“Macbeth” Discussion

Minneapolis Central Library
(Downtown Minneapolis)
300 Nicollet Mall - Room N-202
Minneapolis, MN 55401

There is underground parking beneath the library, off 4th St. S., for about $5. Go in to the Library lobby and then in to the book stacks area. Take the elevator or stairs up to the 2nd floor, then go all the way to the left.

This is a discussion about the play, not a reading or showing of it.

Our special guest for the first half hour of our meeting will be Carla Steen, dramaturg at the Guthrie Theater, so please arrive on time by 6:00 pm.

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
– Witches, in Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly.
– Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7

But screw your courage to the sticking place,
And we’ll not fail.
– Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7

Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep.
– Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2

It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.
– Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 4

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
– Second Witch, in Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1

Out, damned spot; out, I say!
– Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1

She should have died hereafter.
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
– Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5

SYNOPSIS OF PLAY (from the Folger Library)

DOWNLOAD TEXT FOR FREE

FREE VIDEOS - FULL PLAY (YOUTUBE)
• Royal Shakespeare Company (Ian McKellen, Judi Dench) 1979
- 4K definition
- Regular definition
• Folger Theatre and Two River Theater Company 2008
- Part 1
- Part 2
**• GSP Studios **2018

FREE VIDEOS - OTHER (YOUTUBE)
• Animated Shakespeare Classics - “Macbeth” (25 minutes)
• Tim Nance: Shakespeare’s Macbeth Discussion and Summary

KANOPY APP
Download the free app. Then link your library account to it. This will allow you free access to many Shakespeare plays. You can also watch the Shakespeare series “Upstart Crow” for free.

ARTICLES
• Wikipedia: “Macbeth”
• SparkNotes: “Macbeth Themes”
• Macbeth Navigator
• The Play’s the Thing: Essays on Macbeth, Part 1
• The Play’s the Thing: Essays on Macbeth, Part 2
• Digital humanities and Macbeth’s "creepiest" word
• Macbeth - The Supernatural
• Strange Shakespeare: Macbeth and the even weirder sisters
• The Gunpowder Plot and Shakespeare’s Macbeth
• The history of the witches in Macbeth
• Wikipedia: Daemonologie (1597) by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England)

LOCAL LIVE PERFORMANCE
• Macbeth at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis (Jan. 31 - Mar. 22, 2026)

GENERAL RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
• The Folger Shakespeare Library has free and paid (includes notes) downloadable texts of all of Shakespeare’s plays.
• The Folger Library: Shakespeare Documented has copies of original documents from Shakespeare’s time.
• PlayShakespeare: The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Research
• Podcast: “Approaching Shakespeare”
• Podcast: “Shakespeare Unlimited” Play by Play
• Play On Podcasts
• SparkNotes 101: Shakespeare [Excellent synopses of all the plays.]
• Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber [Excellent analysis of all the plays.] Kindle edition only $5.99!

FACEBOOK PAGES
• The Official William Shakespeare Page
• Shakespeare Study Group
• William Shakespeare: His Works and His World

APP
• Shakespeare App

BEST SHAKESPEARE USED BOOK SELECTIONS IN THE TWIN CITIES
• Midway Books, St. Paul
• The Book House, Minneapolis
• James & Mary Laurie Booksellers, Minneapolis
• Magers and Quinn, Minneapolis
• Half Price Books