The first quarter seventh grade book assignment was, strangely enough, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  This haunting play is filled with bloody murders and disturbing scenes, but overall a perfect story of deceit, greed, and facing your own dark desires.

The title character confronts challenges that judge what his merit is founded on, and finds he must change himself inside to achieve his “dream.”  The Weird Sisters (a.k.a. the Witches) inspire his evil onslaught, with a little help of a friend named Banquo.  Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, create a plan to murder the king and place themselves on the throne, while also destroying any possible contest.  Follow the cast in your mind or on stage to find out what decides everyone’s fate.

Macbeth and his wife both portray the malevolent voice inside of all of us, and the story appeals to us perhaps because it shows what we can become and warns us against it.

It is a great read for mature audiences, and with an appropriate translator, it can and will captivate you.  After every scene, the question will remain: how far will I go to get what I want?