Macbeth [Paperback]

'A supreme theatrical poem that has a language that eats into the soul' Michael Billington, Guardian

Shakeapeare's blood-soaked drama of murder, madness and the uncanny begins as Macbeth is promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by supernatural forces. Spurred on by his wife, he murders the king to ensure his ambitions come true. But he soon learns the meaning of terror - killing once, he must kill again and again, while the dead return to haunt him. Macbeth is an anatomy of fear and a bleak portrayal of what some will do to achieve their desires.

General Introduction by STANLEY WELLS
Edited by GEORGE HUNTER
Introduction by CAROL CHILLINGTON RUTTERWilliam Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.Dramatis Personae

DUNCAN, King of Scotland
MALCOLM his sons
DONALBAIN

MACBETH, Thane of Glamis, later of Cawdor, later
King of Scotland
LADY MACBETH

BANQUO, a thane of Scotland
FLEANCE, his son
MACDUFF, Thane of Fife
LADY MACDUFF
SON of Macduff and Lady Macduff

LENNEX
ROSS
MENTEITH thanes and noblemen of Scotland
ANGUS
CAITHNESS

SIWARD, Earl of Northumberland<lC7