Macbeth

Written by William Shakespeare

Narrated by Stephen Dillane and Fiona Shaw

Macbeth, Shakespeare’s last great tragedy, has remained one of the most popular plays since it’s first performance in 1606 – probably in front of King James. This exciting new audiobook production is directed with fresh imagination by Fiona Shaw who breaks the conventional strait jacket that has hampered the development of Shakespeare on audio. We are as much in the twenty-first century as in medieval Scotland – the tensions, the politics, the struggle for power and dark ambition is part of our lives… This is also reflected in the sound world, with modern machinery and tanks. Macbeth is part of Naxos AudioBooks’ exciting new series of complete dramatisations of the works of Shakespeare, in conjunction with Cambridge University Press. It uses the New Cambridge Shakespeare text, as used by the Royal Shakespeare Company and educational institutions across the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
• Release date: Sep 23, 1998
• ISBN: 9789629546908

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.

Reviews for Macbeth

[teknokat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My very favorite Shakespeare play: pesky witches, nobles hoist on their own ambitious petards, and revenge. What's not to like?

[benbulben_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of MacbethShakespeare retells the story of Macbeth who was King of Scotland from 1040 to 1057. He claimed the Scottish crown after killing his cousin Duncan I in battle. He became King as the popular choice among Scottish thanes or lords. Macbeth unites North and South Scotland in a peaceful reign. Duncan’s son Malcolm III returns to Scotland with English troops and takes the crown and country by force. The play was performed before King James I who reveled in witchcraft. He wrote a treatise on the subject. It was also said, James I descended from Banquo’s line. The play was written in only ten days. Shakespeare was at the height of his powers when he wrote Macbeth. He was 40 years old. Macbeth is the fourth play in a quartet of tragic masterpieces (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth).Shakespeare instinctively knew the human mind and heart. As Harold Bloom so aptly put, in Macbeth, Shakespeare, who understood everything that we comprehend and far more (humankind will never stop catching up to him) created a play within the mind of humankind. He presents a haunting realm of madness tied to a furious imagination and sparked with the supernatural where ‘fair is foul and foul is fair.’ The play depends upon its horror of its own imaginings. A hollow man filled with an ambitious taste for power. His will controlled by his desire to be King and fueled by his thirst for blood. He chooses against living happily as the Thane of Cawdor and resides in misery as King of Scotland. Within this framework, we journey inward to Macbeth’s heart of darkness, and find ourselves hauntingly familiar of and in, murderers to the spirit.It is unreal how Shakespeare could see into the soul of the human spirit and be able to project that vision, through the characters in his plays, unto his audience. As Elizabeth Montagu wrote in her The Genius of Shakespeare, Our author has so tempered the constitutional character of Macbeth by infusing into it the milk of human kindness and a strong tincture of honor, as to make the most violent perturbation and pungent remorse naturally attend on those steps to which he is led by the force of temptation. Here we must commend the poet’s judgment and his invariable attention to consistency of character. But more amazing is the art with which he exhibits the movement of the human mind and renders audible the silent march of thought, traces its modes of operation in the course of deliberating—the pauses of hesitation and the final act of decision, shows how reason checks and the passions impel, and displays to us the trepidations that precede and the horrors that pursue acts of blood. No species of dialogue but that which a man holds with himself could effect this. The soliloquy has been permitted to all dramatic writers, but its true use has been understood only by our author, who alone has attained to a just imitation of nature in this kind of self-conference.Macbeth is sure of nothing but the present moment. He begins with considerable energy and manliness of character but evolves into nothing but a bloodthirsty shell of a man. As in his battles at the beginning of the play, he seems to ‘carve out a passage’ to King Duncan and then to the undoing of himself—a road of blood that ends in his. It is a journey through the manipulations of the mind; ‘tempest-tossed’, warped by temptation, seen in hallucination, and goaded by ambition that produces our tragic hero. And so I Bid thee farewell, That you may have the honor of Kings bestowed upon you in your wake of horror. 

Silence a means to rapture in such time that has time for sleep and time for death. 

Oh to hear!What melodious sound this morn wakes us from this our state of slumbered smirth. 
It is the deed that barks at innocence and mourns this lifeless morn. But be not so deep in it as these words would stain upon your naked souls.For upon these words when first I came unknown fancy with blood did reignWhere winds of wickedness did rule the night and conjure storms of pure delightFor so many battles be lost and won The Thane of Cawdor so be doneThis once great soldier in spirit does lay where nature doth himself betrayHis steel smokes with bloody execution the mind in murky mist delusion.For he but wearies at the hand and maketh for want a silly man.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It wasn't in my reading plans, but today when I came across "the Scottish play" I couldn't resist. What can I say that hasn't already been said? It is astonishing just how far ambition can push a person, and how difficult it is to live with the results. This is one of my favourites from Shakespeare. It never fails to entertain whether on the stage or on paper.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read Macbeth when I was younger -- year seven or so -- and watched some kind of adaptation of it made for TV. I didn't remember it well enough to do any kind of review (and Shakespeare is usually too recent for me, and irrelevant for my purposes, since he never touched on the Matter of Britain). Anyway, I had a long car journey today, and a pound or two left of a gift certificate, so I bought myself Macbeth and Hamlet for my Kindle.

