Macbeth's Appeal: Then and Now

About the lecture

In this module, we consider why Macbeth was so popular in Shakespeare's time, and why it remains so popular today. Firstly, it is noted that a great many of the themes of the play are still relevant today: people are still ambitious like Macbeth, and people are still fearful like Macbeth. Other aspects of the play, such as the supernatural, remain captivating despite their unfamiliarity. As well as this, Macbeth is a morally interesting character; he is the hero of the tragedy, yet he is also a criminal - so what to make of him? Finally, we consider the play's engagement with questions of life and death - and a character who is doomed while he is still alive.

About the lecturer

Stephen Siddall was Head of English at The Leys School in Cambridge for 31 years and has taught Shakespeare courses for university students and for the University of Cambridge International Summer School in Shakespeare. Between 1988 and 2005 he directed 15 Renaissance classic plays for The Arts Theatre, Cambridge and, more recently A Doll's House and Waiting for Godot for the Horseshoe Theatre Company. He has also directed for BBC television and for the (open air) Pendley Shakespeare Festival. For Cambridge University Press he has written a student guide for Macbeth (2002), Shakespeare on Stage (2008) and Landscape and Literature (2009)