Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's finest plays, and presents a man's conscience and the effect of guilt on his mind. A dark and bloody play, Macbeth explores reality and illusion; witchcraft and the supernatural; ambition and kingship; the natural order; light and life, darkness and death; blood and dead babies. Written just after the Gunpowder Plot, and at a time when people were often tried for treason, Macbeth makes much of the beliefs of an extremely superstitious age. King James I believed in demons conjured by devils and wild women who could fly through the air, raise storms and tell the future. Their prime purpose was to create havoc and corruption. Whether or not Shakespeare shared these beliefs, all are featured in Macbeth to spine chilling effect. This new edition includes the complete text with explanatory notes and a full introduction that describes the setting, summarises the plot and profiles the main characters. It discusses Shakespeare's language and the play's themes, and it gives typical essay and test questions to help students prepare for exams.Includes: Introduction The Story of Macbeth The Play's Characters Themes and Language Examining the Play The Play Notes throughout
This is a splendid edition: it incorporates the most recent modern scholarship ... and it does so within a compass and format that is both readable and usable. -- Neil Rhodes, University of St. Andrews, UK - Around the Globe
A much needed third series edition of Macbeth, which provides the reader with a breath of fresh scholarship after over 30 years. - Jarrod DePrado, Sacred Heart University, USA
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About William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) 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" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works 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 and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later.
