Seeing Macbeth: Visualizing Shakespeare for Deeper Learning | Roy Williams | TEDxStellenbosch ED

Visualizing Macbeth: A Deep Dive

Key Concepts:

• Visualizing Shakespeare
• Layers of Shakespearean Text
• Tapestries of Text
• Geometries and Symmetries of the Chart
• Rhythms of Speech
• Orchestration of Layers
• Learning by Doing
• Character Understanding
• Resource Utilization
• Celtic Cross Chart
• Three Castles (Inverness, Forres, Dunsinane)
• Fake News (Witches' Prophecies)
• Culture War

The Complexity of Shakespeare

The speaker initially believed visualizing Macbeth would simplify it, but now recognizes Shakespeare's extreme complexity. Visualization helps those overly literate understand interpersonal communication, which is key to grasping Shakespeare. The solution lies in understanding the multiple layers within Shakespeare's work.

Layers of Shakespearean Text

Shakespeare uses multiple layers (at least eight) in his writing. Understanding these layers is crucial to avoid finding Shakespeare unnecessarily complicated and potentially disliking him. The speaker hated Shakespeare as a child because he expected nobility and goodness, but Shakespeare's work contains both beautiful poetry and content suitable for a "bad PR company."

Five Key Layers Explained

1. Tapestries of the Text: Connections between text in different scenes, even across different plays.
2. Geometries and Symmetries of the Chart: Implicit geometrical patterns and symmetries within the visualized chart of the play. This doesn't imply Shakespeare consciously used geometry, but the speaker and his mother observed it.
3. Rhythms of Speech: Shakespeare blends text and music, creating rhythms. He uses techniques like repetition and wordplay (e.g., "drum, drum, Macbeth comes"). The speaker references a woman using similar rhythms with autistic children. Iambic pentameter is described not as five beats, but as five upbeats followed by five beats, making it rhythmically complex.
4. Postmodernism: Terry Eagleton suggests Shakespeare implicitly understood postmodernist concepts, making him centuries ahead of his time.
5. Orchestration: Shakespeare writes like an orchestration, with different layers for different "instruments" (woodwinds, strings, brass, etc.). Understanding this orchestration is essential to appreciating the complexity.

Learning by Doing: Number Bases and Skipping

The speaker illustrates "learning by doing" with an example from Critterville Primary. Standard four students struggled with mathematics, but were required to learn different number bases. The speaker taught them number bases through skipping, demonstrating that embodied learning can be highly effective. The students learned to count in different number bases while skipping, even switching bases mid-skip.

Character Understanding and Resource Utilization

Understanding the characters is crucial before making casting decisions. Shakespeare's wife was a traditional healer, using herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes. During the bubonic plague, she provided remedies through a small window, effectively running a "spaser shop." The speaker believes there isn't a resource shortage, but a human engagement shortage. Use the resources you already have.

The Celtic Cross Chart: Visualizing Macbeth

The speaker presents a Celtic cross chart representing the entire play of Macbeth in one slide.

• Color Coding: Royal family in gold, Macbeths in red (for bloodthirstiness), good characters in yellow (associated with the sun).
• Three Castles: Inverness (Macbeth's home), Forres (royal palace), and Dunsinane (Macbeth's perceived fortress). Each castle is represented by seven scenes.
• Symmetry: The chart is symmetrical in four ways (up/down, diagonally). Events on one side mirror or oppose events on the other.
• Heath: Surrounds the castles and influences the minds of those within.
• External Settings: England (where the princes seek troops), Fife (Macduff's home, where his family is killed), and Hecate's Coven (where Macbeth seeks more "fake news").
• Fake News: The witches' prophecies are presented as "fake news," ultimately leading to Macbeth's downfall. The prophecy about Birnam Wood is a key example.

The speaker's mother dreamt of the Celtic cross as a way to symbolize the play's structure.

Alternative Visualization: Rich and Emergent Chart

The speaker contrasts the abstract Celtic cross chart with a richer, more emergent chart created by his mother with her students. He prefers the messy, changeable nature of the latter.

Culture War and Tapestries in Act 1

An example from Act 1 shows a "culture war" between Duncan and the witches for Macbeth's allegiance. Duncan initially seems to win, but loses by the end of the fourth scene. The speaker highlights the "tapestries of the plays" by pointing out that Macbeth's first line ("So fair and foul a day I have not seen") echoes the witches' words, suggesting Shakespeare's deliberate connection. Lady Macbeth's manipulation of Macbeth to murder Duncan is contrasted with Macbeth's welcoming of Duncan, highlighting her "weirdness."

Mandala of Shakespeare's Plays

The speaker mentions a mandala of all Shakespeare's plays, emphasizing the commonalities between different plays.

Conclusion

If you dislike complexity, Shakespeare isn't for you. However, if you enjoy complexity, visualization, and embodied learning, then explore Shakespeare and start drawing.