Task: Choose one important relationship in the Shakespeare play you have studied. Compare the presentation of your chosen relationship with the presentation of the same relationship in an adaptation of the play.
Use examples from both the play and the adaptation in your response.
(30 marks – up to1000 words)
Introduction:
A brief outline of what Macbeth is about: genre? themes? the importance of the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth?
Introduce the film adaptation you are studying – when was it made? Which key scenes are you looking at?
Paragraph 1: The Macbeth’s marriage at the beginning of the play
How do they speak/ behave towards each other?
What is the balance of power like?
How does this change in Act 1 Sc 7? (Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan when he wavers) Look carefully at Lady Macbeth’s language and constant use of questions
How do you imagine this to look on stage?
What is the effect upon the audience?
Paragraph 2: How does Roman Polanski present this scene in his adaptation?
How do the actor and actress behave towards each other? How do they deliver key lines?
What sort of shots/ lighting/ setting/ sound are used? How does this affect the audience’s understanding?
Paragraph 3: What begins to happen to the Macbeths in the play once Duncan is dead?
How do things start to unravel? Think about Macbeth’s dark thoughts and language/ his suspicions of other people/ his actions.
How does this place strain upon the marriage? (look at Act 3 Sc2 – ‘Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!’)
Paragraph 4: Act 3:4 The Banquet scene in the play
How does Macbeth behave in this scene? What does this tell us about his state of mind?
How does Lady Macbeth try to keep things together?
What does this tell the audience about the shift in power?
How does their relationship seem to have changed when they are on their own at the end of the scene?
Remember to discuss Shakespeare’s language and use of dramatic irony in this scene.
Paragraph 5: The banquet scene in the adaptation
How does Polanski show this scene? Does it fit your expectations of the scene?
How do the actor and actress behave towards each other? How do they deliver key lines?
What sort of shots/ lighting/ setting/ sound are used? How does this affect the audience’s understanding?
Conclusion: What happens to the Macbeths by the end of the play? How does this make the audience feel? Try to mention ideas of evil and ambition here if you can: did they get what they deserved?
Checklist:
Have you…
□ used quotations from the play and discussed Shakespeare’s use of language?
□ demonstrated an awareness of the audience’s reaction?
□ used technical terminology in your analysis where appropriate (ie: dramatic irony/ shot types/ mise en scene etc)?
□ checked your work through carefully to correct any small mistakes?