Macbeth | Folger Shakespeare Library (original) (raw)
Introduction to the play
Listen to this introduction:
Read by Karen Peakes – a special recording for The Folger Shakespeare’s Macbeth by the Folger Theatre
In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft.
In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife’s ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes?
Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth’s evil and his opponents’ good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.
Read the text
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time
—Macbeth
Act 5, scene 5, lines 22–24
From the audio edition of Macbeth
Columbia as Lady Macbeth: Yet here's a spot - out, damned spot, out, I say!
Playbill of 1868 performance of Macbeth
Henry Fuseli. Macbeth consulting the vision of the armed head. Oil on canvas with original inscribed frame, 1793
Orson Welles as Macbeth
Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare
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Early printed texts
Macbeth was published for the first time in the 1623 First Folio (F1) and that text is the basis for all modern editions of the play.
First Folio (1623)
Second Folio (1632)