Adia Sisson
Adia Sisson
Adia Sisson
Rob Lockey
Language and Literature SL
May 22nd, 2018
In Part 4: Critical Study, my Language & Literature class read William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the primary source of my written task. My written task will be "The Ballad of Macbeth", a ballad supposedly written in the mid 1600's, after the play had become well-known, telling the story of the Scottish king according to Shakespeare's interpretation. The form of the ballad has existed since before the 13th century and was very popular at the time Macbeth was first performed, making it a fitting written task, especially as ballads often retold and interpreted stories of well-known plays. The learning outcome of this piece will be to demonstrate an awareness of how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context. I will address this learning outcome by putting the story of the original text into a different context. The ballad will be written for oral performance in taverns and on the street, rather than in a formal playhouse of the original. The ballad will be recited to tavern-goers by a storyteller, so the register will be informal but dramatic, recounting the shocking tale of Macbeth. The ballad will be written in the traditional 4-3-4-3 alternating beat pattern, with rhymes in most stanzas but varying positions. Ballads of this era often rhymed but it was not necessary, so this atypical format would not be incorrect. Each stanza will be a quatrain, with the starting quatrains introducing the story, the final quatrains resolving it, and plot of the story told in between them. Some aspects of the original story, like the exile of Duncan’s sons, will be omitted from the ballad, as it is an interpretation of the story, not a translation across genres.
Rationale word count: 281
Written task word count: 809
Heroism, murder, magic, and strife.
The tale of Macbeth and his conniving wife.
Come forth and listen to my tale of sadness,
Of the traitor Macbeth and his turn into madness.
Thane of Glamis, a hero of Scots.
Butcher on the field but the Lady’s lover off’t.
Full o’ the milk of human kindness,
Yet vaulting ambition does his mind press.
‘What women are these? The hags of three?’
‘Witches, you see. Your fortunes bear we.’
Thane of Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor,
All hail, Macbeth, the king hereafter!
Instruments of darkness do speak of truth,
But with honest trifles do betray you.
Royalty lives in Banquo’s child,
A prophecy which did Macbeth beguile.
‘Macbeth,’ Says Duncan. ‘Your actions, praise deserve.
I shall name thee, Thane of Cawdor,
And in Inverness, I shall sojourn.
Come, Macbeth. Let us celebrate your valor.’
‘My dearest partner of greatness, hear my news.
Witches hath hailed me king,
And Duncan hath titled me anew.
The royal party, ‘neath our roof will be staying.’
What Macbeth lacked in murderous intent,
His Lady had in abundance.
‘Look like th’innocent flower,’ she said.
‘But be the serpent under’t’
‘Come, you spirits, and stop my remorse.
Fill me of direst cruelty.
Unsex me here!’ cried Lady Macbeth.
‘So I may do my duty.’
‘What a wonderful home,’ proclaimed King Duncan.
‘We thank you for letting us stay.’
‘But of course, my king,’ said Lady Macbeth.
‘We promise, there’ll be no foul play’
Vaulting ambition calls for the crown,
But kindness keeps him from it.
‘Kill the king, and Scotland is ours!’
‘But I am his subject.’
Macbeth was won by the wiles of his wife,
And sees a dagger before him.
‘I go, and it is done,’ says a bloody Macbeth.
Marking his future as grim.
Never had there been a night so dark
As the night a dagger met the king’s heart.
With bloody guards grasping bloody knives,
Who would suspect Macbeth took all their lives?
As Duncan was murdered, a voice cried out
‘Glamis hath murdered sleep;
Therefore, Cawdor shall sleep no more.
Macbeth shall sleep no more.’
‘What have I done?’ cried the bloody Thane.
But his lady seemed to feel naught.
‘A little water clears us of this deed.
A little water and we won’t be caught.’
‘The king is dead! The king is dead!
Murdered by guards in his bed.’
‘I killed the guards,’ Macbeth proclaimed.
‘Out of love for my king.’
All the witches promised came true:
King, Cawdor, and Glamis,
But Macbeth played foully, and Banquo knew.
Banquo and Fleance were next.
‘Witches gave Banquo a line of kings,
But gave me a barren scepter.
Kill Banquo and his son and I’ll pay you well.’
Macbeth turned mad thereafter.
When on his walk, Banquo was caught.
He was slaughtered in front of his son.
Fleance escaped, away from the fight.
Their battle wasnae won.
Hungry for more, Macbeth sought the witches.
‘Tell me my future, I command you.’
‘Beware Macduff,’ called the first one.
‘Beware the Thane of Fife.’
‘Be bloody, be bold, be resolute’
‘For none born of woman shall harm you’
‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be’
‘Til Birnam Wood doth move’
Macbeth refused to ignore Macduff,
And sent his murderers again.
‘Kill his wife. Kill his child.
Leave no one left alive.’
Who began as a hero went mad long ago.
Macbeth’s bloodthirst only grew.
The witches claimed Macbeth could never die,
But, remember, witches lie.
‘Lo, ‘tis Lady Macbeth, fast asleep!’
Her eyes are open, but they do not peep.
She washes her hands, and screams ‘Out damned spot!’
But blood on her hands, there is naught.
‘The Thane of Fife had a wife.
Will these hands ne’er be clean?
I smell the blood, in all its strife
Making a madman of me.’
Within the siege, unrest is nigh,
For Macbeth hath no real allies.
The rebels emerge and plot their coup.
Holding boughs before them, they will march through.
‘I have no fear of death or bane,
For Birnam Wood cannae march on Dunsinane’
Macbeth is a fool whose heroism has vanished
To battle, he will lead them. In battle he will perish.
With a cry, the Queen’s life was burnt out.
The woods had begun to move.
King Macbeth doth begin to doubt
The fiend that lies like truth.
The castle has fallen, and the battle is soon t’end,
But Macbeth willnae end the strife.
For none born of woman shall harm Macbeth.
But Macduff was birthed by a knife.
So, Macduff did slay Macbeth,
And the rightful heir returned
Malcolm ruled for many years. Macbeth,
Scotland never mourned.
And thus, my tale is done.
The battle was lost and won.
Macbeth was slain and Scotland freed,
But ghosts remain from the murderous deeds.
“Capture Your Heartsong.” Poetry through the Ages, IDEA,
www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_famous_ballad_make.html.
Barnes, Shane, and Aidan Coleman. Macbeth. St. Kilda, Insight Publications, 2011.
Gahan, Bill. “Ballad Measure in Print.” English Broadside Ballad Archive, University of
California at Santa Barbara, 2007, ebba.english.ucsb.edu/page/ballad-measure-in-print.
“The Ballad's Timeless Saga.” Poetry through the Ages, IDEA,
www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_famous_ballad_background.html.