Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

Written by William Shakespeare

Narrated by Full Cast Dramatization

FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY
The World’s Leading Center for Shakespeare Studies

The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, brings Macbeth to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition.

Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.

This new full-cast recording—based on the most respected edition of Shakespeare’s classic—expertly produced by the Folger Theatre, is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781442374294

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare ha sido considerado unánimemente como el escritor más importante de la literatura universal. Se mantiene que nació el 23 de abril de 1564 y consta que fue bautizado, tres días más tarde, en Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Cuatro años después de su llegada a Londres hacia 1588, ya había obtenido un notable éxito como dramaturgo y actor teatral, lo que pronto le valió el mecenazgo de Henry Wriothesley, tercer conde de Southampton. De haberse dedicado únicamente a la poesía, Shakespeare habría pasado de todas formas a la historia por poemas como Venus y Adonis, La violación de Lucrecia o sus Sonetos. Sin embargo, fue en el campo del teatro donde Shakespeare realizó grandes y trascendentales logros. No en vano es el responsable principal del florecimiento del teatro isabelino, uno de los mascarones de proa de la incipiente hegemonía mundial de Inglaterra. A lo largo de su carrera escribió, modificó y colaboró en decenas de obras teatrales, de las cuales podemos atribuirle plenamente treinta y ocho, que perviven en nuestros días gracias a su genio y talento. William Shakespeare murió el 23 de abril de 1616 en su ciudad natal, habiendo conocido el favor del público y el éxito económico.

Reviews for Macbeth

[David Drey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good performances and soundscape which bring the play to life. The play is presented with great clarity, there are no sloppy bits.

[Malcolm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This audiobook of Macbeth is simply fantastic. The sound design is sublime and the acting is wondrous. Do your self a favour and listen to this audiobook of Macbeth right now.

[Paige Jones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely excellent. Each actor delivered a great performance and helped make this understandable even to someone who is not familiar with Shakespeare. I also enjoyed the sound effects. Overall would recommend this to anyone looking to understand Macbeth. I used this as a “read-along” and it really helped my comprehension.

[Lynn Anne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Life's but a 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."

Macbeth follows the tale of Macbeth and his fellow soldier, Banquo who run into three witches on their way home from battle. The witches reveal a mysterious prophecy to him and from that point, Macbeth's life and that of his countrymen begins to unravel.
You might think that the real villains of this book would be the witches who prophesied and whose words lead to destruction of families and homes, but in my opinion, the real villain is greed. Once Macbeth finds out he is basically unchallengeable, it corrupts his and his wife's morals- and their greed results in mass murders and loss of life.
I'm really glad I am giving Shakespeare a chance. His works are iconic and I'm happy I get to experience his genius, even if it's centuries later.

[gautam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent work by the artistes! I forgot that I was only listening and not watching! They made the characters come alive!

[jcarroll12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fabulous retelling of this drama! The author does a fantastic job including all major plot points in clear and descriptive narration. I particularly love the conversation between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they plan the murder - the plan is never actually stated, so readers must use inference. Beautiful integration of famous lines from the play. The time sequence is also clearer in this version than the play - readers understand Macbeth's reign over several months and understand what Malcolm is doing in England before he returns to Scotland.

[Paschal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fine, African series are missing out here, do include them

[Abigail C · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Witty, dark and murderous. A little hard to understand some of the middle parts, but overall enjoyable. I like the full cast for plays and audiobooks and this one was well done.

[Abhigyan Praveen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Simply amazing! The audio was clear and the atmosphere was impressive.

[Warlou Antonio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was engaging and immersive! I’d recommend it to anyone reading Shakespeare for the first time.

[epenton-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This version mixes clear language of the present day with actual quotes from the play itself, allowing readers who may not be accustomed to the language of Shakespeare the chance to develop their understanding of it. I love the drawings in this book--they reinforce the dark eeriness that is a major theme of the tale itself. This book could really help students get a feel for the play. I think that the pictures, especially, might spark the interest of a young reader, especially one who enjoys scary stories. Great book!

[Virginia Osella · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great classic, very dramatic performance. Engaging to listen to!

[ckarmstr1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Macbeth has become a curse in the theater community. If you say his name three times in a row, your performance is doomed. Knowing this, I wanted to find out what Macbeth was all about. Coville's adaptation of the Shakespearan tale helped me discover this. Macbeth fights with himself over heroism and evil. The witches add a fantasy element. I think this book can be enjoyed by any student grades seven and up!

[mdaniel54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading Bruce Coville's and Dennis Nolan's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ann Beneduce and Gennady Spirin's The Tempest, the shift to the more dire tonality of Coville and Gary Kelley's Macbeth was quite jarring. The illustrations of those two books were so fantastic, in both quality and content, that the strikingly serious panels here were difficult to get used to. Ultimately, though, the shift proved the right decision, in my opinion. Macbeth deserves a more grim disposition than most of Shakespeare's works and Coville, as he did with others, recognized the shift and changed pace capably.The language used here is similar to Coville's other Shakespeare adaptations. He masterfully simplifies the goings-on of the story, while not babying the reader, an important negotiation while writing an adaptation of this nature.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Still excellent, though maybe I liked Hamlet a wee bit better. So much murder. Witches with riddles are maybe the highlight.

