It's been a while since I've read Shakespeare, so I had to keep flipping back and forth to the Dramatis Personae to keep everyone straight. I also had to read all of the footnotes too, because some of the language didn't make sense to me.
I haven't read MacBeth before now. And I think I am going to be re-reading Act One before next week. I was a little confused as to what role the witches actually play and what was going on with MacBeth. I was wondering how he could be the Thane of Glamis and (later) Cawdor as well as (later) King of Scotland? On page 10, MacBeth asks the witches how he could be Thane of Cawdor when there is already living Thane of Cawdor. But then the witches "vansih" and it's just kind of left in the air. I'm curious for a more detailed explanation.
On another note, I'm not sure what kind of female influence Lady MacBeth is suppose to portray, but I do like that she is able to speak more than a few words. She can be forthright sometimes. But then again, I'm sure that has more to do with the fact that there's not many female roles to begin with aside from her servant, the witches, and Hecate. The rest are males.
I think the idea about listening to it would probably help too! I don't think the footnotes and my notes are enough when there are so many characters to differentiate.
Casi
Great point about Lady Macbeth being so forthright due to the fact that their aren't many female roles. That could be why her character is so bold. I agree that if we do listen to the play or maybe watch the first act, pieces will come together and we may see something that we missed or never caught on too.
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