Monday, May 11, 2009

Podcast 7: Macbeth revision IV - Malcolm the hero?

Our fourth Macbeth revision podcast in a series leading up to the Leaving Certificate looks primarily at the latter part of the play. It leads on from last week's session, which examined the nature of order and law in the early part of the play. This week, we consider the end of the story, looking particularly at Malcolm and Macduff in the long scene set in England, the English King Edward, and our feelings as an audience as we watch Macbeth vanquished by the forces of decency.

Here are the statistics quoted in the podcast, comparing Macbeth to Hamlet (note that counting depends on which edition you're using):-
  • There are 27 scenes in Macbeth, with an average of 63 lines per scene.
  • There are 20 scenes in Hamlet, with an average of 193 lines per scene.
  • Macbeth is 1755 lines long; Hamlet is 3856 lines long (so Macbeth is 45% the length of Hamlet)
  • The English scene (240 lines) is the much the longest in Macbeth; it would be 6th longest in Hamlet, which has one of 612 lines (II ii).
Listen to the episode via the player below:-


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