graphic essay macbeth

Macbeth Comparative Essay: Graphic Novel vs. Film Adaptation

The play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare delves into the life events of the Scottish general Macbeth and his ambitions for power after receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches. Driven by greed, Macbeth commits several murders and atrocities to maintain his kingship and safeguard it from aspirators, including King Duncan and close ally Banquo (Hinds 44). The tragedy is presented in various forms in contemporary literature, notably via graphic compilations, theatre, and film arts. The essay will compare Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel adaptation of Macbeth with the film adaptation directed by Dan Hodge. Although conveying similar settings, themes, and characters in Shakespeare’s classical play, the graphic novel and film versions have contrasts in the medium, language use, and visual style, which present unique perspectives to the audience.

One major difference between the two adaptions is the medium via which the authors narrate the events over time. In the graphic novel, the writer uses a combination of illustrations and dialogue to convey the tale to the readers. Macbeth is presented as a middle-aged muscular man with immense ambitions for political power (Hinds 25). On the other hand, the director uses various sets, props, special effects, and actors to deliver the story to the viewing audience. The stage is set in the olden times but incorporated with modernized elements such as the actor’s suits and attires (Hedgerow 2:36). The differences in the medium via which the story is told work to influence how the audience interprets and perceives the various events. The use of graphical illustration in the graphic novel allows the reader to effectively generate mental images of the different features of the characters and plot. However, the film presents a more concrete visual representation of the story; it offers a set of unique features on the characters and environment.

Another significant difference between the graphic and film adaptations is the creator’s language use. The original version of the play by Shakespeare was written in old English, often cumbersome for modern audiences to comprehend. The film adaptation by Hodge stays faithful to the original text, presenting the language in its olden syntax and phoneme. For instance, Lady Macbeth utters, “I am not without ambition but without the illness” (Hedgerow 13:01). Conversely, the graphic novel incorporates modernized language and simplified dialogues when demonstrating interactions between the various characters. Macbeth utters, “But still there is judgment here- do we but teach bloody instructions .”(Hind 29) Using simplified language allows the reader to effectively grasp the themes intended by the authors in each play segment. On the contrary olden language makes it difficult to grasp the verbal conversations between different actors in the play.

Another critical difference between the two adaptions is the visual style used by the creators. The film adaptation predominantly employs a dark and brooding style, with poorly lit backgrounds and shadows to suggest danger (Hedgerow 6:48). On the other hand, the graphic novel employs a more traditional approach with visible illustrations of the characters and settings, providing an accurate representation of elements in the olden times. The author illustrates castles in ancient Scotland when having the vision of the bloody dagger (Hind 33). The costumes used in the film are relatively modern, with actors assuming each character’s role. However, the graphic novel effectively presents the olden attire used by various characters in the play. The visual style is fundamental in delivering the themes the creator intends to the audience. The graphic illustrations are more comprehensive as they provide realistic settings and costumes that aim to transport the audience back to the play’s period.

There are a number of thematic differences between the two versions of the play. The graphic novel by Hind emphasizes the play’s supernatural elements, highlighting the witches’ role and their influence on Macbeth’s fate. Moreover, the illustrations emphasize the role of violence and the consequences of unchecked ambition. On the contrary, the film emphasizes the psychological aspects of the play, exploring the characters’ motivations, emotions, and relationships. On the theme of gender, the graphic novel portrays Lady Macbeth as a powerful and manipulative figure who compels her husband’s actions (Hind 37). In contrast, the film focuses on the sympathetic behavior of Lady Macbeth, a remorseful character who is haunted by guilt and regret. The audience can develop their conclusion about her character and role in the play.

Notable similarities between the graphic novel and the film adaptation include the use of visual storytelling to convey the story. The graphic novel uses sequential art, combining images and text to tell the story, while the film adaptation uses cinematography, lighting, and staging to convey the events and emotions of the characters visually. The mediums combine visual elements to create a powerful and immersive experience for the audience. Moreover, the author and the director pay close attention to the original plot, characterization, and themes as intended by Shakespeare. The graphic and the film remain loyal to the core storyline of the play, effectively demonstrating the key events. They employ different techniques to incorporate original dialogues into their work, effectively conveying the story to the audience.

Although expressing comparable locales, topics, and characters in Shakespeare’s great play, the graphic novel and cinematic versions have differences in format, language use, and visual style that provide the audience with fresh perspectives. The medium through which the authors tell the events through time is a significant distinction between the two adaptations. Another notable distinction between the graphic and cinematic versions is the creator’s choice of language. Shakespeare’s original version of the play was written in ancient English, which might be difficult for modern audiences to understand. Another significant distinction between the two adaptations is the visual style employed by the authors. The visual style is critical in conveying the creator’s desired messages to the audience. The use of visual storytelling to convey the plot is a notable similarity between the graphic novel and the cinematic version. These media employ a variety of visual components to provide the viewer with a compelling and immersive experience.

Works Cited

Hedgerow, Theatre. “William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.” Www.youtube.com , 13 Apr. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpXvqDec_EM. Accessed 13 Apr. 2023.

Hinds, Gareth. Macbeth . 2023. Google Books , Gareth Hinds, 10 Feb. 2015, www.google.co.ke/books/edition/Macbeth/ol8oBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover. Accessed 13 Apr. 2023.

