Written by Emilija Varnelytė
On October 17th, Vilnius Pilaite Gymnasium 12th-grade students got an opportunity to participate in a seminar, Shakespeare’s Macbeth: The Witches, the Beards, and the Breakdown of Certainty, led by Dr. Linara Bartkuvienė. During which, the visitors had a chance to read a passage from Macbeth, analyse it with the lecturer, and share their own analysis, beautifully unraveling the supernatural aspects of Shakespeare‘s play.
Dr. Linara Bartkuvienė started the presentation by introducing Shakespeare and explaining: ‘Shakespeare is, irrespectively, of whether we like him or not, a global industry’. Shakespeare’s plays have over 400 film adaptations in every major language, and Macbeth also comes into the equation. From Broadway shows with actor stars like Daniel Craig to Apple TV adaptations, Macbeth has grossed over 39 million US dollars combined. After the introduction to become more familiar with the play and its ambience before reading the passage, the 12th graders get to watch a trailer of the film Macbeth (2021) by A24 studio.
After the short screening, volunteers from the crowd and the lecturer read aloud Act 1, Scene 1 from Macbeth, illustrating Shakespeare’s use of language and rhythm.
The lines, ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’ were read a couple of times, with attention to tone, cadence, and emotional effect. The lecturer explained how Shakespeare deliberately breaks from the natural iambic pentameter when writing for the witches, giving them a chant-like, inverted rhythm known as trochaic tetrameter. This unnatural speech pattern immediately signals that these characters exist outside the human realm.
Participants discussed how the witches reflect within Macbeth's psyche, and how the otherworldly presence sets the tone for the play’s central themes: the blurring of reality and illusion. Through this interactive reading, the students got a chance to experience and debate the question raised by the lecturer, ‘Can we trust what we see? Or is reality an illusion?’ Through the student analysis and lecturer’s presentation, the idea of the three witches being used as a tool for blurring the lines of reality for both the characters and the readers is settled. This way revealing the prolonged effect that supernatural has on Macbeth throughout the play.
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