william shakespeare macbeth book review

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 25, 2020 • ( 0 )

Macbeth . . . is done upon a stronger and more systematic principle of contrast than any other of Shakespeare’s plays. It moves upon the verge of an abyss, and is a constant struggle between life and death. The action is desperate and the reaction is dreadful. It is a huddling together of fierce extremes, a war of opposite natures which of them shall destroy the other. There is nothing but what has a violent end or violent beginnings. The lights and shades are laid on with a determined hand; the transitions from triumph to despair, from the height of terror to the repose of death, are sudden and startling; every passion brings in its fellow-contrary, and the thoughts pitch and jostle against each other as in the dark. The whole play is an unruly chaos of strange and forbidden things, where the ground rocks under our feet. Shakespear’s genius here took its full swing, and trod upon the farthest bounds of nature and passion.

—William Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays

Macbeth completes William Shakespeare’s great tragic quartet while expanding, echoing, and altering key elements of Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear into one of the most terrifying stage experiences. Like Hamlet, Macbeth treats the  consequences  of  regicide,  but  from  the  perspective  of  the  usurpers,  not  the  dispossessed.  Like  Othello,  Macbeth   centers  its  intrigue  on  the  intimate  relations  of  husband  and  wife.  Like  Lear,  Macbeth   explores  female  villainy,  creating in Lady Macbeth one of Shakespeare’s most complex, powerful, and frightening woman characters. Different from Hamlet and Othello, in which the tragic action is reserved for their climaxes and an emphasis on cause over effect, Macbeth, like Lear, locates the tragic tipping point at the play’s outset to concentrate on inexorable consequences. Like Othello, Macbeth, Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, achieves an almost unbearable intensity by eliminating subplots, inessential characters, and tonal shifts to focus almost exclusively on the crime’s devastating impact on husband and wife.

What is singular about Macbeth, compared to the other three great Shakespearean tragedies, is its villain-hero. If Hamlet mainly executes rather than murders,  if  Othello  is  “more  sinned  against  than  sinning,”  and  if  Lear  is  “a  very foolish fond old man” buffeted by surrounding evil, Macbeth knowingly chooses  evil  and  becomes  the  bloodiest  and  most  dehumanized  of  Shakespeare’s tragic protagonists. Macbeth treats coldblooded, premeditated murder from the killer’s perspective, anticipating the psychological dissection and guilt-ridden expressionism that Feodor Dostoevsky will employ in Crime and Punishment . Critic Harold Bloom groups the protagonist as “the culminating figure  in  the  sequence  of  what  might  be  called  Shakespeare’s  Grand  Negations: Richard III, Iago, Edmund, Macbeth.” With Macbeth, however, Shakespeare takes us further inside a villain’s mind and imagination, while daringly engaging  our  sympathy  and  identification  with  a  murderer.  “The  problem  Shakespeare  gave  himself  in  Macbeth  was  a  tremendous  one,”  Critic  Wayne  C. Booth has stated.

Take a good man, a noble man, a man admired by all who know him—and  destroy  him,  not  only  physically  and  emotionally,  as  the  Greeks  destroyed their heroes, but also morally and intellectually. As if this were not difficult enough as a dramatic hurdle, while transforming him into one of the most despicable mortals conceivable, maintain him as a tragic hero—that is, keep him so sympathetic that, when he comes to his death, the audience will pity rather than detest him and will be relieved to see him out of his misery rather than pleased to see him destroyed.

Unlike Richard III, Iago, or Edmund, Macbeth is less a virtuoso of villainy or an amoral nihilist than a man with a conscience who succumbs to evil and obliterates the humanity that he is compelled to suppress. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s  greatest  psychological  portrait  of  self-destruction  and  the  human  capacity for evil seen from inside with an intimacy that horrifies because of our forced identification with Macbeth.

Although  there  is  no  certainty  in  dating  the  composition  or  the  first performance  of  Macbeth,   allusions  in  the  play  to  contemporary  events  fix the  likely  date  of  both  as  1606,  shortly  after  the  completion  and  debut  of  King Lear. Scholars have suggested that Macbeth was acted before James I at Hampton  Court  on  August  7,  1606,  during  the  royal  visit  of  King  Christian IV of Denmark and that it may have been especially written for a royal performance. Its subject, as well as its version of Scottish history, suggest an effort both to flatter and to avoid offending the Scottish king James. Macbeth is a chronicle play in which Shakespeare took his major plot elements from Raphael  Holinshed’s  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  (1587),  but  with  significant  modifications.  The  usurping  Macbeth’s  decade-long  (and  largely  successful)  reign  is  abbreviated  with  an  emphasis  on  the  internal  and external destruction caused by Macbeth’s seizing the throne and trying to hold onto it. For the details of King Duncan’s death, Shakespeare used Holinshed’s  account  of  the  murder  of  an  earlier  king  Duff  by  Donwald,  who cast suspicion on drunken servants and whose ambitious wife played a significant role in the crime. Shakespeare also eliminated Banquo as the historical Macbeth’s co-conspirator in the murder to promote Banquo’s innocence and nobility in originating a kingly line from which James traced his legitimacy. Additional prominence is also given to the Weird Sisters, whom Holinshed only mentions in their initial meeting of Macbeth on the heath. The prophetic warning “beware Macduff” is attributed to “certain wizards in whose words Macbeth put great confidence.” The importance of the witches and  the  occult  in  Macbeth   must  have  been  meant  to  appeal  to  a  king  who  produced a treatise, Daemonologie (1597), on witch-craft.

