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    Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition
    Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition
    Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition
    Ebook376 pages3 hours

    Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition

    By SparkNotes

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Shakespeare everyone can understand—now in this new EXPANDED edition of MACBETH!
     
    Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter.
     
    The expanded sections include:  

    Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play.
     
    What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent?
     
    Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave as they do?
     
    Study Questions: Questions that guide students as they study for a test or write a paper.
     
    Quotes by Theme: Quotes organized by Shakespeare’s main themes, such as love, death, tyranny, honor, and fate.
     
    Quotes by Character: Quotes organized by the play’s main characters, along with interpretations of their meaning.
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSparkNotes
    Release dateAug 3, 2021
    ISBN9781411479777
    Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition

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    Reviews for Macbeth

    3.5/5

    16 ratings2 reviews

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    • 3/5
      “But crimes such as these always have punishments in this world, in that our violence simply teaches bloody lessons to others…and then those students return to plague their teachers.”(no page numbers)Shakespeare’s timeless and bloody tragedy, Macbeth, is featured in this manga-style graphic novel. Elizabethan English is substituted for a more accessible modern day translation in this story of the treacherous and ambitious Macbeth and his rise to power in medieval Scotland. In staying quite true to the original play, he will do almost anything to gain and maintain his power…however fleeting and terrorizing it may be. I always enjoy Shakespeare and I liked delving into this version. The story is told in modern English dialogue making it easy to follow. The illustrations are very character-centered, but I thought that the black-and-white diminished the impact of the story in that I didn’t find it as dynamic or frightening. It would be a great complementary piece to use in a high school English class as a way to help students further understand the story or to help struggling readers to connect with the power of the story without getting hung up on the language and conventions. No matter the platform, the Bard strikes gold again!
    • 3/5
      The illustrations are fairly atrocious, but the book is a good source of a modern English translation.

    Book preview

    Macbeth - SparkNotes

    NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE

    Antony and Cleopatra

    As You Like It

    The Comedy of Errors

    Coriolanus

    Hamlet

    Henry IV, Parts One and Two

    Henry V

    Julius Caesar

    King Lear

    Macbeth

    Measure for Measure

    The Merchant of Venice

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    Much Ado About Nothing

    Othello

    Richard III

    Romeo and Juliet

    Sonnets

    The Taming of the Shrew

    The Tempest

    Twelfth Night

    The Two Gentlemen of Verona

    The Winter’s Tale

    There’s matter in these sighs, these profound heaves. You must translate.

    ’Tis fit we understand them.

    (Hamlet, IV.i.)

    FEAR NOT.

    Have you ever found yourself looking at a Shakespeare play, then down at the footnotes, then back up at the play, and still not understanding? You know what the individual words mean, but they don’t add up. SparkNotes’ No Fear Shakespeare will help you break through all that. Put the pieces together with our easy-to-read translations. Soon you’ll be reading Shakespeare’s own words fearlessly—and actually enjoying it.

    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. When Shakespeare’s words make your head spin, our translation will help you sort out what’s happening, who’s saying what, and why.

    SPARKNOTES and NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE are registered trademarks of SparkNotes LLC.

    © 2003, 2019 Spark Publishing

    Text © 2020 Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

    Cover © 2020 Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

    ISBN 978-1-4114-7977-7

    For information about custom editions, special sales, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

    sterlingpublishing.com

    sparknotes.com

    Cover design by Elizabeth Mihaltse Lindy

    Interior design by Sharon Jacobs

    CONTENTS

    PART I

    LITERATURE GUIDE

    1. Context

    2. Plot Overview

    3. In-Depth Review of Characters

    4. Analysis of Major Characters

    PART II

    THE PLAY

    5. Macbeth

    PART III

    STUDY GUIDE

    6. Thematic Questions

    7. Key Questions and Answers

    8. Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

    9. Quotes and Analysis by Theme

    10. Quotes and Analysis by Character

    11. What Does the Ending Mean?

    12. How to Write Literary Analysis

    Glossary of Literary Terms

    A Note on Plagiarism

    PART I

    LITERATURE GUIDE

    NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE

    ™

    CHAPTER

    1

    CONTEXT

    THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITER in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare’s death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless.

    Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people have concluded from this fact and from Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular candidates—but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.

    In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the 37 plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after.

    Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become king of Scotland. Consumed with ambitious thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself. He begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death.

    Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, early in the reign of James I, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. James was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote under James’s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright’s close relationship with the sovereign. In focusing on Macbeth, a figure from Scottish history, Shakespeare paid homage to his king’s Scottish lineage. Additionally, the witches’ prophecy that Banquo will found a line of kings is a clear nod to James’s family’s claim to have descended from the historical Banquo. In a larger sense, the theme of bad versus good kingship, embodied by Macbeth and Duncan, respectively, would have resonated at the royal court, where James was busy developing his English version of the theory of divine right.

    Macbeth is not Shakespeare’s most complex play, but it is certainly one of his most powerful and emotionally intense. Whereas Shakespeare’s other major tragedies, such as Hamlet and Othello, fastidiously explore the intellectual predicaments faced by their subjects and the fine nuances of their subjects’ characters, Macbeth tumbles madly from its opening to its conclusion. It is a sharp, jagged sketch of theme and character; as such, it has shocked and fascinated audiences for nearly four hundred years.

    CHAPTER

    2

    PLOT OVERVIEW

    THE PLAY BEGINS with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish king Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonald, and one from Norway. Following their pitched battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually king of Scotland. They also prophesy that Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings, although Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically until some of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians, and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.

    Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—ostensibly out of rage at their crime—and easily assumes the kingship. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well.

    Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomes furious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remains insecure. At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he sees the ghost, Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of the great Scottish nobility. Lady Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but Macbeth’s kingship incites increasing resistance from his nobles and subjects. Frightened, Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show him a sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and that forests cannot move. When he learns that Macduff has fled to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and, most cruelly, that Lady Macduff and her children be murdered.

    When news of his family’s execution reaches Macduff in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderous behavior. Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she bemoans what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents arrive, Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair. Nevertheless, he awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have withdrawn in order to defend himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guarantee his invincibility. He is struck numb with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam Wood is indeed coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.

    In the battle, Macbeth hews violently, but the English forces gradually overwhelm his army and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that he was not of woman born but was instead untimely ripped from his mother’s womb (what we now call birth by cesarean section). Though he realizes that he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff kills and beheads him. Malcolm, now the king of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.

    CHAPTER

    3

    IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF CHARACTERS

    MACBETH

    Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned king of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Ultimately, Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue because he lacks the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every problem is violence and murder. Unlike Shakespeare’s great villains, such as Iago in Othello and Richard III in Richard III, Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the psychological consequences of his atrocities.

    LADY MACBETH

    Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth’s speeches imply that her influence over her husband is primarily sexual. Their joint alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen the attachment that they feel to each another.

    THE THREE WITCHES

    Three black and midnight hags who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true identity unclear—aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about their place in the cosmos. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings.

    BANQUO

    The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo’s ghost—and not Duncan’s—that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth’s guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy.

    KING DUNCAN

    The good king of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.

    MACDUFF

    A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife and young children.

    MALCOLM

    The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder.

    HECATE

    The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.

    FLEANCE

    Banquo’s son, who survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance’s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons will sit on the Scottish throne.

    LENNOX

    A Scottish nobleman.

    ROSS

    A Scottish nobleman.

    LADY MACDUFF

    Macduff’s wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness.

    DONALBAIN

    Duncan’s son and Malcolm’s younger brother.

    CHAPTER

    4

    ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS

    MACBETH

    Because we first hear of Macbeth in the wounded captain’s account of his battlefield valor, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior. This perspective is complicated, however, once we see Macbeth interact with the three witches. We realize that his physical

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