Compare And Contrast Macbeth And Scotland High

What does petty high school drama have to do with Shakespeare’s Macbeth? At first, the two may seem like polar opposites, as high school drama entails teenagers backstabbing each other with words and trivial actions and Macbeth involves literal stabbing. However, under the surface, the two are more similar than they seem. Macbeth’s attempts to gain power through terror are as futile as a high school student’s attempts to gain popularity by sabotaging his or her best friends. The constant shifts of loyalty in Macbeth are the same shifts of loyalty that happen between high school friend groups. The contemporary high school setting of Scotland High, this season’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, showcases the pettiness of Macbeth’s scheme …show more content…
Duncan is the captain of his high school’s football team. Duncan’s two best friends are Malcolm and Donalbain. Macbeth is also a member of the football team at Scotland High, and is one of Duncan’s biggest fans and a member of his close circle of friends. Macbeth is extremely insecure due to his past as the “weird” kid in school, and Duncan possesses all the qualities that Macbeth wishes to have. Duncan is confident and popular, yet a genuinely kind person and an amazing football player. He has the respect of almost every student in the school. Macbeth’s best friend, Banquo, is also on the football team. The two have known each other since they were toddlers, and they are more like brothers than best friends. After an important game where Macbeth plays particularly well, three cheerleaders tell him that he is the best player on the team and will be captain in the future. They then tell Banquo that he will never be captain, but that his younger brother will. Macbeth tells his girlfriend, Lady Macbeth, about what the cheerleaders said. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to share photos of Duncan drinking at a party a few months earlier so that he will get suspended from the football team and Macbeth can be the captain. Duncan thought that Malcolm and Donalbain were the only people that had those photos, but he was wrong. Donalbain had accidentally uploaded the picture on his Instagram for a couple moments, and Macbeth had taken a screenshot of it. Everybody suspected that Malcolm, the quarterback and next in line for the position of captain, had leaked the photos with Donalbain’s help. So, when the pictures get out, Malcolm and Donalbain skip school because they are nervous about these false accusations. Everybody, including Duncan, takes this as an