Ava Reid
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid is ostensibly a retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The novel unfolds through the lens of Roscille, the illegitimate daughter of a French lord. At the ripe old age of seventeen, Roscille is a pawn in a politically arranged marriage. She is sent off to Scotland to become the wife of Macbeth, Thane of Glammis. With her exceptionally pale hair and piercing eyes, Roscille has a reputation of being witch-touched and as having the ability to manipulate men’s minds through eye contact.
Not only is Roscille deprived of her lady-in-waiting as soon as she arrives in Macbeth’s castle, she is the only female in a castle seemingly populated exclusively by men. This begs the question, who is doing all the child-rearing, spinning, weaving, cooking, and cleaning? Roscille has to learn to dress herself and to do her own hair. She has to veil her face and avert her gaze from men’s prying eyes. She critiques their uncouth manners, lack of finesse, and brutish propensity for violence. She depicts all aspects of Scottish culture as barbaric and uncivilized. Terrified of her husband, she hatches a plan she hopes will result in Macbeth’s death. The plan backfires, and instead of dying on the battlefield, Macbeth emerges victorious as the Thane of Cawder.
Macbeth increasingly takes Roscille in his confidence, introducing her to the three witches he keeps chained in a cave beneath the castle, consulting with them and relying on them for prophecy. When they announce he will be King Hereafter, Macbeth charges Roscille with orchestrating the king’s death. She accommodates by utilizing the power in her eyes to make the king’s guards kill him and then kill each other. The king’s two sons demand revenge, one of whom escapes to form an army against Macbeth. The other son, Lisander, is captured, incarcerated, and has a unique ability to transform himself into a being other than human. To complicate matters, Lisander and Roscille fall in love. The novel ends with the death of Macbeth in the hands of Roscille, Lisander as the new king, Roscille as the queen, and the three witches released from captivity.
In addition to other problematic issues, the novel is apparently riddled with historical inaccuracies. Needless to say, this retelling is so far removed from Shakespeare’s play that it hardly qualifies as a retelling. The original Lady Macbeth is middle-aged, ambitious, clever, shrewd, and the unquestionable force behind her husband’s quest for power. Roscille is depicted as a whiny, unintelligent child who hatches one plan after another only to find later she has gravely miscalculated and caused the needless deaths of many. Macbeth is rendered one-dimensionally as a power-hungry, blood-thirsty man who worships at the altar of brute force. The only male who is depicted as sensitive, cultured, and handsome just happens to be half-English with not an ounce of Scottish blood in him. In a bizarre twist, this same character has the ability to transform himself into a creature straight out of mythology.
Readers who enjoy gothic and fantastical elements in a novel may enjoy this novel. But those who are expecting a retelling of Shakespeare’s play will be sorely disappointed. Whatever else Lady Macbeth is, it is definitely not a retelling.