The Oxford Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Macbeth (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

3.89

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9780192834171: The Oxford Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Macbeth (Oxford World's Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192834177 ISBN 13: 9780192834171

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1998

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Dark and violent, Macbeth is also the most theatrically spectacular of Shakespeare's tragedies. Indeed, for 250 years - until early this century - it was performed with grand operatic additions set to baroque music. In his introduction Nicholas Brooke relates the play's chaning fortunes to changes within society and the theatre and investigates the sources of its enduring appeal. He examines its many layers of illusion and interprets its linguistic turns and echoes, arguing that the earliest surviving text is an adaptation, perhaps carried out by Shakespeare himself in collaboration with Thomas Middleton. This fully annotated edition reconsiders textual and staging problems, appraises past and present critical views, and represents a major contribution to our understanding of Macbeth.

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Review:

One of Shakespeare's greatest, but also bloodiest tragedies, was written around 1605/06. Many have seen the story of Macbeth's murder and usurpation of the legitimate Scottish King Duncan as having obvious connection to contemporary issues regarding King James I (James VI of Scotland), and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. King James was particularly fascinated with witchcraft, so the appearance of the witches chanting "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" at the opening of the play seemed particularly topical, as was Macbeth's betrayal of Banquo, from whom James claimed direct descent.

However, the play is clearly far more than a piece of royal entertainment. It is also a fast-moving and dramatically satisfying piece of theatre. Macbeth's existential struggle between loyalty to his King and his "Vaulting ambition" is fascinating to watch, as his is struggle with Lady Macbeth, and her own terrifying refusal of her maternal role. The play shows an intensification of Shakespeare's interest in mothers and their effect upon ruling masculinity, and also contains some of the most memorable speeches in the entire canon, including Macbeth's reflections that ultimately life "is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing". --Jerry Brotton

Review:

"An outstanding text for teaching Macbeth to college students."--Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., Georgetown University "Excellent! Covers an enormous amount with scholarship and imagination in the introduction. A brilliant antidote for anyone who has suffered Macbeth in high school--excites further inquiry and a burning desire to see it performed again."--Nell Altizer, University of Hawaii "Invaluable, both as an introductory text and as an authoritative edition for serious scholarship. Students find the notes at the bottom of the page (as oposed to at the end of the text) handy and useful."--Sarah Liu, University of California, Berkeley "An outstanding text for teaching Macbeth to college students."--Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., Georgetown University "Excellent! Covers an enormous amount with scholarship and imagination in the introduction. A brilliant antidote for anyone who has suffered Macbeth in high school--excites further inquiry and a burning desire to see it performed again."--Nell Altizer, University of Hawaii "Invaluable, both as an introductory text and as an authoritative edition for serious scholarship. Students find the notes at the bottom of the page (as oposed to at the end of the text) handy and useful."--Sarah Liu, University of California, Berkeley "An outstanding text for teaching Macbeth to college students."--Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., Georgetown University "Excellent! Covers an enormous amount with scholarship and imagination in the introduction. A brilliant antidote for anyone who has suffered Macbeth in high school--excites further inquiry and a burning desire to see it performed again."--Nell Altizer, University of Hawaii "Invaluable, both as an introductory text and as an authoritative edition for serious scholarship. Students find the notes at the bottom of the page (as oposed to at the end of the text) handy and useful."--Sarah Liu, University of California, Berkeley "An outstanding text for teaching Macbeth to college students."--Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., Georgetown University "Excellent! Covers an enormous amount with scholarship and imagination in the introduction. A brilliant antidote for anyone who has suffered Macbeth in high school--excites further inquiry and a burning desire to see it performed again."--Nell Altizer, University of Hawaii "Invaluable, both as an introductory text and as an authoritative edition for serious scholarship. Students find the notes at the bottom of the page (as oposed to at the end of the text) handy and useful."--Sarah Liu, University of California, Berkeley

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