The uncanny sets the tone of moral ambiguity from the play’s outset as the three witches gather to encounter Macbeth “When the battle’s lost and won” in an inverted world in which “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” Nothing in the play will be what it seems, and the tragedy results from the confusion and  conflict  between  the  fair—honor,  nobility,  duty—and  the  foul—rank  ambition and bloody murder. Throughout the play nature reflects the disorder and violence of the action. Opening with thunder and lightning, the drama is set in a Scotland contending with the rebellion of the thane (feudal lord) of Cawdor, whom the fearless and courageous Macbeth has vanquished on the battlefield. The play, therefore, initially establishes Macbeth as a dutiful and trusted vassal of the king, Duncan of Scotland, deserving to be rewarded with the rebel’s title for restoring peace and order in the realm. “What he hath lost,” Duncan declares, “noble Macbeth hath won.” News of this honor reaches Macbeth through the witches, who greet him both as the thane of Cawdor and “king hereafter” and his comrade-in-arms Banquo as one who “shalt get kings, though thou be none.” Like the ghost in Hamlet , the  Weird  Sisters  are  left  purposefully  ambiguous  and  problematic.  Are  they  agents  of  fate  that  determine  Macbeth’s  doom,  predicting  and  even  dictating  the  inevitable,  or  do  they  merely  signal  a  latency  in  Macbeth’s  ambitious character?

When he is greeted by the king’s emissaries as thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to wonder if the first predictions of the witches came true and what will come of the second of “king hereafter”:

This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings: My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is But what is not.

Macbeth  will  be  defined  by  his  “horrible  imaginings,”  by  his  considerable  intellectual and imaginative capacity both to understand what he knows to be true and right and his opposed desires and their frightful consequences. Only Hamlet has as fully a developed interior life and dramatized mental processes as  Macbeth  in  Shakespeare’s  plays.  Macbeth’s  ambition  is  initially  checked  by his conscience and by his fear of the unforeseen consequence of violating moral  laws.  Shakespeare  brilliantly  dramatizes  Macbeth’s  mental  conflict in near stream of consciousness, associational fashion:

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly. If th’assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease, success: that but this blow Might be the be all and the end all, here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgement here, that we but teach Bloody instructions which, being taught, return To plague th’inventor. This even-handed justice Commends th’ingredients of our poison’d chalice To our own lips. He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against The deep damnation of his taking-off, And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other.

Macbeth’s “spur” comes in the form of Lady Macbeth, who plays on her husband’s selfimage of courage and virility to commit to the murder. She also reveals her own shocking cancellation of gender imperatives in shaming her husband into action, in one of the most shocking passages of the play:

. . . I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn As you have done to this.

Horrified  at  his  wife’s  resolve  and  cold-blooded  calculation  in  devising  the  plot,  Macbeth  urges  his  wife  to  “Bring  forth  menchildren  only,  /  For  thy  undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males,” but commits “Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.”

With the decision to kill the king taken, the play accelerates unrelentingly through a succession of powerful scenes: Duncan’s and Banquo’s murders, the banquet scene in which Banquo’s ghost appears, Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking, and Macbeth’s final battle with Macduff, Thane of Fife. Duncan’s offstage murder  contrasts  Macbeth’s  “horrible  imaginings”  concerning  the  implications and Lady Macbeth’s chilling practicality. Macbeth’s question, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” is answered by his wife: “A little water clears us of this deed; / How easy is it then!” The knocking at the door of the castle, ominously signaling the revelation of the crime, prompts the play’s one comic respite in the Porter’s drunken foolery that he is at the door of “Hell’s Gate” controlling the entrance of the damned. With the fl ight of Duncan’s sons, who fear for their lives, causing them to be suspected as murderers, Macbeth is named king, and the play’s focus shifts to Macbeth’s keeping and consolidating the power he has seized. Having gained what the witches prophesied, Macbeth next tries to prevent their prediction that Banquo’s descendants will reign by setting assassins to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. The plan goes awry, and Fleance escapes, leaving Macbeth again at the mercy of the witches’ prophecy. His psychic breakdown is dramatized by his seeing Banquo’s ghost occupying Macbeth’s place at the banquet. Pushed to  the  edge  of  mental  collapse,  Macbeth  steels  himself  to  meet  the  witches  again to learn what is in store for him: “Iam in blood,” he declares, “Stepp’d in so far that, should Iwade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

The witches reassure him that “none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth” and that he will never be vanquished until “Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him.” Confident that he is invulnerable, Macbeth  responds  to  the  rebellion  mounted  by  Duncan’s  son  Malcolm  and  Macduff, who has joined him in England, by ordering the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children. Macbeth has progressed from a murderer in fulfillment of the witches predictions to a murderer (of Banquo) in order to subvert their predictions and then to pointless butchery that serves no other purpose than as an exercise in willful destruction. Ironically, Macbeth, whom his wife feared  was  “too  full  o’  the  milk  of  human  kindness  /  To  catch  the  nearest  way” to serve his ambition, displays the same cold calculation that frightened him  about  his  wife,  while  Lady  Macbeth  succumbs  psychically  to  her  own  “horrible  imaginings.”  Lady  Macbeth  relives  the  murder  as  she  sleepwalks,  Shakespeare’s version of the workings of the unconscious. The blood in her tormented  conscience  that  formerly  could  be  removed  with  a  little  water  is  now a permanent noxious stain in which “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten.” Women’s cries announcing her offstage death are greeted by Macbeth with detached indifference:

I have almost forgot the taste of fears: The time has been, my senses would have cool’d To hear a nightshriek, and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in’t. Ihave supp’d full with horrors; Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, Cannot once start me.