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Macbeth: The Graphic Novel (American English, Original Text Edition) (Classical Comics) Paperback – Unabridged, November 5, 2008

• Reading age 12 years and up
• Print length 144 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 7 - 9
• Lexile measure GN700L
• Dimensions 6.63 x 0.38 x 9.63 inches
• Publisher Classical Comics
• Publication date November 5, 2008
• ISBN-10 9781906332440
• ISBN-13 978-1906332440
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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1906332444
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Classical Comics; Unabridged edition (November 5, 2008)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781906332440
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1906332440
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ GN700L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.63 x 0.38 x 9.63 inches
• #421 in Literary Graphic Novels (Books)
• #482 in Shakespeare Dramas & Plays
• #9,252 in Classic Literature & Fiction

About the author

William shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised on 26 April 1564. Thought to have been educated at the local grammar school, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he went on to have three children, at the age of eighteen, before moving to London to work in the theatre. Two erotic poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece were published in 1593 and 1594 and records of his plays begin to appear in 1594 for Richard III and the three parts of Henry VI. Shakespeare's tragic period lasted from around 1600 to 1608, during which period he wrote plays including Hamlet and Othello. The first editions of the sonnets were published in 1609 but evidence suggests that Shakespeare had been writing them for years for a private readership.

Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in Stratford, by now a wealthy man. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623.

(The portrait details: The Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed. NPG1, © National Portrait Gallery, London)

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William Shakespeare

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Macbeth: Introduction

Macbeth: plot summary, macbeth: detailed summary & analysis, macbeth: themes, macbeth: quotes, macbeth: characters, macbeth: symbols, macbeth: literary devices, macbeth: quizzes, macbeth: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Macbeth

Other books related to macbeth.

• Full Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth
• When Written: 1606
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1623
• Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500 - 1660)
• Genre: Tragic drama
• Setting: Scotland and, briefly, England during the eleventh century
• Climax: Some argue that the murder of Banquo is the play's climax, based on the logic that it is at this point that Macbeth reaches the height of his power and things begin to fall apart from there. However, it is probably more accurate to say that the climax of the play is Macbeth's fight with Macduff, as it is at this moment that the threads of the play come together, the secret behind the prophecy becomes evident, and Macbeth's doom is sealed.

Extra Credit for Macbeth

Shakespeare or Not? There are some who believe Shakespeare wasn't educated enough to write the plays attributed to him. The most common anti-Shakespeare theory is that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare as a front man because aristocrats were not supposed to write plays. Yet the evidence supporting Shakespeare's authorship far outweighs any evidence against. So until further notice, Shakespeare is still the most influential writer in the English language.

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To help you look at any scene in Macbeth and interrogate it, it’s important to ask questions about how it's written and why.

Shakespeare’s plays are driven by their characters and every choice that’s made about words, structure and rhythm tells you something about the person, their relationships or their mood in that moment. You should always try and ask yourself, like actors do, why is the character saying what they are saying or doing what they are doing? What is their motive?

Just like Detectives, we need to look for clues to help us answer those questions each time and below you can find some interrogation techniques we use to analyse text, introduced by the actors that use them. 

Analysing Macbeth’s Language

Macbeth has several soliloquies and each of them reveals a lot about his state of mind, his ambitions and fears. In this video, Paapa Essiedu shares some of the things he looks for to help him understand how a character is feeling when he first looks at a soliloquy. The example he is using is from Hamlet, but you can look for the same clues in Macbeth’s soliloquies.

What can you find by looking at the same things in Macbeth?

Shakespeare gives characters soliloquies for lots of different reasons, but characters are usually open and honest with the audience in these speeches. Read Macbeth’s soliloquy from Act 2 Scene 1 aloud and see if you can notice the things Paapa tells us to look out for:

• Punctuation
• Line endings

Questions to consider

What can we learn about Macbeth from this soliloquy? Ask yourself:

• Do the sounds give you a sense of his emotion or lack of it? Which ones stand out? Are there lines or parts of the speech that stand out because of how they sound?
• There are several rhyming couplets. Where do they occur? Why do you think these words rhyme?

If you are able to read along, you will also notice the punctuation and where each line ends. This soliloquy is written in verse, like a poem. Ask yourself:

• How many sentences are there in the soliloquy? Is this more or fewer than you expected and how many of them are punctuated with question marks? Are the sentences a similar length, or are some longer? What do you think this tells us about the way Macbeth is feeling?
• If you wrote down all the words at the end of each line, what would you think the soliloquy was about? Does that feel right?

Using Paapa’s strategies we’ve started to look at what the language Macbeth uses tells us about him in this Act 2 Scene 1 soliloquy. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

Evidence Select an option

Explanation

Explanation Click text to edit

Evidence Click text to edit

Point Click text to edit

What else can I do to explore Macbeth’s language?

• Try looking for these same things in all of Macbeth’s soliloquies, noting any changes in his language and behaviour. A soliloquy shows you a character’s true thoughts and a lot can be learnt about Macbeth from looking at these moments of truth. How tempted is he by the prospect of becoming king at the beginning and what influences him along the way?
• Take a look at the things he says immediately before and after his soliloquies. Shakespeare often creates these comparisons to show you something.
• Keep a record of the imagery Macbeth uses. Macbeth uses lots of imagery about appearance and disguise and you can find out more about this in the Analysing the Imagery section. Think about why this might be connected to his fears and ambitions.

