A Thinking Man's (or Woman's) Play

I have to admit that I’m really excited that we’re working with Macbeth because it’s probably my favorite of Shakespeare’s tragedies (witches, prophesies, murders, ghosts, Scottish people!—what’s not to like? (Although I have to admit that Titus Andronicus is really close behind because the more I work with that text, the more I appreciate the sheer craziness of it—it’s so much fun.)).  What I really like about Macbeth, though, is how much it makes you think.  There’s so much to debate about.  We touched on one of those debates regarding the witches and Macbeth.  Would Macbeth have tried to claim Duncan’s throne if the witches hadn’t told him the prophecy?  Was Macbeth in control of his actions or was he ruled by fate?  My Intro to Lit class recently read this play and even after going over these kind of questions half a dozen times, I still don’t have a clear answer.  It all depends on how you look at the situation, what kind of “lens” you view it through.  Like we said in class, if you look at the situation through a Protestant viewpoint, we would claim Macbeth didn’t have control over his actions—he was a pawn of destiny.  But if you look at it through a Catholic viewpoint you could argue that everyone has freewill and Macbeth made his own choices.

Another debate that we addressed in my Intro to Lit class was whether it was Macbeth or Lady Macbeth that was responsible for the death of Duncan.  Yes, they’re both responsible, but if you had to pin it one person, who would it be?  The debate was really interesting because a lot of people initially chose to blame Lady Macbeth because she was manipulative.  I played the devil’s advocate (as we like to say a lot) and said Macbeth was the one responsible.  If you look at it through the argument of a modern court, Macbeth was truly the one who committed the act.  Lady Macbeth was just an accessory to the murder.  We also said that although Lady Macbeth manipulated Macbeth into the act, Macbeth could have easily said no.  During that time period, the husband was in control.  If Macbeth wanted to, he could have put Lady Macbeth in her place and told her to stop talking about the prophesy, etc.  But he didn’t do that.  He never even defends himself.  He lets her force him into action; it’s as if Macbeth has already decided he wants to kill Duncan, but he needs someone to motivate him.

There are so many debatable instances in this play, and many times it’s really hard to choose a solid answer, to figure out the right and the wrong.  The more I read Macbeth the more I find arguments for both sides.  Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet may be popular, and King Lear may be Shakespeare’s greatest play, but Macbeth is a well-wrought morality tale that makes you question every scene and character.