Macbeth reveals himself here as an emotional and moral void. Confirmation that “The Queen, my lord, is dead” prompts only the bitter comment, “She should have died hereafter.” For Macbeth, life has lost all meaning, refl ected in the bleakest lines Shakespeare ever composed:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

Time and the world that Macbeth had sought to rule are revealed to him as empty and futile, embodied in a metaphor from the theater with life as a histrionic, talentless actor in a tedious, pointless play.

Macbeth’s final testing comes when Malcolm orders his troops to camoufl  age  their  movement  by  carrying  boughs  from  Birnam  Woods  in  their march toward Dunsinane and from Macduff, whom he faces in combat and reveals that he was “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripp’d,” that is, born by cesarean section and therefore not “of woman born.” This revelation, the final fulfillment of the witches’ prophecies, causes Macbeth to fl ee, but he is prompted  by  Macduff’s  taunt  of  cowardice  and  order  to  surrender  to  meet  Macduff’s challenge, despite knowing the deadly outcome:

Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damn’d be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”

Macbeth  returns  to  the  world  of  combat  where  his  initial  distinctions  were  honorably earned and tragically lost.

The play concludes with order restored to Scotland, as Macduff presents Macbeth’s severed head to Malcolm, who is hailed as king. Malcolm may assert his control and diminish Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as “this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen,” but the audience knows more than that. We know what  Malcolm  does  not,  that  it  will  not  be  his  royal  line  but  Banquo’s  that  will eventually rule Scotland, and inevitably another round of rebellion and murder is to come. We also know in horrifying human terms the making of a butcher and a fiend who refuse to be so easily dismissed as aberrations.

Macbeth Oxford Lecture by Emma Smith

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays

Macbeth Ebook pdf (8MB)

Share this:

Categories: Drama Criticism , Literature

Tags: Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Bibliography Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Character Study Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Criticism Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Drama Criticism , ELIZABEHAN POETRY AND PROSE , Essays Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Lady Macbeth , Lady Macbeth Character Study , Lady Macbeth Feminist Criticism , Literary Criticism , Macbeth , Macbeth Analysis , Macbeth Essays , Macbeth Guide , Macbeth Lecture , Macbeth Notes , Macbeth pdf , Macbeth Play Analysis , Macbeth Play Notes , Macbeth Play Summary , Macbeth Summary , Macbeth theme , Notes Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Plot Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Simple Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Study Guides Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Summary Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Synopsis Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , Themes Of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , William Shakespeare

Related Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

JAVASCRIPT IS DISABLED. Please enable JavaScript on your browser to best view this site.

Joy's Book Blog

A librarian writes about books.

• UK & Ireland
• The Guidebook
• Publications

Book Review: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Books: Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb Picture This! Shakespeare: Macbeth by Philip Page and Marilyn Petit Macbeth: A Retelling by Adam McKeown Macbeth by William Shakespeare, annotated by Burton Raffel

Genre: play Publication date: from the 1623 Folio, probably first produced in 1606, according to Burton Raffel’s Introduction

Summary: Macbeth, a Scottish baron, and his wife plot regicide after witches predict that Macbeth is to become king.  Macbeth is of two minds about the whole affair, but does the deed with the help of Lady Macbeth. They frame the king’s guards, who Macbeth then kills in his supposed outrage at the king’s murder. The king’s sons doubt that the guards are to blame and flee in the fear that they will be next on the murderer’s list. Macbeth uses their escape to spread the story that the king’s sons paid the guard to murder their father and, thus, Macbeth takes over the throne.

Macbeth’s friends and countrymen begin to suspect Macbeth’s guilt. Banquo, who was with Macbeth during the conversation with the witches, received a prediction as well: that it would be his progeny, not Macbeth’s that hold the throne in the future. Macbeth fears Banquo’s suspicion and realizes that if all the witches’ predictions come true, Macbeth has committed murder to benefit Banquo’s son.  Macbeth sends ruffians to fix the problem. They kill Banquo but his son escapes.

Banquo’s ghost, visible only to Macbeth, shows up at a banquet, unnerving Macbeth visibly which causes his guests such discomfort that they leave the table.

Macbeth visits the witches again (“double, double toil and trouble”). With visions, they offer some advice (beware Macduff) and assurances (“none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and “Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him”) but they also continue to predict that it will be Banquo’s descendants, not Macbeth’s, who inherit the throne.

Macbeth receives word that Macduff has gone to England to help Malcolm, King Duncan’s son, regain the throne. He sends troops to Macduff’s home where they kill his wife and children.

Lady Macbeth, attended by a maid and physician, is witnessed sleepwalking and obsessively rubbing her hands (“Out, damned spot!”).

Macduff and Malcolm, the prince, march toward Macbeth’s stronghold at Dunsinane with a force of English and Scottish soldiers. They gather in Birnam Wood and order everyone to cut down branches and use them to disguise their presence and number as they proceed across the field to Dunsinane, thus fulfilling the prophecy that Birnam Wood will move against Dunsinane.

The Queen, Lady Macbeth, dies and Macbeth makes this famous speech:

Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

The battle commences. The castle is lost, but Macbeth fights on, believing that he can not be killed because all men are of women born. Macduff, who demanded of his fellow fighters that he be allowed to kill Macbeth in retaliation for the deaths of his wife and children, seeks out Macbeth and fights him declaring, “Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.” Macbeth is slain, fulfilling the last of the witches’ prophecies about him.