I still don't like reading plays, but it is funny when reading Shakespeare's plays to realise how often they're quoted by everyone, often by people who don't know what they're quoting. My cousin quoted Shakespeare at dinner today: I'm not sure he's ever read a book in his life.

Macbeth is a powerful play, even just in text, and I wish I could see it performed.

[pardamustang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Manga Classics: Macbeth by William Shakespeare keeps the original text from the play, complementing it with gorgeous manga artwork. Macbeth is one of the Bard's most famous dramas, and my personal favourite of his dramas. As much as I love both the play, and manga style artwork, this book didn't resonate with me so much. It was good, don't get me wrong. I think it just really messed my mind up to have the classic text with this quite modern artwork. However, if you're a fan of the Manga Classics series, or of Macbeth, definitely check it out!***Many thanks to Netgalley and Udon Entertainment for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[silverwing2332 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book (if thats what you call it, maybe play is more accurate) obviously a classic. The modern english parts make it easier to read, but please do not just read those parts, the great thing about Shakespeare is how he wrote and the language that he used.

[therebelprince · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating scholarly edition, but looking forward to the updated Arden edition, to be released in 2014.

[scott_hercher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare can sometimes be intimidating if you aren't a) a English Lit major (or a former one); b) 500 years old; or c) accustomed to speaking in iambic pentameter. I'm none of the above, but love his language, imagery, and stories. This particular edition, featuring Nicholas Brooke's annotations, is the best edition of any Shakespeare I've read. His annotations are informative, but unobtrusive. He explains language that is obscure today, notes the double meanings that would have been commonly known in Shakespeare's time, and creates a context for the story and play.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1606, Shakespeares meest intense tragedie, confrontatie met de kracht van het kwaad.Ook zijn kortste stuk, sterk geconcentreerd. Doordrenkt met demonische energie (via woorden als duisternis en bloed).?Life?s but 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?.Spijtig van het zeer flauwe einde.

[goatboy41 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent production of MacBeth

Great narration

Shakespeare with all the intrigue

[nicolesch-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Before reading the play my instinct was to say that the three witches symbolize the three fates. The number is the same and the three witches finish each other's sentences in the way that the fates are usually portrayed as doing. The fact that what the witches predict comes true, and comes true only because Macbeth acted on their prophecy (rather like how Trelawney's prophecy in Harry Potter came true only because Voldemort acted on it).

The biggest difference between the witches and the fates is that (in spite of how popular culture portrays them) in their original mythology the fates do not try to cause harm. They simply do their job creating people's destiny, and occasionally recite a prophecy, without any malicious intent. The witches on the other hand are deliberately trying to lead Macbeth to corrupt his soul. The way that they hint to him that he has good things coming, just enough to make him act to gain those things, even at the expense of others. Even at the expense of his own soul. Because of this I think that the Weird Sisters represent demons, and Hecate, who reprimands them not for the harm that they have done, but for not letting her in on their fun; 'How did you dare/To trade and traffic with Macbeth/In riddles and affairs of death;/And I, the mistress of your charms,/The close contriver of all harms,/Was never call'd to bear my part,/ Or show the glory of our art?'

It appears to me that the Weird Sisters may represent demons, with Hecate representing Satan. Another possibility could be that the witches represent the potential for evil in Macbeth, easily egged on by Lady Macbeth because it is already within his capacity to commit.

The witches apply to the themes of violence and fate. In violence as they spur Macbeth onto violence in his second meeting with them, summoning visions of bleeding heads and murdered babies. And fate as they cause Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Banquo to question whether the things they predicted would come to pass naturally, or if they will have to act to gain the prophecies.

Without the Weird Sisters the play would not have happened, unless something else took their place. They are responsible for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth resorting to violence, and all the chaos that ensues. They could have been replaced by Macbeth making a conscious decision to kill King Duncan to gain power, but that wouldn't have been as compelling.

Lady Macbeth pushed Macbeth to kill the king trusting on the words the witches enough to believe that Macbeth would become king, but not trusting enough to wait and see if he would become king without them taking action. Ultimately neither husband nor wife could live with the guilt.

(This review was originally a discussion post I wrote for an online Shakespeare class.)

[jonbrammer-788089 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, I zipped through this one, having read it in college and recently watched Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood". I like it. I have to teach it this week, which seems a little daunting at this point, because it's a dense little play. There is a lot of symbolism, a lot of characters running around. I found myself referring to the notes more than I have with other plays by Shakespeare.