Analysing Lady Macbeth’s Language

We first meet Lady Macbeth on her own, delivering a speech about the news she has just received from her husband of the witches’ prophecies and Duncan’s visit. In this video, actor Mark Quartley shares some of the things he looks for to help him understand how a character is feeling when he first looks at a monologue. The example he is using is from The Tempest, but you can look for the same clues in Lady Macbeth’s language.

A monologue is when one actor delivers a speech as part of a scene. It is built up of lots of different thoughts. It can be spoken to another character, or it can be spoken alone, when it is also called a soliloquy. Read Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy from Act 1 Scene 5. As you read, see if you can notice the things Mark tells us to look out for:

• Word choice

What can we learn about Lady Macbeth from this speech? Ask yourself:

• Can you make a list of the key images? If possible, try writing these out and grouping them together into topics? Is there a stronger theme of supernatural words or of violence? The ‘raven’ that Lady Macbeth refers to was often seen as an omen of death, or a witch’s familiar. Lady Macbeth makes a cruel joke about how the bird will have a sore throat from crying out so many times that Duncan will die. How does this connect with her other uses of imagery?
• How do the words sound and does this give a sense of a spell being cast? Look out for alliteration, repetition and sibilance .
• Think about where the character is breathing and pausing; how does this make her come across? Where do the full stops fall within the lines?
• Look at the last word of each line. How many of those are words that you included in the lists of imagery you made?
• Pick out the verbs from the text. Like Mark, can you physicalise each of these? Does this make Lady Macbeth feel more powerful or less so? How do her word choices make her sound? Is she indecisive or confident?

Using Mark’s strategies, we’ve started to look at what the language Lady Macbeth uses tells us about her in this Act 1 Scene 5 soliloquy. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

What else can I do to explore Lady Macbeth’s language?

• This is the only moment we see Lady Macbeth alone. How does her language in this scene compare with how she speaks to her husband? How does she differ when speaking to King Duncan or the other thanes? Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to use a 'false face' with others to hide his intentions. How successful is she in doing this herself?
• Lady Macbeth’s mental health rapidly declines in the second half of the play, although we do not see her descent into madness as she is offstage. How does her language change when we see her in Act 5? Where she speaks in verse consistently in the first part of the play, she now speaks in prose. What does this tell us about her?
• Compare Lady Macbeth’s language with that of Hecate in Act 3 Scene 5. What are the similarities and differences? How connected is Lady Macbeth to the language of witchcraft?

Analysing the Imagery

As with all Shakespeare’s plays, there are lots of types of imagery used in Macbeth. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and examples of these types of imagery in each act and who uses them as you explore the play.

Here are three types of imagery that come up a lot in Macbeth and are useful to look out for:

Disguise Imagery

• Duncan first mentions the idea of false appearances when talking to Malcolm about Cawdor. He says that there’s ‘no art / To find the mind’s construction in the face’ (Duncan, 1:4). When Lady Macbeth and Macbeth begin to plan Duncan’s murder, they decide to hide their intents through ‘false face’. Macbeth’s face is said to be like ‘a book’ and he needs to ‘look like th’innocent flower’ (Lady Macbeth, 1:5). This imagery is also used when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth disguise their deeds by getting into their nightclothes after Duncan’s murder, and when Malcolm’s army disguise themselves with tree branches.
• How many examples of disguise imagery can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the characters who use them? Is disguise always presented as a negative?

Religious Imagery

• Fear of heaven and hell is hugely important for all the characters in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth calls on ‘murd’ring ministers’ (Lady Macbeth, 1:5) from hell to help with her plans. Macbeth fears that if he kills Duncan all of ‘heaven’s cherubim’ will be horrified and when he goes to murder the king he says the act will lead Duncan to ‘heaven or to hell’ (Macbeth, 2:1). By the end of the play, hellish imagery is used to describe the ‘hell-hound’ Macbeth and the ‘fiend-like’ Lady Macbeth.
• How many examples of religious imagery can you find in the play? Is there more associated with hell or heaven? Are certain characters associated with one rather than the other?

Disease Imagery

• Lady Macbeth uses lots of disease imagery when talking about Macbeth’s lack of courage. She fears he is without the ‘illness’ to murder Duncan in Act 1 Scene 5, calls him ‘green and pale’ (Lady Macbeth, 1:7) and ‘infirm of purpose’ (Lady Macbeth, 2:2). As the Macbeths become more riddled with guilt, his mind is ‘full of scorpions’ and the doctor cannot treat Lady Macbeth’s ‘mind diseased’. Under the tyranny of Macbeth’s reign, Scotland becomes diseased too. Later in the play, the thanes come as ‘med’cine of the sickly weal’ (Caithness, 5:2) of the kingdom.
• Take a closer look at the extract from Act 2 Scene 4. What does this imagery tell us about the state of the country? Do you think these events have really happened?

Thinking about Act 2 Scene 4, we’ve started to look at what the disease imagery and word choices in the scene tell us about the state of Scotland. This scene between Ross and the Old Man uses images of a diseased and distorted nature to convey the chaos of the kingdom after Macbeth takes the throne. In the 2018 production the Old Man's lines are delivered by the Porter. What effect do you think this would have?

See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this language shows at this point in the play.

What else can I do to explore the imagery of disease?

