Should have read classics discussion

What grade did you read this book in? Did you like it or hate it? Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play performed in real life? Join us for this November group read and reread a wonderful classic or read it for the first time and tell us your thoughts! This read goes through November 30, 2013.

I'm pretty sure that I read this in 9th or 10th grade. I only remember Lady Macbeth's line "Out damn spot", and that is about it. Looking forward to reading this one again!

I have seen quite a few Shakespearean plays. I usually read the play before going to see the show so that I have a better understanding of the plot. I might have seen Macbeth when I read it at school in either the 11th or 12th grade. I am currently taking a class on Hamlet at an adult school.

When I was a teenager, the town that I grew up in had a free Shakespeare festival every summer where they would perform a play for two weeks. Being a teenager at the time, it really helped my understanding of Shakespeare and it made those plays seem "alive" more so than a movie or just straight reading. I also thought that it helped understand the subtle humor in the plays after the first act, it seemed to take that long for me to understand the words and speaking tone of the characters.

I thought that it might help the discussion to split the thread into the 5 different acts. This thread will be for Act I. Maybe, this will help stimulate discussion in those parts.

I finally started to read this book and I completely forgot how hard Shakespeare is to sit down and read. It is not something that you speed read through. I must say that it is easier to understand for me, when I say the parts out loud, however, my family thinks I'm very strange!
The opening is interesting, with the witches. Nothing like witches to catch you attention! I'm also amazed at how the perception of Macbeth, by the audience changes very quickly during the first act.

I did a little more research in to Macbeth and found out that it is one Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies. It was written in 1606 and the only source for the story is found in Holinshed's "Chronicles", a work frequently used by Shakespeare for his history plays. It is the shortest of the tragedies, with only 1993 lines, compared to 3924 of "Hamlet".

Will start tonight, just joined! Saw the PBS Shakespeare program about Macbeth a few months ago and it was great. Would recommend finding online if you can.

Susan wrote: "Will start tonight, just joined! Saw the PBS Shakespeare program about Macbeth a few months ago and it was great. Would recommend finding online if you can."

Fantastic! I will look it up and welcome to the group Susan! Hope that you enjoy it!

I was wondering why Duncan was not in the battle in scene ii? If it was discussed, I missed it.

What is everyone's impression of Lady Macbeth? Does it change during the first act?

I read it probably 5 years ago in college - it was required by my Eng literature prof. Honestly I don't remember a lot now coz it was "textbook"! Just joined and can't wait to re-read and re-evaluate now!

JJJJJudy wrote: "I read it probably 5 years ago in college - it was required by my Eng literature prof. Honestly I don't remember a lot now coz it was "textbook"! Just joined and can't wait to re-read and re-evalua..."

It is amazing how "reading" a book in a class can change how you feel about that book! Thus the reason for this group! I hope that you enjoy your reread of this one and can't wait to hear your thoughts.

How is everyone doing with this one? Any thoughts about the characters or scene?

Such a hard read. I tried to read out loud like my teacher did but just couldn't do well! I'm close to the end of Act I. Love the determination of Lady Macbeth.

I never thought about her as being determined. Interesting idea. She really is focused and ready to do anything to get her husband on the throne.

JJJJJudy wrote: "Such a hard read. I tried to read out loud like my teacher did but just couldn't do well! I'm close to the end of Act I. Love the determination of Lady Macbeth."

It is a hard read, some of the phrases and words are so different. Thanks for keeping it up!

finally started. was planning on going to see Macbeth at Lincoln Center but then saw some mediocre reviews. disappointed!

Yeah I think she is usually seen as murderous or even evil, right? Can't remember much of the later acts but I'll get there soon! She reminds me of a character in Greek myths - Medea, who betrayed her own father and brothers to assist her husband. In this case I might say the motivation was love while in Macbeth was the lust for power (might be wrong; still at act I lol). I don't get too much negative feelings towards these female characters. I interpret more "decisiveness" from how they were depicted in these literature.

Susan wrote: "finally started. was planning on going to see Macbeth at Lincoln Center but then saw some mediocre reviews. disappointed!"

Welcome Susan! It would have been wonderful to see it and then read it, oh well, it is great to have you reading with us!

JJJJJudy wrote: "Yeah I think she is usually seen as murderous or even evil, right? Can't remember much of the later acts but I'll get there soon! She reminds me of a character in Greek myths - Medea, who betrayed ..."

I'm convinced that I need to read/reread many of the Greek myths. After googling, I read about Medea and she was an interesting character, but it does seem that most of her ills were about love, she was also very conniving about killing kings and such. Some of the times convincing other people to do the dirty deed instead of herself. Similar to Lady Macbeth, interesting!

Every Macbeth fan must see Roman Polanski's film version.

It inspired me, in part, to begin the writer's journey.