One of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful dramas, ‘Macbeth’ is often cited as among the finest plays ever written.
Scottish general Macbeth and his comrade-in-arms Banquo — returning home from a victorious battle — encounter three witches in the woods who offer them an extraordinary prophecy: Macbeth will be King of Scotland…and Banquo’s descendants will be Kings as well. Returning home, Macbeth tells his wife of the prophecy and together they concoct a bloody plot to murder the current King and fulfill their destinies. But as one murder leads to another, their ruthless ambitions soon lead to madness, revolt and chaos.
Showcasing Shakespeare at the height of his dramatic power, ‘Macbeth’ is one of the finest tragedies ever written and it is presented here in its original and unabridged format.
Об авторе
William Shakespeare is generally acknowledged as the greatest dramatist in the history of English literature. Also a poet and actor, Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where he received an education at the local grammar school, but whether he attended any educational institution subsequent to his early tutelage is unknown. By eighteen, Shakespeare was married — to an already-pregnant Anne Hathaway — and the couple would go on to have three children, Susanna and the twins Hamnet and Judith. (Hamnet died at 11 years old.) Shakespeare moved to London soon after the birth of the twins and began publishing poems (‘Venus and Adonis’ (1593) and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ (1594)) and joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men as an actor and playwright. Shakespeare stayed with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men throughout his career, producing some of his finest work — ‘King Lear, ‘ ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Tempest’ among them — after the company fell under the patronage of King James I and became The King’s Men. During his career, Shakespeare penned 38 plays, two narrative poems and over 150 sonnets and enjoyed considerable financial success, eventually buying New Place, one of the largest homes in Stratford. Following his death in 1616 at the age of 52, thirty-six of his plays were collected and published as the First Folio and his entire canon — including his extant plays, sonnets and poems — were published as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s plays are the most produced dramatic works in existence and they have been translated and adapted into countless stage, screen and television productions over the years. Entire theatres are devoted to producing his works and his writings are studied and analyzed in literature classes around the world.