• Look at Act 4 Scene 3. How do Macduff and Malcolm talk about Scotland? Notice how they personify the land as a wounded woman. Why do you think the men, and later the other thanes, talk about their country in this way?
• Lady Macbeth suffers greatly in Act 5 and is tended to by her waiting-woman and a doctor. The doctor tells Macbeth that there is no medicine that can help her. Look at Macbeth’s response in Act 5 Scene 3. What is his attitude to medicine? Consider where medicine and cures are mentioned at other points.

Analysing the Themes

As with all Shakespeare’s plays, there are lots of themes that appear in Macbeth. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and examples of these themes in each act as you go through the play, looking at where they come up.

Here are three themes to look out for:

Theme of Ambition

• Macbeth is set in a hierarchical world in which loyalty and service to the king is rewarded with titles and land. When Macbeth is successful in battle, King Duncan rewards him with the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’ because he is ‘worthy’. All of the characters have hopes for their own futures and the future of Scotland; however, ambition that oversteps the moral boundaries is condemned and punished. In the opening scene, we hear about ‘merciless’ rebels who have attempted to seize power and are overthrown and executed.
• Consider each character’s ambition for the future of their family, country and self. Are there any characters without ambition? Look at how characters talk about ambition in Act 1. What do you think the rules are surrounding ambition? When does it become an evil act to pursue your ambition?

Theme of Supernatural

• The very first thing we learn at the opening of the play is that there is a supernatural force, which is first seen in the form of the three witches. They appear in ‘thunder and lightning’ and plot to meet with Macbeth, before calling to their supernatural familiars and casting a strange spell. Both Macbeth and Banquo believe in the witches' magic and power. This is a world where magic is a real presence, although it is associated with the devil. In Act 1 Lady Macbeth calls on ‘spirits’ and ‘murd’ring ministers’ to help her achieve her aims; in Act 2 Macbeth sees a ghostly dagger on his way to murder Duncan; and in Act 3 he sees a terrifying apparition of his murdered friend Banquo. After Macbeth’s last visit to the witches in Act 4 Scene 1, the supernatural presences disappear, although their influence remains.
• Think about why the characters in this play are so ready to believe in spells, witchcraft and ghosts. Look at the language they use when they talk about the supernatural. How does it compare to how they talk about religion in the play? Compare this with how Macduff speaks about magic. Why do you think he views the supernatural in a different way?

Theme of Fate

• The witches make several prophecies and they all appear to come true. In Act 1, the first prophecy is realised almost immediately when Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor; this is proof for both men of the witches’ power and Banquo remarks ‘What, can the devil speak true?’ (Banquo, 1:3). However, as soon as Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy, she wants to speed up what has been ‘promised’. When Macbeth commits murder to achieve the crown, it becomes ambiguous whether his fate is predestined or if he has been influenced to make choices out of his own free will. Macbeth also tries to cheat fate by sending murderers after Banquo and Fleance in order to avoid the witches’ prophecy about them coming true.
• Look at the prophecies that the three witches make and the moments when they come true. Do you believe in their magic, or could there be another explanation? Are there any that you cannot explain? Do you think the prophecies would have come true without Macbeth’s intervention? Do you think the prophecy about Banquo's sons will come true?

Read Act 1 Scene 7 looking for any references to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's ambition. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this language shows about ambition at this point in the play.

What else can I do to explore the theme of ambition?

• Look at the section on Lady Macbeth’s language, which explores the ‘unsex me here’ soliloquy where Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to rid her of her female qualities and achieve her ambitions. Does she use language that is similar to the men’s? How do you think she defines ambition and courage?
• Compare this scene with Act 4 Scene 3 in which Macduff and Malcolm talk about their ambitions for Scotland’s future. Consider how they talk about the country as a whole, whereas the Macbeths talk solely about their individual hopes for success.

Teacher Notes

The following sheet provides further information on themes in the text.

Macbeth Themes

You can also print the PEE grids from each of the sections on this page to help students explore the language of central characters and some of the imagery used in more detail.

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5 comments:

Wow, this sounds great!

We think so too, Book. We noticed that you like BONE. That's one of our favorite series. You have good taste.

I bought all three versions for my 10th grade English class in Connecticut. I am starting to use them today, and plan to "differentiate" by giving each student the level he/she can handle. I am not sure how this will go during oral reading though, which I find to be essential. I will be interested to see if anyone has suggestions for me!

bmiss, My first thought is to differentiate the read-aloud, too. Read the original and bask in it's glory. Then read one of the other translations so that the students can understand it. I would truly love to hear how this goes. Perhaps you would consider writing an essay and having it published here? I know my readers would be very interested in your work. Thanks for sharing and keep in touch.

I got to meet the author-in-geek at the NCTE Conference in Orland last year. I bought his last copy of the Plain Text version. I was hoping to use it with my college developmental reading students. It would be great to have students use all 3 versions so they can see how the author summarized and altered the language. They would be useful tools in teaching summary writing and language choice.

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Macbeth William Shakespeare

Macbeth essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Macbeth Material

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Macbeth Essays

Serpentine imagery in shakespeare's macbeth sarah downey.

The snake has long been used as a symbol of sly subtlety. A serpent's presence has been characterized by cunning cynicism dating as far back as biblical times, when the snake persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of Eden's garden. Even the...

Macbeth's Evolution David Sauvage

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth undergoes a profound and gradual evolution throughout the play. He regresses from a logical, compassionate, caring, and conscientious man, to an entirely apathetic, amoral paradigm of cynical numbness. Macbeth's...

