Honors Thesis

Abstract: While many plays become stale quickly, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) resonated with audiences for centuries because it investigates power, an idea consistently core to social and political conflicts. The play explores power through representations of nature, gender, and violence, making these three themes crucial to interpreting Macbeth. Its focus shifts with theatrical trends: 17th-century sound and olfactory effects emphasize nature, 18th and 19th-century characterization emphasizes gender, and 20th-century visual design emphasizes violence. Macbeth’s popularity continues in the 21st Century, in which productions often accentuate multiple themes, enabled by advanced technology and ambitions for originality in theater. This complexity benefits present-day scrutiny of power: Nature, gender, and violence are at the forefront of current social and political conflicts, including climate change and Covid-19 policy, abortion and sexual assault, and gun violence and war. Centering these three concepts, Macbeth thrives today as a vehicle for activism. Through close reading and performance analysis, this thesis examines nature, gender, and violence in Macbeth’s text, its theatrical history, and 2023 productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The two 2023 adaptations feature fresh approaches to nature, gender, and violence in Macbeth that present activist commentary revealing the danger of unbridled male power.