LADY MACBETH LESSON – Part I 

Comparing Two Film and Two Staged Versions of Lady Macbeth Soliloquies

QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES:

1. 1. Reread Lady Macbeth’s first soliloquy, then write a summary of it.
   2. Watch Lady Macbeth’s first and second soliloquy in Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, in Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth and at this Youtube link − https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN1BfA5YwSM − which features two renditions of the second soliloquy by Niamh Cusack, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Which version do you prefer and why?
   3. Which soliloquy setting do you prefer and why?
   4. The positioning of an actor (determined by the director) is called blocking. Is the blocking of the first and second soliloquies more dramatic in the Polanski or the Kurzel film? Why? In which version is the blocking more realistic? In which is it more stylized (look up this word if you’re unfamiliar with it)? Explain your answers.
   5. Which theme(s) in the play do Lady Macbeth’s first and second soliloquies reflect? Cite and then interpret at least two lines that reflect this or these theme(s).
   6. Dramatists build suspense by stimulating feelings of nervous expectation and dread in audiences. What line or lines in Lady’s Macbeth’s soliloquy build suspense? How do they achieve this?
   7. In your opinion, which delivery best reflects the emotional and psychological state of Lady Macbeth at this point in the play? Do any parts of Francesca Annis’s, Marion Cotillard’s, or Niamh Cusack’s delivery detract from the overall drama? If so, how would you recommend changing those parts? Which parts in each version seem especially dramatic? Why?
   8. Which lines indicate that the character speaking them has a conscience?
   9. Interpret Lady M’s line “The raven himself is hoarse/That croaks the entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements.” Is Lady M making an analogy? If so write out the analogy and indicate which parts are in correspondence.
   10. For this question, pretend you are the director or script writer of the Polanski film and then the Kurzel film. Justify the cuts in the text in each case. In other words explain why they were necessary and how eliminating them helped you realize your cinematic vision of the play. In addition, for the Kurzel film, explain why moving sections of the text was necessary and how doing so advances the plot. For the Polanski film, explain how each location in which Lady Macbeth delivers her lines enhances the drama.
   11. Which version of the soliloquy conveys the music of the language most effectively? Why?
   12. Which version reflects the subject matter best? Why?
   13. Which film soliloquy is easier for the audience to understand?
   14. Which version builds drama more intensely?
   15. Are the tempos appropriate to the thoughts and feelings expressed in each case? Is one or the other too slow or too fast in places? If so, where and why?

EXTRA CREDIT: Read “Royal Murder and The Real Macbeth” in Macbeth and the Dark Ages, NEXUS. Then, based on your reading, in one or two paragraphs explain why you think Shakespeare’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth accurately or inaccurately conveys the spirit of the real Lady Macbeth, Gruoch.

Part II – Vocal Dynamics Lesson

Write out or copy Lady Macbeth’s two soliloquies from Shakespeare’s play, double-spacing the text. Then make four more copies of the soliloquies. You should have a total of FIVE copies. Use the musical symbols below (soft, loud, gradually louder, etc.) to map the vocal dynamics in four versions of the soliloquies, one by Francesca Annis in Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, one by Marion Cotillard in Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, and two staged renditions by Niamh Cusack, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Then create your own version of the speech. GIVE YOUR LADY MACBETH A SPECIFIC ATTITUDE (as the director does in the two Cusack renditions of the second soliloquy), then, as you map out her vocal dynamics, inflect Lady Macbeth’s speech to best convey that attitude. Use the above versions of the soliloquies as models; but DO NOT imitate them. Finally perform ten lines of your soliloquy for your class and critique the soliloquy of another student.

What are Vocal Dynamics?

When a parent wants a teenager to clean her or his room (which has NOT been properly cleaned in weeks), she might yell, “CLEEAAN your room” prolonging the word she wants to stress. Or, she might shout that word: “Clean!” Or she might say, “clean…YOUR…room” to emphasize that it is YOUR responsibility to keep YOUR room clean.