Jumping the Life to Come Alex Hoffer

A central theme of William Shakespeare's Macbeth is the title character's willingness to accept his fate. Macbeth's attitude toward the prophecies of the witches varies depending on how much he likes the prediction. At first, he follows along with...

Deceptive Appearances in Macbeth Sonia Jain

There is truth to Duncan's line "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face," for throughout Shakespeare's play Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are not what they most often appear to be. Even Macbeth does not know the extent...

Unity in Shakespeare's Tragedies Chris Hadfield

Separating qualities common to one 'set' or 'type' of Shakespeare's plays which are not common to the plays as a whole is a difficult task: it would no doubt be possible to find evidence of any feature uniting 'the Tragedies' within any of...

Inevitability and the Nature of Shakespeare's Tragedies Chris Hadfield

In Greek tragedy, inevitability plays an important role, portraying the protagonists as pawns of the fates, whose roles in the tragedy are distributed arbitrarily and without justice. The outcomes of these roles are decided before the play even...

Sleep and Nature Shira Traison

In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, there seems to be an uncanny connection between the images of sleep and nature. The play refers to the results of nature being thwarted, and since sleep is the primarily natural function of every human being, its seems...

The Elizabethan Chain of Being in Shakespeare's Macbeth Julianna Castaneda

The collective minds of people in England during the time of Shakespeare struggled to explain the unexplainable; they struggled to understand randomness and human nature. They believed that from the beginning of time a certain cosmic order had...

Gender Transition in Macbeth Anonymous

Come you spirit,

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.

--Lady Macbeth

More so than any other Shakespearean play, Macbeth functions the most vividly as a psychoanalysis of the state of humanity's development of a sense of sexual self. Now, in a...

The Appearance of Fairness Michael Wainwright

Starting with the witches' assertion that âfair is foul, and foul is fair,â? it is clear that Macbeth is a play in which appearances will be deceiving and morality will be muddled. From the dialogue between King Duncan, Malcolm, and the wounded...

Macbeth's Moral Quandary Michael Wainwright

In Scene 2 of Act 2, Lady Macbethâs master plan to promote her husband to the throne finally comes to fruition. For the first time in the play, however, Lady Macbeth reveals some degree of weakness in her inability to actually murder Duncan with...

Mocking Time With Fairest Show: Tragic Macbeth Makes Time His Foe Christina Gulas

Time plays a crucial role in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Like all Shakespearian tragedies, the main character is necessarily at odds with time. By its very nature, a tragedy must end with the death of the hero. The hero, therefore, must bide...

Re-Creation and Immortal Fame: The Search for Eternal Life in Macbeth and Coriolanus Christina Gulas

In Shakespeare's time, having children was, arguably, even more important than it is today. In a society dominated by rules of inheritance and birthright, children were important, not only as the means of carrying on a name and genetic material,...

Ambiguity Leads the Way Jean-Francois Carrier

Dramatic tragedies are by definition plays that enact the struggle and downfall of their main character or characters. "The Tragedy of Macbeth", by William Shakespeare, is a perfect example of this; the entire play portrays the fatalistic...

Unholy Mothers: Mothers as Negative Characters in Richard III, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest Barret Buchholz

Unholy Mothers: Mothers as Negative Characters in Richard III, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest

by, Barret Buchholz

April 15, 2005

The mothers presented in Shakespeare's plays encompass a broad range of social positions, personalities,...

Responsibility for Tragedy in Othello and Macbeth Anonymous

The tragedy in both Othello and Macbeth is found not so much in the scattering of bodies covering the stage at the end of each play, but instead in the degeneration of the plays' respective protagonists. Men championed by Shakespeare at the...

Character Juxtaposition: The Twoness of Macbeth Anonymous

Character Juxtaposition: The Twoness of Macbeth

Shakespeare's Macbeth relays the tale of a Scottish general, at first presenting a seemingly brave and noble warrior. Macbeth is eventually prompted by ambition to seek the throne upon hearing a...

Madness in Hamlet and Macbeth Kelly Crossley

Hamlet and Macbeth are two of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. Each share not only fame, however, but format: Both feature main characters with tragic flaws that become their demise. In the cases of Hamlet and Macbeth, this flaw is...

An Analysis of Lady Macbeth's Gender Role throughout Macbeth Aline Tran

Shakespeare's Macbeth is a male dominated play. Most of the noticeable characters in Macbeth are male, including Macbeth, Macduff, Banquo, King Duncan, and Malcolm. Despite the lack of female power by numbers, Lady Macbeth proves to be a...

Macbeth's Tragic Flaw: The Collapse of Emotion August Trevor Sutton

Shakespeare frequently makes use of the adjective ‘weird’ in his tragedy Macbeth. Along with bringing to mind the supernatural and unearthly, the word also forces one to consider the nature of the word’s antonym – what is normal? Macbeth’s...

Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair: Paradox and Equivocation in Macbeth James R. Silvester

In the play Macbeth, some of the most significant characters rely upon their ability to equivocate, in order to hide their treacherously covetous, or purely malicious intentions. Most characters take part in these acts of subterfuge, but the three...

The Role of Intimacy in the Macbeths’ Marriage Anonymous College

The bulk of the drama in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is based in murder. Throughout the play, much of the dialogue and action have to do with plotting a homicide, carrying out the terrible deed, or being haunted by the guilt of taking another...

