Macbeth is a more sophisticated and a more psychologically nuanced tyrant tragedy than Richard III, which Shakespeare had written a decade or more earlier.  Macbeth is the story of a brave and good man who is persuaded to commit a murder.  The first half of the play explores how such a man could be persuaded commit such an act.  The second half is how the murderer himself is altered by having done it, how he becomes, in the words of Thomas Middleton, another playwright of the day, “the deed’s creature. “ To explore these issues, Shakespeare sets his play not in his own world, Jacobean London, but centuries earlier in feudal Scotland, where Kings held absolute power and ruled over, and with help of their thanes, their warrior aristocracy.  It was a world which valued both loyalty and ambition, and a world in which the conflict  between these values could have tragic consequences.  There have been many successful adaptations of the play set in similar warrior cultures:  The Throne of Blood (samurai warriors of Japan), Men of Respect (Italian-America mafia), Macbool (Bombay gangsters).   They are well worth watching but for our meeting I would recommend you watch the production of Shakespeare’s version starring Patrick Stewart.

Movie Link Free On PBS: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/macbeth-full-episode/1030/

Movie Link Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Macbeth-Patrick-Stewart/dp/B07TSG5KQH

Movie Link on Vimeo - Rental: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/macbethpatrickstewart

Date: Wednesday, February 24

Time: 6:30 p.m. CST

Location: Zoom Video Conference

Cost: Free