[mickyfine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent audio production of this tragedy. All of the cast are excellent and the voices are distinct enough I had no problems determining who each character was (an occasional challenge with audio productions). A great way to revisit the play.

[angelreadsthings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was not a highly evocative read for me; however, it was not a tedious one either. Something about the plot line kept my mind interested even when my heart felt nothing.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Starting a new project of immersing myself in a new Shakespeare play each month. Started here but am going to do them in (as best as we can tell) chronological order. I like these RSC editions with the staging notes and other info on the play.

[kavinay-677830 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The best thing about Macbeth is that it would eventually lead to Kurosawa's adaption: Throne of Blood.

So much better than Bill's version.

[graeme.bell3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The great Scottish play. A few things for non-Scottish readers: - Thanes are similar to lords, a lot of the locations still exist as do regions of Scotland. The real Macbeth was totally different from Will Shakespeare version. And yes Alistair Maclean probably did use the line 'The Way to Dusty Death' as a book title.

[chris.wolak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This Barnes & Noble edition is really helpful. Great notes and textual explanations. Highly recommend it if you're new (or rusty) to reading Shakespeare. Only $7.95.

[Lorevelaz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book, like all the manga adaptations of Shakespeare that I've read, is interesting but also somewhat confusing because perhaps it's trying to fit the entire story into this style and skips over some things. Again, in this case, I haven't read the original story, but there were some scenes that suddenly felt like they took a very big leap between one and another.

But even so, it's interesting how Macbeth and even his wife gradually lost themselves until reaching a tragic conclusion.

I liked it, and of course, I recommend it. (Translated from Spanish)

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, seldom has an author taken a few lines out of Hollingshead, and a bare mention in The Anglo Saxon Chronicle and spun a classic play from them. This play is one of the core Shakespeare Great Plays. Read it, then read it again, see it on stage, on film, read it aloud with a group of friends, just live with it for the rest of your life. You'll feel better for doing so.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So...MacBeth.

Weird that I knew so very little about this particular play, considering it's one of those ones that comes up a lot.

And while it's suitably tragic, this one—and perhaps it was the players in this rendition, I don't know—this one didn't grab me. Lady MacBeth deserved to die, she was a foul, foul woman. But for me, I think it was the fact that this MacBeth guy, a major war hero, is so easily and stupidly thrown into this tragic self-fulfilling prophecy, and how he's easily and stupidly led into murder by his foul wife, and then he's stupid at the end.

Very tragic, and yet again, I'm struck by how many phrases are still heard today by a four hundred year old play ("Lay on MacDuff" and the whole "boil and bubble, toil and trouble" witches' chant stand out). But overall, not one of my favourites.

[Nuryta · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

Another classic pending, I am not very fond of reading theater, but I have resolved to gradually get through them.

Macbeth encounters the fateful sisters and is astonished by the predictions he receives from them, analyzing only what suits him. He delights in the positive outcomes for himself, but allows himself to be deceived by ambition, making decisions to avoid what he believes is unfair, even though it is within the same prophecies received, not considering that by doing so he is provoking the inevitable one by one.

Is destiny written, perhaps? I prefer to think that while we may have a predisposition to repeat life patterns, we have the capacity to make decisions that change our path. We just need to be careful, as every action has a consequence, both for ourselves and for others.

Read in March 2023. (Translated from Spanish)

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic that has influenced so many stories. Definite must read.

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was the first one I read. I was astounded by the beauty of his language.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The moral to the story. "Lie with Dogs and you will wake up with fleas"

[Hismmael · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When one finishes reading Macbeth, one realizes that there is no unique and categorical solution to rely on. Within the turbulent universe of Macbeth, human feelings such as weakness, ambition, and the desire for power intertwine with other supernatural elements, the most important being the witches. Indeed, these sisters are a mystery for the understanding of the plot because, to what extent do they influence Macbeth's fate? Are they the excuse that Macbeth uses to justify his actions and fulfill the prophecy? Regardless of what they may symbolize, it is clear that the witches represent the limit of rational thought, so one must think beyond it. (Translated from Spanish)

[TaldanaHaalo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have to confess that this is my first Shakespeare book, and I was truly expecting poetry and romanticism, as is well known from the fame that precedes the author. However, Macbeth is quite the opposite ????, a book full of cravings for power, betrayal, curses, adulation, etc., etc. The story is really a recount of the quest for power in Scotland, and its tragic outcome filled with dark arts and malevolent things makes the book not appealing to me at all.

It is said that Shakespeare had several literary moments throughout his life; however, being my first book of his, it didn't go very well for me. But it's no secret that to reach the power of the crowns of Europe, dubious schemes were employed.

To conclude, I will continue with Shakespeare's books, as his genius is undeniable, but I didn't like Macbeth. Hugs! (Translated from Spanish)