The Use of Contrast in Macbeth Lucy McCracken 12th Grade

‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare is a play in which great contrasts lie between its main characters. ‘Macbeth’ is a tragic play, set in eleventh century Scotland, which explores the psychological and political effects of the eponymous character,...

Regicide in Macbeth Anonymous 12th Grade

In 'Macbeth,' the eponymous character fulfils his own overwhelming thirst for power by committing what was viewed to be worst possible crime: regicide. This initial murder of King Duncan acts as a starting point for Macbeth's reign of terror, and...

How to Write a Macbeth Essay ( OCR GCSE English Literature )

Revision note.

English Senior Content Creator

How to Write a Macbeth Essay

Paper 2 of your OCR GCSE English Literature exam will include questions on your anthology poetry, unseen poetry and on the Shakespeare play you’ve been studying.

You will have 50 minutes to complete one Macbeth question from a choice of two options:

A question based on an extract (of about 40 lines) from Macbeth or 

A “discursive” essay question, which is not based on any extract

You will not have access to a copy of Macbeth for either of these two questions, so it’s important you know the plot of the play really well, and that you have memorised some references and quotes from the play to use in your essay.  For the Macbeth essay, OCR examiners state that you need to use evidence from elsewhere in the play, even for the extract-based question : to get a Grade 9, it’s not enough to rely on the text from the extract. See our Macbeth Quotations and Analysis revision note page for some great quotations to learn.

How do you start a Macbeth essay?

It’s always daunting when you have 50 minutes to write one long answer. So how do you start writing? It might sound odd, but the answer is don’t start writing.

The single most important thing you can do to get the highest mark on your Macbeth essay is to write an essay plan before you start your answer. For both the extract-based question and the discursive essay, examiners award the highest marks to students who create a “coherent line of argument” and who maintain a “focus on the question” and a “critical style”. What do these phrases actually mean?

By creating a plan before you start writing, you can make sure that your essay covers all three of these points.

Your plan could look something like this:

How do you structure a Macbeth essay?

As we’ve seen, examiners give the highest marks to students who have managed to create a “coherent line of argument” throughout their essay. We’ve seen that the best way to achieve this is to create a plan, and to use that plan to structure your essay clearly and logically. 

To achieve a grade 9, OCR recommends that students include an introduction , clearly organised paragraphs and a conclusion .  If you look at the example plan above, you will see that the example plan includes a “ thesis statement ” and “ topic questions ”. See how to include these into your essay below:

Top tips for structuring your Macbeth essay:

Always begin with a clear thesis statement that sets out your argument:

Your thesis statement should only be one or two sentences in length

Include three or four paragraphs in your essay:

Including more paragraphs can result in a rambling essay that doesn’t always answer the question - less is more when writing a focused, coherent essay

Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence:

This is one sentence that sets out the argument of the paragraph

Topic sentences should always be directly related to your thesis statement and the key words of the essay question

All the evidence (quotations or textual references) you include in any paragraph should help you prove your topic sentence

Finish your essay with a short conclusion:

The conclusion shouldn’t include any new evidence

It should sum up how you have proved your thesis statement 

Some schools and teachers teach students a “scaffold” for writing essay paragraphs. This usually takes the form of an acronym, like PEE (Point, Evidence, Explanation).

However, more and more, OCR examiners are recommending students don’t follow these fixed structures. This is because they restrict your ability to bring in additional pieces of evidence, explore contextual factors, extend your explanation to include different interpretations, or include your own opinions.

To see an example of how to include these elements in your essay, see our model answer for the OCR Macbeth extract question , and a model answer for the Macbeth discursive essay question .

Macbeth essay top exam tips

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Author: Nick Redgrove

Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.

Macbeth Essays

There are loads of ways you can approach writing an essay, but the two i favour are detailed below., the key thing to remember is that an essay should focus on the three aos:, ao1: plot and character development; ao2: language and technique; ao3: context, strategy 1 : extract / rest of play, the first strategy basically splits the essay into 3 paragraphs., the first paragraph focuses on the extract, the second focuses on the rest of the play, the third focuses on context. essentially, it's one ao per paragraph, for a really neatly organised essay., strategy 2 : a structured essay with an argument, this strategy allows you to get a much higher marks as it's structured to form an argument about the whole text. although you might think that's harder - and it's probably going to score more highly - i'd argue that it's actually easier to master. mainly because you do most of the work before the day of the exam., to see some examples of these, click on the links below:, lady macbeth as a powerful woman, macbeth as a heroic character, the key to this style is remembering this: you're going to get a question about a theme, and the extract will definitely relate to the theme., the strategy here is planning out your essays before the exam, knowing that the extract will fit into them somehow., below are some structured essays i've put together., macbeth and gender.

3 reasons we use graphic novels to teach math and physics

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Marian University

Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, Marian University

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Post-pandemic, some educators are trying to reengage students with technology – like videos, computer gaming or artificial intelligence, just to name a few. But integrating these approaches in the classroom can be an uphill battle. Teachers using these tools often struggle to retain students’ attention, competing with the latest social media phenomenon, and can feel limited by using short video clips to get concepts across.

