I read this in English for school, and reading this right after Hamlet probably wasn't the best thing for me. I loved Hamlet, it's my favorite Shakespeare play, and I had a great time studying it and reading it. To me, Macbeth just seemed like a watered down version of Hamlet. I still appreciated it, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Hamlet, nor did I think it was as well done, in terms of plot, themes, or characterization. I know it was written intentionally to be very fast paced, but it was just rushed along too much for me. If it wasn't Shakespeare I would probably give it a 2.5, but since I can see some of the interesting things he did in this, especially with punctuation, and the inclusion of Lady Macbeth who was just fantastic, I'll settle for a 3.