The battle ends. Macduff presents Macbeth’s head to Malcolm with the greeting “Hail, King of Scotland,” a cry that is taken up throughout the castle.

The other three books, I read concurrently, one scene at a time. I started with the Picture This! Shakespeare version of Macbeth , a graphic novel. Then, I read the relevant chapter in Macbeth: A Retelling  by Adam McKeown, part of The Young Reader’s Shakespeare series. According to the library catalog, The School Library Journal deemed McKeown’s retelling suitable for Grades 5 to 10. It’s a large format chapter book with dramatic drawings, sharp angles and expressive faces, by Lynne Cannoy. And, finally, I read the actual play using the one from The Annotated Shakespeare series by Yale University Press, annotated by Burton Raffel.

Armed with three versions, I worked my way through and I have learned it well enough that I can retell it, as above, and to Rick so that he will also be prepared to see the play tonight.

Appeal: Macbeth is a timeless tale of political intrigue interspersed with witches and battle scenes to entertain all of us who like our stories with a dash of adventure.

Reviews: Here are a couple of other book blogger reviews of Macbeth : Macbeth at Becky’s Book Reviews Macbeth by William Shakespeare  at Rebecca Reads

Have you read Macbeth or seen the play? What did you think?

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Book Review: Macbeth by William Shakespeare — 20 Comments

What a good system for working through the play! I have a very, very hard time with Shakespeare, but I think reading the play along with a more narrative version might work well for me.

I’m planning to read a couple of Shakespeare plays, hopefully in the near future, and I like your approach! Sometimes I do get lost reading the originals, and a familiarity with the story going in would definitely help.

I was actually in a version of Macbeth in school and have always meant to read it again!

Pingback: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? | Joy's Book Blog

Pingback: Book Review: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown | Joy's Book Blog

this play sucks!

LOL! Sorry about that Lilia. Do you have to read it for a class? That often makes literature harder to like than it needs to be.

which one is correct ? Dunisnane or Dunsinane….

Looks like Dunsinane. Thanks! I’ll fix that.

Dunsinane is the correct one. I am 100% sure!

Pingback: Macbeth by William Shakespeare « The Sleepless Reader

Pingback: Book Review: Dubliners by James Joyce | Joy's Book Blog

nice way to read drama of shakesphere………. ……………….. thankyou.

thank u so much for your help

I’m planning to read a couple of Shakespeare plays, hopefully in the near future, and I like your approach! Sometimes I do get lost reading the originals, and a familiarity with the story going in would definitely help.

Nice review It helped me a lot do complete my homework

it helped to complete my homework and the summary

Pingback: Trash Macbeth #BriFri | Joy's Book Blog

Thanks this really helped me.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

• NONFICTION BOOKS
• BEST NONFICTION 2023
• BEST NONFICTION 2024
• Historical Biographies
• The Best Memoirs and Autobiographies
• Philosophical Biographies
• World War 2
• World History
• American History
• British History
• Chinese History
• Russian History
• Ancient History (up to 500)
• Medieval History (500-1400)
• Military History
• Art History
• Travel Books
• Ancient Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophy
• Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• Great Philosophers
• Social & Political Philosophy
• Classical Studies
• New Science Books
• Maths & Statistics
• Popular Science
• Physics Books
• Climate Change Books
• How to Write
• English Grammar & Usage
• Books for Learning Languages
• Linguistics
• Political Ideologies
• Foreign Policy & International Relations
• American Politics
• British Politics
• Religious History Books
• Mental Health
• Neuroscience
• Child Psychology
• Film & Cinema
• Opera & Classical Music
• Behavioural Economics
• Development Economics
• Economic History
• Financial Crisis
• World Economies
• How to Invest
• Artificial Intelligence/AI Books
• Data Science Books
• Sex & Sexuality
• Death & Dying
• Food & Cooking
• Sports, Games & Hobbies
• FICTION BOOKS
• BEST FICTION 2023
• NEW Fiction
• World Literature
• Literary Criticism
• Literary Figures
• Classic English Literature
• American Literature
• Comics & Graphic Novels
• Fairy Tales & Mythology
• Historical Fiction
• Crime Novels
• Science Fiction
• Short Stories
• South Africa
• United States
• Arctic & Antarctica
• Afghanistan
• Myanmar (Formerly Burma)
• Netherlands
• Kids Recommend Books for Kids
• High School Teachers Recommendations
• Prizewinning Kids' Books
• Popular Series Books for Kids
• BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS (ALL AGES)
• Ages Baby-2
• Books for Teens and Young Adults
• THE BEST SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS
• BEST KIDS' BOOKS OF 2023
• BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS OF 2023
• Best Audiobooks for Kids
• Environment
• Best Books for Teens of 2023
• Best Kids' Books of 2023
• Political Novels
• New History Books
• New Literary Fiction
• New Historical Fiction
• New Biography
• New Memoirs
• New World Literature
• New Economics Books
• New Climate Books
• New Math Books
• New Philosophy Books
• New Psychology Books
• New Physics Books
• THE BEST AUDIOBOOKS
• Actors Read Great Books
• Books Narrated by Their Authors
• Best Audiobook Thrillers
• Best History Audiobooks
• Nobel Literature Prize
• Booker Prize (fiction)
• Baillie Gifford Prize (nonfiction)
• Financial Times (nonfiction)
• Wolfson Prize (history)
• Royal Society (science)
• Pushkin House Prize (Russia)
• Walter Scott Prize (historical fiction)
• Arthur C Clarke Prize (sci fi)
• The Hugos (sci fi & fantasy)
• Audie Awards (audiobooks)

The Best Fiction Books » Classic English Literature

By william shakespeare.