Graphic novels – offering visual information married with text – provide a means to engage students without losing all of the rigor of textbooks. As two educators in math and physics , we have found graphic novels to be effective at teaching students of all ability levels. We’ve used graphic novels in our own classes, and we’ve also inspired and encouraged other teachers to use them. And we’re not alone: Other teachers are rejuvenating this analog medium with a high level of success .

In addition to covering a wide range of topics and audiences , graphic novels can explain tough topics without alienating student averse to STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. Even for students who already like math and physics, graphic novels provide a way to dive into topics beyond what is possible in a time-constrained class. In our book “ Using Graphic Novels in the STEM Classroom ,” we discuss the many reasons why graphic novels have a unique place in math and physics education. Here are three of those reasons:

Explaining complex concepts with rigor and fun

Increasingly, schools are moving away from textbooks , even though studies show that students learn better using print rather than digital formats . Graphic novels offer the best of both worlds: a hybrid between modern and traditional media.

This integration of text with images and diagrams is especially useful in STEM disciplines that require quantitative reading and data analysis skills, like math and physics.

For example, our collaborator Jason Ho, an assistant professor at Dordt University , uses “ Max the Demon Vs Entropy of Doom ” to teach his physics students about entropy. This topic can be particularly difficult for students because it’s one of the first times when they can’t physically touch something in physics. Instead, students have to rely on math and diagrams to fill in their knowledge.

Rather than stressing over equations, Ho’s students focus on understanding the subject more conceptually. This approach helps build their intuition before diving into the algebra. They get a feeling for the fundamentals before they have to worry about equations.

After having taken Ho’s class, more than 85% of his students agreed that they would recommend using graphic novels in STEM classes, and 90% found this particular use of “Max the Demon” helpful for their learning. When strategically used, graphic novels can create a dynamic, engaging teaching environment even with nuanced, quantitative topics.

Combating quantitative anxiety

Students learning math and physics today are surrounded by math anxiety and trauma , which often lead to their own negative associations with math. A student’s perception of math can be influenced by the attitudes of the role models around them – whether it’s a parent who is “not a math person” or a teacher with a high level of math anxiety .

Graphic novels can help make math more accessible not only for students themselves, but also for parents or students learning to be teachers.

In a geometry course one of us (Sarah) teaches, secondary education students don’t memorize formulas and fill out problem sheets. Instead, students read “ Who Killed Professor X? ”, a murder mystery in which all of the suspects are famous mathematicians. The suspects’ alibis are justified through problems from geometry, algebra and pre-calculus.

While trying to understand the hidden geometry of suspect relationships, students often forget that they are doing math – focusing instead on poring over secret hints and notes needed to solve the mystery.

Although this is just one experience for these students, it can help change the narrative for students experiencing mathematical anxiety. It boosts their confidence and shows them how math can be fun – a lesson they can then impart to the next generation of students.

Helping students learn and readers dream big

In addition to being viewed favorably by students, graphic novels can enhance student learning by improving written communication skills , reading comprehension and critical literacy skills . And even outside the classroom, graphic novels support long-term memory for those who have diagnoses like dyslexia .

Pause and think about your own experience – how do you learn about something new in science?

If you’re handed a textbook, it’s extremely unlikely that you’d read it cover to cover. And although the internet offers an enormous amount of math and physics content, it can be overwhelming to sift through hours and hours of videos to find the perfect one to get the “aha!” moment in learning.

Graphic novels provide a starting point for such a broad range of niche topics that it’s impossible for anyone to be experts in them all. Want to learn about programming? Try the “ Secret Coders ” series. Want to understand more about quantum physics? Dive into “ Suspended in Language: Niels Bohr’s life, discoveries, and the century he shaped .” Searching for more female role models in science? “ Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier ” could be just what you’re looking for.

With all that they offer, graphic novels provide a compelling list of topics and narratives that can capture the attention of students today. We believe that the right set of graphic novels can inspire the next generation of scientists as much as any single individual can.

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• Teaching math
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• Math anxiety
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• Graphic novels

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Guest Essay

How Harris Has Completely Upended the Presidential Race, in 14 Maps

Daniel Zvereff

By Doug Sosnik Graphics by Quoctrung Bui

Mr. Sosnik was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 2000 and has advised more than 50 governors and U.S. senators.

With Kamala Harris now at the top of the ticket, the enthusiasm and confidence within the Democratic Party feel stronger than at any point I’ve seen since Barack Obama ran for president in 2008. And it’s not just vibes: The paths to victory in the Electoral College have been completely reshaped for the Democrats – and for Donald Trump – since my last analysis of the electoral map on July 12, nine days before Joe Biden exited the race.

Not only have Democrats come home to support their party’s nominee, they are now also more energized about the election than Republicans. Ms. Harris has quickly picked up support from nonwhite and younger voters.

We are now back to the same electoral map that we had before Mr. Biden’s summertime polling collapse: Once again, the winner in November will come down to the seven battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The seven swing states that will most likely decide the 2024 presidential election.

Current polling shows the transformed race: While Mr. Biden trailed Mr. Trump in all seven battleground states last month, Ms. Harris is now leading Mr. Trump by four points in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the latest New York Times/Siena College polls . Other polls show Ms. Harris in a statistical dead heat in Georgia and Arizona .

Those polls also reveal one of Mr. Trump’s biggest obstacles to winning the election: A majority of the country has never supported him, either as president or as a candidate for office. In the Times/Siena surveys, Mr. Trump had polled at only 46 percent in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And with the race no longer between two unpopular nominees, support for third-party candidates has dropped, making it much more difficult for Mr. Trump to win.