And it's bloody, mystical and twisted. This is probably the darkest Shakespearean tragedy that I am familiar with. Not much comic relief. And although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth receive their just desserts, there is no sense that the primitively violent culture changed as a result of their downfall.

Edited to add: Saw Christopher Hitchens speak on Sunday night and he said that if Robert Ludlum had written this it would be called "The Dunsinane Deforestation". LOLZ.

Still brilliant. There is a lot to discuss regarding fate vs. free will. Could have Macbeth have avoided the prophecy given to him by disregarding his wife and quelling his own ambition? Does the act of hearing a prophecy seal one's fate?

[mykl8s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though I usually enjoy a Shakespeare play, at least the parts I understand, I don't find understanding all that easy. And it does get tedious referring to footnotes and introductions. I understand their importance, but don't often try to read or view or revisit these plays.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed listening to this. Very dark and dramatic.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[jhemlock-1711 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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

[arewenotben · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

RSC production at the Barbican theatre, with Christopher Ecclestone as Macbeth. Possibly the best staging of the play I've seen with a superb central performance, bringing layers to the role that I hadn't noticed before.

[mickyfine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

LATW audio production of the Scottish play. All of the cast are adequate but none of actors really stand out (sadly not even James Marsters) - although my opinion may have been coloured by almost the entire cast using American accents. The sound effects used for scenes with the witches are excellent and add just the right tone of weirdness that these scenes require. Not a bad version of the play but not one I'd recommend as a way to experience the narrative for the first time.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found the audio version by L. A. Theatre Works entertaining. I would prefer to watch the play, but that's difficult to do when driving on the highway. This audio version kept me entertained. I've seen other versions of the play and prefer other voices for some of the roles, but once I had the characters sorted, I was able to follow along with this classic work which is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. (5 stars for the play; 3.5 for the performance)

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This full cast production of Macbeth was excellent. Joanne Whalley was particularly good as Lady Macbeth.

[jonfaith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.

Last winter I heard a report on NPR about Stalin's dacha in Sochi. Such featured some curious design features including a bulletproof sofa with extended headrests that prevented his head being exposed from behind to an assassin. The curtains were also shorter in length from the top to prevent someone from hiding from behind them. As I drove I mused as to what sort of world-view would emerge from someone's sense of self and safety?

The Bard's tale chooses not to address the policy of Macbeth but rather allows him only time to address his version of destiny in such a spirited supernatural environment. Macbeth is a rushed affair. It lacks the splendid pacing of Hamlet. Apparently Fortune favors the breathless as the narrative steps are sprinted and obstacles leaped like some wonky Wuxia. Despite all the gore, there isn't a great deal of introspection or even calculation. Such is strange but not so much as some things one finds on the Heath.(postscript: I just watched the Patrick Stewart led PBS film version: it was simply an avalanche.)

[allriledup · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe I hadn't read this sooner and hope to see a production of it one of these days. I must say I have a soft spot in my heart for the three weird sisters.

[aimapotis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got in a massive reading slump as I was into the 3rd act of this wonderful and short tragedy, so it took me a bit more to finish the book. The last 2 acts are packed with action and emotions and the characters are iconic to say the least: Lady Macbeth, the epitome of the power-hungry, manipulative and seemingly emotionless woman, she's the victim of her own humanity, her husband Macbeth whose mortal enemies are his doubtfulness and his mania for control, proof that misunderstanding or underestimating something can be truly fatal. Macduff and his pain are masterfully crafted and we can appreciate his weakness when he's with Malcolm and doesn't hide his feelings of despair and his strength when he faces Macbeth, the cause of his grief. It wasn't the easiest or quickest read I have done, but most definitely worth it. The intro by Cedric Watts is a nice addition as well.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of my favorites! Macbeth's corruption, Lady Macbeth's savage ambition, the deliciously spooky menace of the witches... It's just such fun! And perfect late October reading (I could pretend that I fell behind in my “All Shakespeare in a Year” reading just so Macbeth would fall at the right time of year.)I've read this quite a few times before – my kids acted in an adapted version when they were small, in which “the Curse” was demonstrated when our Macbeth tripped and split his forehead on the edge of the cauldron, and my daughter was the cutest little witch ever – and, as with most great literature, the play just gets better with each reading. This time I supplemented my reading with Garry Wills's “Witches and Jesuits,” which, while perhaps a bit overstated in its claims, is interesting and pointed me to some aspects I'd previously missed, and also Marjorie Garber's wonderful chapter on the play in her “Shakespeare After All.” The Arkangel recording, with Hugh Ross and Harriet Walter (and David Tennant as the porter!) is marvelous, and, as a fun “extra” I watched the Shakespeare Retold version, in which Macbeth is a very ambitious head chef in a popular restaurant. Highly recommended.