Macbeth Essay: Writing a Master Essay for Exam Preparation
Saturday, February 6th, 2010If you are doing an English Major, you will have to write a Macbeth essay sometime or the other in the course of your degree. Shakespeare’s seminal play Macbeth is a part of curriculum of all the English courses, whether you are writing a bachelor’s exam or a doctoral thesis.
The main attraction of Shakespearean oeuvre is its curious blend of surface and in-depth approach that it offers to the reader. It can well be read and enjoyed by a school student as by a doctorate scholar. The aspects that can be taken for study are galore, as are the many interpretations that have arisen from it.
Students often find themselves lost in the maze of secondary sources on Shakespeare’s oeuvre. When preparing a Macbeth essay for writing an exam, they wouldn’t know where to begin and what kind of essay questions to expect. The best way around to this, is to prepare a Master’s question on the topic. Here is a format to it:
1. About the Author: When writing about authors from the Elizabethan and the romantic era, no text can be complete without the reference to its author. There are strong personal. Historical and oeuvre implications in a text that cannot be ignored. Write a paragraph about the author’s personal, historical background.
2. About The Text: When writing a master essay you will have to possibly include all the major aspects of the text.
• Historical Placement: Its placement in the author’s oeuvre.
• Genre: Analyse a text in accordance to it’s genre. When writing a Macbeth Essay, analyse the features of a Shakespearean tragedy, how the play is different form the tragedies of the past. Analyse all the essential tragic characters and the events in the play.
• Plot: The description of the plot, or the story. Analyse the importance of subplot in Shakespearean drama in general and Macbeth in particular. You may also be asked to analyse the significance of the major scenes in the play, like the Dagger scene or the role of witches.
• Characterization: Critically evaluate all the characters in the play and the role played by them. Lady’s Macbeth’s characterization is of chief importance. Also, the importance of fool in Shakespeare’s plays is of prime importance.
• Themes and Motifs: Discuss the theme of the play and the recurrent symbols or motifs used by the author to highlight the theme.
3. Interpretations to the Text: A seminal play like Macbeth have had many interpretations. Make sure you include at least the important ones.
4. Comparative Study: End your answer with a comparative study. Make sure you compare the play with any one of Shakespeare’s tragedy and one from his contemporaries: Ben Jonson or The University wits.
Whether you have to write a Macbeth essay or any other essay assignment, you can easily sail through your exam essay if you compile all the important information at one place.