And yet: Republicans have a structural advantage in the Electoral College system of voting, giving Mr. Trump at least one advantage against a surging Ms. Harris.

The G.O.P. lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections, yet won the White House in three of those elections. In 2016, Mr. Trump eked out Electoral College wins in swing states like Wisconsin even as Hillary Clinton crushed him in the most populous states like California. The Republican edge has only grown stronger with the reallocation of electoral votes based on the most recent census.

Given that structural advantage, Georgia, and its 16 Electoral College votes, is increasingly becoming a pivotal state that Mr. Trump can’t lose. If Ms. Harris is able to carry Georgia – and Mr. Trump seems to be trying to help her by inexplicably attacking the popular incumbent Republican governor and his wife – then she would have 242 electoral votes, only 28 short of the 270 needed to win.

Mr. Trump may not understand the political consequences of losing Georgia, but his advisers appear to: His campaign and biggest aligned super PAC spent four times as much in advertising in the state in the two weeks since Ms. Harris became the Democratic Party nominee as they did in the rest of 2024 combined. And in this coming week, of the $37 million in ad buys that the Trump campaign has placed nationally, almost $24 million are in Georgia.

Pennsylvania looks increasingly to be the other key battleground state, and both parties know it. According to AdImpact , over $211 million in paid media has so far been purchased in Pennsylvania from March 6 until Election Day, which is more than double the amount in any other state.

Given its size and support for Democratic candidates in the past, if Ms. Harris loses Pennsylvania, that could be just as damaging to her candidacy as a loss in Georgia would be to Mr. Trump’s chances.

This is why Georgia and Pennsylvania are the two most important states to watch to see if one candidate is able to establish a decisive path to 270 electoral votes.

Ms. Harris starts out with 226 likely electoral votes compared to 219 for Mr. Trump, with 93 votes up for grabs. However, unlike Mr. Biden last month, she has multiple paths to 270 electoral votes.

The first path for Ms. Harris is to carry Pennsylvania , which Mr. Biden won by more than 80,000 votes in 2020 and has voted for the Democratic candidate in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. Assuming that Ms. Harris wins Pennsylvania, she will have 245 electoral votes and six paths to 270.

Scenario 1 Then all Ms. Harris needs are Michigan and Wisconsin (assuming that she carries the Second Congressional District in Nebraska) …

Scenario 2 … or Wisconsin and Georgia …

Scenario 3 … or Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada …

Scenario 4 … or Michigan and Arizona …

Scenario 5 … or Michigan and Georgia …

Scenario 6 … or Georgia and Arizona.

The second path for Ms. Harris does not require her winning Pennsylvania. Instead she needs to win Wisconsin , Michigan , Georgia and …

Scenario 1 … Arizona …

Scenario 2 … or Nevada .

Based on past elections, Mr. Trump starts out with 219 Electoral College votes, compared to 226 for Ms. Harris, with 93 votes up for grabs.

It’s difficult to see how Mr. Trump could win the election if he cannot carry North Carolina , which generally favors Republican presidential candidates. That would give Mr. Trump 235 electoral votes and multiple paths to 270.

The first path involves carrying Georgia , a state he lost by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020. Before then, Republicans won Georgia in every election since 1992. If Mr. Trump carried North Carolina and Georgia, he would have a base of 251 electoral votes.

Scenario 1 Then all Mr. Trump needs is Pennsylvania …

Scenario 2 … or Michigan and Nevada …

Scenario 3 … or Michigan and Arizona …

Scenario 4 … or Arizona and Wisconsin …

The second and more difficult path for Mr. Trump would be if he carried North Carolina but lost Georgia. He would then have only 235 electoral votes and would need to win three of the six remaining battleground states.

Scenario 1 Like Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin …

Scenario 2 … or Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania .

A Look Ahead to November

Ms. Harris clearly has the momentum going into the Democratic National Convention, but she has not really been tested yet. At some point she will need to demonstrate that she can perform under pressure in order to win over undecided voters and less enthusiastic moderates and independents.

As unruly as this election year has been, there are still certain rules of politics that apply to the presidential race. History has repeatedly shown that the winning candidates are usually the ones best able to define who they are, whom they are running against and what the election is about.

Mr. Trump had made the election a referendum of his presidency compared to Mr. Biden’s – that he was a strong leader and Mr. Biden was weak.

In the past three weeks, Ms. Harris has set the terms of the campaign as a choice between change versus going backward – a positive view of the future compared to a dystopian view of the present with a desire to go back to the past.

But even though Ms. Harris’s favorability has gone up significantly since she announced her candidacy, the increase in support is soft. That is the reason that the Democratic convention is such an important opportunity for her to close the deal with key swing voters.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, is fully defined in the minds of most voters, and has elected to double down on catering to his MAGA base despite alienating the key swing voter blocs that will determine the outcome of the election. During the last hour of his convention speech, and every day since then, Mr. Trump has offered words and actions that remind Americans why they voted him out of office in 2020.

Mr. Trump has increasingly looked like a washed-up rock star who can play only his greatest hits for his dwindling group of fans. If he loses in November, he will have been a one-hit wonder who led the Republican Party to four presidential and midterm election-cycle losses in a row.

More on the 2024 presidential election

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