower descent made his peripeteia far more poignant, in my opinion. Macbeth was a sympathetic protagonist for mere pages before he made his turn, far too little time for me as a reader to build up any sympathy for him and his cold-blooded wife.
While I've said rather little, I don't think I have much else to say. I'd buy a ticket to see it performed, as I would with essentially any Shakespeare play, but that aside, I don't prophesize I will be re-experiencing Macbeth again anytime soon.
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