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糖心vlog Professor of English Courtney Lehmann has hit a mark few will attain. Her essay for the 鈥淢acbeth Third Norton Critical Edition鈥濃�攖he only new scholarly perspective included in the 2025 edition, published by New York City-based W.W. Norton and Company, is a career milestone she鈥檚 been working on since 2022.  

鈥淭his is shocking to me still. It'll be another 15 years before an essay of this nature comes out for 'Macbeth' and I'm blown away to be honest. I was thrilled when I saw that I happened to be very luckily among a small crowd,鈥� she said.

The Norton Critical Edition of Shakespeare鈥檚 famous play is widely used for people reading and studying "MacBeth," including millions of students and teachers globally, spanning the high school and university level.

Although Lehmann鈥檚 essay centers on Joel Coen鈥檚 film 鈥淭he Tragedy of Macbeth鈥� (2021) starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, Lehman was only eight years old when she fell in love with Shakespeare at a local hometown production of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet.鈥�

鈥淭here was this one really subversive moment that got me hooked on the countercultural, the subcultural, the perspective from the margins as opposed to the perspective from the center,鈥� she explains.

In this production, as Mercutio dies and says the well-known lines: 鈥�'twill serve, 'till do, ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man,鈥� he pulls Romeo toward him as they're saying goodbye and in his last gasps, they kiss.

Lehman remembers turning to her mother in shock at the sight of two men kissing, something she had never seen before.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥榦h yeah, I like this Shakespeare guy. This is new.鈥� At the time, I could sense even as an 8-year-old that was going to chafe with people,鈥� Lehmann said. 鈥淭hat friction I could anticipate, I could feel, and I knew I wanted to get behind things that challenge our assumptions about what love looks like.鈥�

Lehman said the production made her realize the love story wasn鈥檛 limited to Romeo and Juliet. It also centered on Romeo and Mercutio and the strong bond they share. This revelation was the catalyst to a career of analyzing and employing perspectives presented though Shakespeare鈥檚 work in the real world.

鈥淚 fell in love at that moment and knew I wanted to pursue this playwright and his work for as long as I could. I'm still doing it,鈥� she said, 鈥淭here are so many different uses of Shakespeare right now. The research I did for the Norton Critical essay can translate to the classroom, and the films offer me a platform for discussing social justice with my students.鈥�

鈥淒r. Lehman brings Shakespeare to life by making it relevant to students today. She showed me that Shakespeare鈥檚 characters are relatable and present today in many adaptations. Dr. Lehman was always so enthusiastic which made me excited to come to class! She is a true expert and I learned so much from her,鈥� said Emma Gerber 鈥�25, a student who took Lehmann鈥檚 class and worked with her through Pacific鈥檚 Powell Scholars program.

Lehman鈥檚 essay analyzes five film adaptations of Shakespeare's 鈥淢acbeth.鈥�

鈥淐ourtney Lehmann is one of this generation's leading Shakespeare scholars, specializing in film adaptations and global productions of the plays. She has a distinctively informative and entertaining critical voice and a perspective that considers current interest in race and gender politics,鈥� said Norton Critical Edition editor Robert Miola.

The honor of being commissioned to write in the prestigious Norton Critical Edition didn鈥檛 come without challenges, said Lehman.

鈥淚t was extremely hard to feel like I had done my due diligence reaching out to as many critical communities as I could, but also making this an accessible essay for undergraduates to benefit from.鈥�

Lehman said writing the essay was a delicate balancing act to write a piece that is comprehensive and encompassing but also represents her dedication to social justice.

鈥淔rom the beginning, I saw Shakespeare as someone who could move mountains in terms of the way we think about things and the actions we take as a result of them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think he challenges us to recognize our shared humanity and then charges us with doing something about the injustices encoded in his work and still visible in our societies today.鈥