Macbeth  is a spectacularly violent and dark tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is much talked about in our interviews with Shakespeare experts.

Recommendations from our site

“This is going to sound heretical, but I think that—particularly in the theatre—a lot of Shakespeare is too long. I think Act 4 in a lot of Shakespeare plays is a bit of a bum-number, and not much happens. I like to see Shakespeare intelligently cut, often to speed it up. Macbeth is a play that may have been cut. We don’t really understand the provenance of that text. It’s very short by Shakespearean standards and it’s very powerful because of that. There’s no subplot, there’s no parallel plot. Just this really intense journey through a psychological drama. It’s a really punchy play because everything is tightly headed in the same direction: the language, the imagery, the plot, the way the characters work. It’s a really superbly powerful, compact, condensed play.” Read more...

Shakespeare’s Best Plays

Emma Smith , Literary Scholar

“It is very powerful and it’s a play which involves magic, and Shakespeare loves all that stuff. It’s also a play which is very much of its day. This is a Jacobean tragedy and it deals with treason, and particularly the murder of a king, when the Gunpowder Plot was still very much a recent event. Shakespeare undoubtedly refers in the porter’s scene—a scene that almost certainly was not performed when the play was first written—to the execution of Father Henry Garnet (for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot). Father Garnet’s cover name was ‘Farmer’, and Farmer is one of the equivocators mentioned by the porter.” Read more...

René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare

René Weis , Biographer

Other books by William Shakespeare

Titus andronicus (arden shakespeare) by jonathan bate & william shakespeare, all the sonnets of shakespeare by paul edmonson, stanley wells & william shakespeare, the art of shakespeare's sonnets by helen vendler & william shakespeare, shakespeare's sonnets by katherine duncan-jones & william shakespeare, illustrated stories from shakespeare by anna claybourne, rosie dickins & william shakespeare, hamlet by william shakespeare, our most recommended books, great expectations by charles dickens, jane eyre by charlotte brontë, wuthering heights by emily brontë, emma by jane austen, pride and prejudice (book) by jane austen, middlemarch by george eliot.

Support Five Books

Five Books interviews are expensive to produce, please support us by donating a small amount .

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

© Five Books 2024

Book Review: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Title:  Macbeth Author:  William Shakespeare Genre:  Classic | Play Format : Paperback Length : 127 pages Publisher : Oxford University Press Publication Date:  1606 My Rating: ★★★ (3 stars) Goodreads  |  Storygraph

One night on the heath, the brave and respected general Macbeth encounters three witches who foretell that he will become king of Scotland. At first sceptical, he’s urged on by the ruthless, single-minded ambitions of Lady Macbeth, who suffers none of her husband’s doubt. But seeing the prophecy through to the bloody end leads them both spiralling into paranoia, tyranny, madness, and murder. This shocking tragedy – a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake – is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces. 

Oh Macbeth, the play I had to study in Secondary school. I haven’t read this play since those days and this month seemed to be a month of revisiting books, I read a long time ago.

Macbeth is a play about a nobleman who enters the path of evil and makes the ultimate decision to murder the king. This is turn begins a vicious circle of crime for which he cannot shake. He can’t wash the blood off his murderous greedy hands.

I enjoyed the inclusion of witchcraft, ghosts and destiny. We get to see Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness, and how Macbeth is both a hero and a villain. This story isn’t black and white, good vs evil and that made the play more interesting to me.

This play isn’t one of my favourites by Shakespeare, but I did like revisiting it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to see it on stage.

Related Posts

Book Review: Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon

Book Review: We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan

Book Review: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Leave a reply cancel reply.

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

by William Shakespeare ; adapted by Gareth Hinds ; illustrated by Gareth Hinds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 10, 2015

An adaptation both respectful and daring that should please all but the most ardent traditionalists.

Having previously interpreted The Merchant of Venice (2008), King Lear (2009) and Romeo and Juliet (2013), Hinds turns his pencil to the Scottish Play.

In a palette that alternates between gloomy Highlands grays, greens and blues and firelight russets that modulate easily to blood, Hinds evinces a medieval Scottish setting, giving his graphic-novel production a traditional feel. Macbeth is darkly Celtic, Lady Macbeth a Gaelic redhead and Banquo a burly Norseman, neatly capturing Scotland’s ethnic mix. From an opening spread that combines a map and dramatis personae, the action plays out in Hinds’ characteristically clean and thoughtful panels, with Shakespeare’s language largely intact. Many lines have been cut, but those that remain preserve the feel of the original in diction and syntax, only a few words judiciously massaged. Perhaps the biggest change—the recasting of much of the play’s iambic pentameter into speech-bubble–friendly prose—is aurally almost indistinguishable from the original. Scenes that rely on acting rather than dialogue to carry meaning, such as Banquo’s murder, unfold lucidly, although the porter scene may mystify more than it amuses, Shakespearean humor being particularly reliant upon acting for its success. Copious backmatter, including seven pages of notes explaining various artistic and directorial choices, provides fascinating insight and will be particularly valuable in a classroom setting.

Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6943-0

Page Count: 152

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014

GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Share your opinion of this book

More by William Shakespeare

BOOK REVIEW

by William Shakespeare ; adapted by Crystal S. Chan & Michael Barltrop ; illustrated by Julien Choy

by William Shakespeare ; adapted by Crystal Chan ; illustrated by Julien Choy

by William Shakespeare ; adapted by Georghia Ellinas ; illustrated by Jane Ray

IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.

In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me , three characters tell their sides of the story.

Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781728276229

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE

More by Laura Nowlin

by Laura Nowlin

INDIVISIBLE

by Daniel Aleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2021

An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.

A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.

Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.

Pub Date: May 4, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FAMILY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Daniel Aleman

by Daniel Aleman

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

• Close Menu Search

Panther Tales

The student news site of Babylon Junior-Senior High School

Book Review: Macbeth

Peter Amato , Staff Writer November 14, 2019

The name Shakespeare can be recognized by kids and adults alike around the world. In English class, students are supposed to read and analyze his work. Some examples would be Romeo and Juliet , Hamlet , and of course, Macbeth . Macbeth is the one play that stood out to me from the rest, for both good and bad reasons. Despite the praise the play receives in schools for its use of prophecies, hallucinations, and insanity, I found it to be missing a few plot points and plan to analyze the famous play.

To summarize, Macbeth stars a loyal soldier who crosses 3 witches with his partner Banquo. They tell them of a prophecy which states Macbeth will gain higher authority in Scotland and then become king, and Banquo’s relatives will eventually rule. Macbeth doesn’t believe it until, like the witches foretold, he becomes Thane of Glamis. His wife hears of the prophecy and tells Macbeth to kill the king so he can take his place. He gets through with it after seeing a hallucination, but regrets it after and kills the guards they were going to put the blame on out of fear. Macbeth becomes king and Banquo suspects he commit the murder. Macbeth has gone mad with power and sends murderers to kill Banquo. Macbeth, filled with murderous thoughts, hallucinates the ghost of Banquo at a dinner and goes insane. After some time Macbeth kills Macduff’s family, and Macduff decides to kill Macbeth for revenge. The soldiers all agree they cant have a crazy king. Meanwhile Macbeth needs help because he knows they plan to kill him, so he goes to the witches and gets another prophecy. They tell him to beware Macduff, he wont be killed until the forest comes to him, and he cant be killed by a man born of a woman. Then, in disguise as bushes , the soldiers surprise storm Macbeths castle. Macduff reveals he was cut out of his mother’s womb and beheads Macbeth, only for the first king’s son to take the throne.

So to begin, I believe its best to address some positives of the play. The portrayal of a character’s dive into insanity is captivating, to the point where it carries the stories plot. The fact that a prophecy told by a group of strangers is enough to drive a man to commit murder, it makes the reader interested to see how all the events will plat out. The characters alone all have unique personalities which really drive forth the theme of “insanity”. My personal favorites are Lady Macbeth, Macduff, and Banquo. I’d like to talk about Macduff and his character arc since it was the best in my opinion. Despite only being introduced in Act 2, he makes vital decisions in the play which end up to Macbeth’s death. His family felt like they were being ignored by him, but as soon as he hears of their death, he swears vengeance on the killer. He already didn’t trust Macbeth, but he wasn’t planning to overthrow him (or murder him for that matter). It’s not until his family has been harmed that he commits these acts of justice, and that is a respectable trait for a character.

Even after all that, I still find there to be many problems with Macbeth. The play gets praise from educators and writers all around, but because of the lack luster ending I felt missing something after the play was over. Here are some of the negatives. First off Macbeth becomes uncaring after his wife has committed suicide. After everything that led up to that very moment, it really makes no sense story wise why he felt this way, especially since later on he’s fighting off the mob with full effort and even becomes worried when he learns Macduff can kill him. His uncaring attitude should’ve been hinted at as early as immediately after the murder of the king. If they wanted to keep the uncaring element in the story, they could’ve replaced the period where Macbeth became filled with murderous desire with uncarefulness (although that wouldn’t make much sense either since Macbeth has to murder Macduff’s family and Banquo). It just doesn’t fit in the story, which brings me to my next negative: Lady Macbeth’s character arc. It really never seemed like she would feel remorse after her willingness to kill king Duncan, but she feels even more than remorse, she feels dirty and has a barren on her conscious. Her character had been so confident earlier, I don’t know why Macbeth and her swapped personalities so easily. But that gripe I’m not going to take to heart since maybe Lady Macbeth saw what she had become through her husband and regret it. My final (and simplest) problem with the story is that the witches never did anything at the end of the play and were only used as prophecy holders. I just felt like they had more to them.

In conclusion, Macbeth was an enjoyable play for a majority of its Acts. Although the ending didn’t land the way I had hoped, I might be overlooking some obvious reasons to the events playing out the way they did. If I learned anything from the story, it’s not to take things out of proportion.

The groundhog's prediction has already been made, but which would you prefer?

• The arrival of spring!
• Six more weeks of winter!

View Results

• Polls Archive

Lego monkie kid review so far (seasons 1-4) could it be?

Review for “A Silent Voice” is it good?

Adventure Time Review

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Is It Worth the Purchase?

How Good is Pokémon: Legends Arceus?

I am Legend Review

Napoleon Dynamite – Movie Recommendation

Long Gone Gulch Review

Jane Austen’s Novels: Why do They Persist?

Argyle Theater: The Producers Review

Comments (0)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Macbeth - review

S ong of the Goat Theatre is a company based in Wroclaw which won golden opinions in 2004 for Chronicles: A Lamentation, a 45-minute version of the epic of Gilgamesh. Now the troupe provides a 75-minute epitome of the Scottish play. But, while I admired the company's disciplined mix of speech, movement and polyphonic song, the play's anatomy of evil eludes them.

