Lady MacBeth's Daughter

Lady Macbeth's Daughter is a new take of Macbeth. It's written by Lisa Klein, the same author who wrote Ophelia. I never really appreciated Macbeth when I read it in high school. However, four years ago I subbed for an English teacher for two months. We read Macbeth. For the first time, I really enjoyed it. The story of people so driven by power and greed that they are blind to their inhumanity. Blinded by prophecies. Ready to grasp any straw that hints of their superiority. Throughout it all, you can't help but remember that in the beginning, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem pretty normal and kind of nice. Logical. Upward climbing but in a rational sense. By the end, so much death, blood, and cruelty has occurred at their hands. I've never bothered to add up how many died: Duncan, Banquo, MacDuff's children...

However, this review is about Lady Macbeth's Daughter. The book is told from the first person perspectives of Lady Macbeth (whose name is Grelach in the book), and Albia, her daughter. Albia was born crippled. Macbeth ordered the baby to be left for the wolves. Grelach's maid rescues the child and brings her to her sisters' home. These three sisters are the weird witches of the play. The oldest sister prophecies that Albia has the second sight, but Albia does not want to accept her gifts. Regardless, Albia grows up living a pleasant country life until she is a teenager, where she is sent to train as a lady's maid at Banquo's house. Up until this point, Albia is a flightly, one-dimensional teen with a slightly odd home life. Honestly, I had little interest in Albia until romance blossomed between her and Fleance, Banquo's son. Albia becomes stronger when she learns of her true heritage and vows to avenge her father. Eventually, she begins to accept her second sight, but this ability felt like an easy out: an easy vehicle that enabled Klein to get Albia involved in Dunsinore. She becomes slightly more compelling regarding the battle of Dunsinore, but not much.

I enjoyed Klein's portrayal of Lady Macbeth much more. Klein has given LM children: one alive and one lost. She a mother overwhelmed by the loss of her daughter. She spends a lot of time depressed. This does not seem to be the Lady Macbeth of the play - specifically the beginning. What I did especially like about this version of LM is constantly aware of her precarious situation as a woman: always eager to stay in Macbeth's favor. This seems very realistic given the time period, when a woman's fate was that of her husband's whims.

The LM in the book portrays more of her maternal/feminine side. The masculinity that she displays in the Shakespeare's play is not evident enough to make not of. Klein's LM is the one who would say (as she said in Shakespeare's play)

"I have given suck, and know/How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me..."

But not the LM who continued on by saying "I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,/And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you/ Have done to this..."

The book contains bits of the above lines, but loses the full violent impact:

"I know how tender it is to love the babe that milks me. But my body has betrayed me, refusing to bring forth any more life. Now it is time to use death as my means." (63)

LM's insanity is downplayed, and I don't recall any "Out damned spot" moment either. And LM lives! That was disappointing, too. The ending was just too sweet: Albia and LM reunite to repair their broken relationship.

All in all, I appreciated Lady Macbeth's view points and the battle scenes, but little else appealled to me. However, I think this is a great companion piece for those who have read Macbeth or will be reading it shortly. In addition, if you really like Ophelia by Klein, you will probably enjoy this one, too.

Grade: C+

(Painting of Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent (1889), one of my favorite painters.)