Old Message on Thesis Worth Sharing

This is a message and reply from a previous semester worth sharing:

Dear Professor Randolph,
I am still stuck on my thesis. I have been playing around with several ideas, and was wondering if I could have some advice. I was planning on doing the Orson Wells and Roman Polanski movies Act 2 Scene 2. I noticed that through the different clips I found on the two movies a big difference in the way Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth(not necessarily in this scene) . In Orson Wells version she seems to be supportive and yet strong and in Roman Polanski she seems seductive and in charge. Is this something worth writing a paper about or would it be to easy to get off track with this theme?

That is EXACTLY what you should be looking for--significant differences that merit focus.  In this case it is basically the characterization of Lady Macbeth (and likely Macbeth as well)--at a key point AFTER the killing of Duncan. Does she keep him in control or lose him (assuming she ever was in control)?  Because you are focusing on how she handles him, you will want a key passage of dialogue that demonstrates what you see (for example, the passage beginning with line 46 "Who was it that cried?" might be good, for she is lecturing Macbeth.  How does that come across in the different adaptations and why?).  An obvious passage for this would be the 1.7.47-59 passage where she "unmans" Macbeth, but I like that you are picking a different scene.  It means you can focus on other aspects that make up characterization in film, such as color, angle, sound, lighting, movement, shot, costuming, etc., At the same time you can look at how this is a great place to analyze Lady Macbeth's relationship with Macbeth because it is between the two other obvious pivotal scenes that depict their interactions (1.7 where she convinces him and 3.4 where obviously she has lost him--or not depending on the version).  You can see YOUR scene as both a follow up to 1.7 and a predictor of 3.4, but also how she handles a crisis situation.  She is, after all, the one who cleans up his mess (which, of course, she can never wash off her hands).

More Ideas

Note that you could also focus solely upon Lady Macbeth's acceptance or challenge to gender identity and expectations.  Is she a feminist (remember our discussion at the beginning of the semester)?  Does the performance of Lady Macbeth accurately depict gender roles that match the setting of a particular adaptation?  For example, is  Maura Tierney's performance of Scotland, PA's Pat Macbeth a result of the feminist movement and sexual revolution of the sixties (remember that the film supposedly takes place in 1975).