We looked at the Adelaide University version of the Shakespeare play Macbeth. There were a few differences in this version as compared to the Oxford Next version.
Firstly is the difference in spelling and punctuation. Many spelling errors were encountered on this website, for example Macdonald was spelled Macdonwald, and there were also many missing capitalizations. Furthermore, there were many added and missed punctuation marks. The lack of capitals makes a large difference in the perception of a sentence, for example the word Fortune is capitalized in the Oxford Next version, but not in the Adelaide one. This is important because Fortune refers a person/diety, and when it is not capitalized, it could be perceived as just a word with little significance. Colons are also used in many instances instead of commas, and many question marks and exclamation marks are missing.
Secondly has to do with the stage directions. These are the same as the ones in the Oxford Next version, but they are listed in italics, not in square brackets.
Notes are not included in this rendition of Macbeth. This takes away from one’s reading experience, as one cannot delve deeper into the meaning of a word or scene, nor can one learn more about a character. The only knowledge we get about a character is in the character description at the beginning of the play, which provides little insight into characters.
As for the format of the play, there are many indents in some character’s lines without any given reasoning. This takes away from the visual experience for the reader. There are also no line numbers given.
In conclusion, this version is fairly reliable and is similar to the Oxford Next version, only differing in some formatting, language and punctuation marks, but in all, these do not change the overall meaning of the play. Notes are not provided, and this makes it not the best source for a grade 9 studying Macbeth due to lack of extra information.
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