They hurtle through a condensed text yielding fitful moments of illumination. The witches' incantations are sung rather than spoken, by the black-robed Anu Salonen. The play's martial atmosphere is established through the use of staves often hurled from hand to hand: effectively so, as Macbeth contemplates the air-drawn dagger. The bursts of Corsican polyphonic song also atmospherically punctuate the action: as Macbeth laments he has sacrificed his "eternal jewel" for the sake of Banquo's progeny, we hear a religious chant.

Much of the evening's impact, in fact, depends on the music from Rafal Habel, who dexterously plays a Korean stringed instrument known as a kayagum.

But, for all the cohesion of Grzegorz Bral's production, I was struck by the constant echoes of other works: the staves reminded me of Brook's Conference of the Birds; the pared-down approach suggested Grotowski's poor theatre; and even the use of a Kyrie and Benedictus evoked the aura pervading Polish experimental theatre. My biggest doubt, however, concerned the way Shakespeare's words were reduced to part of the overall rhythmical effect. When Macbeth says "light thickens and the crow makes wing to the rooky wood", we get an astonishing image of deepening night; here the rapidly-spoken lines pass virtually unnoticed.

The seven-strong international cast work with a will. Gabriel Gawin brings to Macbeth the right "rugged looks" and some distinctively Northumbrian vowel sounds: what I never sensed was the troubled inner man aware of the growing gulf between self and society. Anna Zubrzycki, the company's co-founder, lends Lady Macbeth a steely determination, but relies overmuch on sforzando by which odd phrases are intemperately bellowed. Few of the other characters have time to register, though I was impressed by the way Kacper Kuszewski mimes Banquo's night ride towards death.

If you are simply seeking an impression of Macbeth from a multitasking ensemble, you may not be disappointed. But at hardly any point did I feel that I had been led towards the heart of darkness in Shakespeare's magnificent dramatic poem.

• William Shakespeare

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare: A Haunting Descent into Ambition, Guilt, and the Murmurs of Fate

William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” stands as a timeless tapestry of tragedy, ambition, and the inexorable pull of fate. Published in the early 17th century, this play plunges readers into a world of political intrigue, supernatural forces, and the corrosive consequences of unchecked ambition. As we unravel the intricacies of “Macbeth,” we embark on a journey through the haunted corridors of human psychology, where the pursuit of power collides with the haunting echoes of guilt and destiny.

Unmasking Ambition: The Core of Macbeth’s Tragedy

Macbeth’s Ambition: A Fatal Flame: At the heart of “Macbeth” lies the driving force of ambition—an insatiable flame that consumes the titular character. Macbeth, a valiant warrior, encounters three mysterious witches who foretell his rise to power. This prophecy becomes the catalyst for a fatal ambition that propels Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, into a maelstrom of political machinations and moral decay.

Lady Macbeth: Ambition’s Sinister Whisperer: Lady Macbeth emerges as a compelling character, a whisperer of sinister ambitions in her husband’s ear. Her famous soliloquy, imploring the spirits to “unsex” her and fill her with cruelty, reflects the lengths to which she is willing to go to fulfill the prophecies. Lady Macbeth becomes a driving force behind the regicidal plot, and her unraveling mental state serves as a haunting testament to the toll of unchecked ambition.

The Tragic Arc of Macbeth: From Valiant to Vile: Macbeth’s transformation from a valiant and honorable warrior to a tyrant consumed by paranoia is one of the play’s most gripping elements. Shakespeare masterfully charts Macbeth’s descent into darkness, painting a vivid portrait of a man torn between the allure of power and the pangs of a guilty conscience. The soliloquies, such as “Is this a dagger which I see before me,” become windows into Macbeth’s tormented soul.

Macbeth - Entire Play

Download macbeth.

Last updated: Fri, Jul 31, 2015

• PDF Download as PDF
• DOC (for MS Word, Apple Pages, Open Office, etc.) without line numbers Download as DOC (for MS Word, Apple Pages, Open Office, etc.) without line numbers
• DOC (for MS Word, Apple Pages, Open Office, etc.) with line numbers Download as DOC (for MS Word, Apple Pages, Open Office, etc.) with line numbers
• HTML Download as HTML
• TXT Download as TXT
• XML Download as XML
• TEISimple XML (annotated with MorphAdorner for part-of-speech analysis) Download as TEISimple XML (annotated with MorphAdorner for part-of-speech analysis)

Navigate this work

Macbeth , set primarily in Scotland, mixes witchcraft, prophecy, and murder. Three “Weïrd Sisters” appear to Macbeth and his comrade Banquo after a battle and prophesy that Macbeth will be king and that the descendants of Banquo will also reign. When Macbeth arrives at his castle, he and Lady Macbeth plot to assassinate King Duncan, soon to be their guest, so that Macbeth can become king.

After Macbeth murders Duncan, the king’s two sons flee, and Macbeth is crowned. Fearing that Banquo’s descendants will, according to the Weïrd Sisters’ predictions, take over the kingdom, Macbeth has Banquo killed. At a royal banquet that evening, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost appear covered in blood. Macbeth determines to consult the Weïrd Sisters again. They comfort him with ambiguous promises.

Another nobleman, Macduff, rides to England to join Duncan’s older son, Malcolm. Macbeth has Macduff’s wife and children murdered. Malcolm and Macduff lead an army against Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth goes mad and commits suicide.

