Yorick

Their son

The Tragedy of Macbeth · 14 speeches across 1 scenes

Young son of Lady Macduff, a brave and witty child murdered by Macbeth's henchmen.

Who they are

Appears only in Act 4, Scene 2, where he engages in a spirited, logical debate with his mother about traitors and justice. His innocence and sharp intelligence contrast with the political treachery around him. His murder galvanizes Macduff's quest for revenge against Macbeth.

Playing them

Play the boy with quick, sharp intelligence—not cute or sentimental. Use a clear, bright vocal tone, with pauses for his logical ripostes. His final line, ‘He has killed me, mother,’ should be delivered with sudden, raw terror, not melodrama. The scene builds from playful argument to brutal violence.

Where they appear

Play Their son

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.