TO MAKE A SCENE SEEM NATURAL YOU MUST INCLUDE VOCAL DYNAMICS:

• • • RAISING THE VOICE in anger or to get someone to focus on the point being made.
    • LOWERING THE VOICE so no one else overhears something controversial, dangerous, or compromising that the character might say.
    • SPEEDING UP (to show excitement or frustration) or slowing down a sentence.
    • PAUSING to emphasize a point and let it sink in – don’t ever say THAT….again.” Or pausing simply to let your thoughts catch up to your mouth.
    • We do all these things naturally, usually without thinking about them in conversation. Unfortunately, when reading or reciting dialogue, non-actors tend to leave out natural vocal dynamics. BE SURE TO INCLUDE THEM so your scene doesn’t sound flat and unnatural. In real life, no one speaks consistently at one volume and one tempo, giving each word equal weight. Our voices modulate according to our moods and emotions. You might also include sounds like “hmmm,” “ah-ha,” laughs, chuckles, snickers, groans, etc.

ACTIVITES:

1. 1. On the first copy of the soliloquy, map the vocal dynamics Marion Cotillard uses in her version. Cross out the lines in the soliloquy that she doesn’t speak. DOES HER TEMPO HELP TO REVEAL HER FEELINGS? IF SO, HOW?
   2. On the second copy map the vocal dynamics of Francesca Annis in her soliloquy. Cross out the lines she doesn’t speak. DOES HER TEMPO HELP TO REVEAL HER FEELINGS? IF SO, HOW?
   3. On the third and fourth copies map the vocal dynamics of Royal Shakespearean actress Niamh Cusack in her renderings of the monologue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN1BfA5YwSM. NOTE: For the second half of the soliloquy, the director asks the actress to play the scene as if Lady Macbeth is highly confident that the fates are on her side. In the variation of the second half, he has her redo the monologue with an entirely different attitude, which changes both how she expresses the words and her tempo. Use the samples below to help you map the actress’s vocal modulations. Feel free to modify our mapping of her voice. Voice differentiation is sometimes very subtle and can include changes in pitch (which our system doesn’t take into account), therefore vocal dynamics notation is an approximation and should be viewed as a rough sketch of an actor’s vocal dynamics. STUDENTS should notate with a pencil on paper (they will probably make changes). Using a word processor to notate is very tedious and cumbersome.

PART III – Blocking and Setting Lesson

BLOCKING a scene means positioning the actors with respect to one another and to their location (the setting) – sitting, standing or laying down, looking up or down, etc. The director must determine in advance where each character will stand or sit in relation to the other character(s) and where and how she or he will move – even when alone.

MOVEMENT should help convey each character’s mood and feelings.

POSITIONING can help show an actor’s attitude, the affect of the surroundings on her mood, the relationship between characters: a person in charge might sit while the other character stands. When positioning characters, the director must also make sure that the audience can clearly see the actors.

Also remember that directors show actors at their most dramatic angles to intensify dramatic moments in a play or film.

SETTING – location and ambiance can help convey mood, indicate social and economic status (expensive furniture versus dilapidated furniture in a house), and even affect behavior (someone watching a baseball game in a stadium will usually behave quite differently than someone in a church, mosque or synagogue).

QUESTIONS:

1. Compare the blocking in the two film versions. Which do you prefer and why?
2. Does the blocking in the Polanski film help convey Lady Macbeth’s attitude? Does it suggest her relationship with the people around her?
3. Does the blocking in Kurzel’s film help convey Lady Macbeth’s attitude and mood? If so, how?
4. Compare the settings in the two films. Does each setting seem appropriate to the style, manners, and emotions of that particular Lady Macbeth?
5. If you were directing the film, what might you have done differently?

PART IV – YOUR LADY MACBETH

PART V – MACBETH THEATER CRITIC LESSON

Learning from Reviews and Reviewing