Macbeth confronts Malcolm’s army, trusting in the Weïrd Sisters’ comforting promises. He learns that the promises are tricks, but continues to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes Scotland’s king.

Stay connected

Find out what’s on, read our latest stories, and learn how you can get involved.

• Literature & Fiction

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: $4.35

Return this item for free.

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the authors

Macbeth Paperback – November 23, 2016

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 86 pages
• Language English
• Publication date November 23, 2016
• Dimensions 6 x 0.2 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 1540600505
• ISBN-13 978-1540600509
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may deliver to you quickly

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 23, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 86 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1540600505
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1540600509
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.2 x 9 inches
• #1,117,608 in Literature & Fiction (Books)

About the authors

William shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised on 26 April 1564. Thought to have been educated at the local grammar school, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he went on to have three children, at the age of eighteen, before moving to London to work in the theatre. Two erotic poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece were published in 1593 and 1594 and records of his plays begin to appear in 1594 for Richard III and the three parts of Henry VI. Shakespeare's tragic period lasted from around 1600 to 1608, during which period he wrote plays including Hamlet and Othello. The first editions of the sonnets were published in 1609 but evidence suggests that Shakespeare had been writing them for years for a private readership.

Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in Stratford, by now a wealthy man. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623.

(The portrait details: The Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed. NPG1, © National Portrait Gallery, London)

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Reviews with images

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Start Selling with Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Quintessence Theatre Extends William Shakespeare's MACBETH Due to Popular Demand,

Performances will run through April 28th.

Audience reaction to Quintessence Theatre’s Season XIV production of Macbeth has been electric, and the company has announced a five performance extension to run through April 28th. The Quintessence production has also garnered a Barrymore Recommended accolade from the Barrymore Program for Excellence in Theatre adjudicated by Theatre Philadelphia. This is the 5th Barrymore Recommendation for Quintessence Theatre this season. William Shakespeare ’s Macbeth chronicles the murderous tyranny to which a war-hero turned King and his cunning wife, both seduced by a prophecy of greatness and gripped by their own ambition, will go to achieve political power. Macbeth carries with it the lore of a curse so that many will only refer to the title as “The Scottish Play” and audiences are on their feet and cheering after every performance. Macbeth is directed by Quintessence Producing Artistic Director, Alex Burns .   “I can't remember the last time we received such a visceral response from our audience, often collectively leaping to their feet and cheering at the end of each performance,” said Burns. “Promising for the future of the classics and theatre in Philadelphia, we have been welcoming many new patrons to Macbeth, new audiences delighted by Quintessence's high octane Shakespeare."  Macbeth will now close April 28. Added performances are Friday - April 26, 7:30PM; Saturday - April 27, 2PM and 7:30PM; and Sunday - April 28, 3PM.  All performances are at Quintessence’s home at the historic Sedgwick Theater located at 7137 Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy.  Tickets start at $50 and are available online at  www.quintessencetheatre.org . Senior, student, Active Military, and group discounts are available. 

Macbeth includes a cast of 11 and a team of Philadelphia-based special effects designers to bring to life the supernatural and horror elements of the play with masks by Barbaric Yawp Workshop and prosthetics by Gianna Zulli, with Fight Direction by Sean Bradley . Burns has assembled a cast of Quinessence regulars and actors who are making their Company debut. Playing Macbeth is Daniel Miller *. Miller returns to QTG after appearing in the smash hit Mary Poppins as both Neilus and Bert. He recently appeared in Beauty in the Beast at Walnut Street Theatre . Scott Parkinson is cast as Lady Macbeth and is making his Quintessence debut. Parkinson, who was in the Broadway cast of The Coast of Utopia, is a Shakespearan actor based in Chicago and he played Queen Margaret in Ed Hall’s Rose Rage in Chicago and Off-Broadway. 

Quintessence regular Lee Thomas Cortopassi plays MacDuff. Cortopassi has multiple Quintessence credits and returns to the stage after appearing in Major Barbara this season and Mary Poppins and Waiting for Lefty last season. Ken Sandberg, who last appeared at Quintessence in 2015’s The Three Musketeers, returns to play Ross. Joshua Kachnycz, who appeared in last season’s World Premiere of Written by Phillis, returns to play Lenox. 

Christopher Patrick Mullen , who recently wowed audiences in Assassins at the Arden Theatre and A Christmas Carol Comedy at Hedgerow Theatre makes his Quintessence debut as Duncan. Completing the cast are Corneilus Franklin as Lady MacDuff; Jamison Foreman as Witch 2;  Owen Corey as Malcolm;  Zachary Valdez as Angus;  and Vaughn Meccod as Banquo. River Moore is making his professional stage debut as the MacDuffs’ son. All other roles are filled by the Ensemble. 

Director Burns also designs the set and the sound. Kelly Meyers, who designed the costumes for QTG’s The Chairs and The Wizard of Oz returns as Costume Designer. Lighting Design is by Anthony Forchielli, Choreography is by Jessie Jones . John “JP” Pollard* is the AEA Production Stage Manager, Leslie Ann Boyden is the AEA Assistant Stage Manager* and Cat Brennan is the Assistant Stage Manager. Bess Rowan is the Intimacy Choreographer. Ellen Moore is the Production Manager. 

Macbeth is underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and a Shakespeare in American Communities grant. Over 1600 Philadelphia area high school students are attending special Shakespeare workshops and student matinee performances of Macbeth. 

Philadelphia SHOWS

Recommended For You