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    Macbeth (Diversion Classics)
    Macbeth (Diversion Classics)
    Macbeth (Diversion Classics)
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    Macbeth (Diversion Classics)

    By William Shakespeare

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    About this ebook

    Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms.

    In one of Shakespeare's most-performed works, a witches' prophecy sets in motion a scheme of revenge and murder. Macbeth's attempts to gain the Scottish throne ensnare his friends and loved ones in this stunning commentary on power and ambition. This classic tragedy is an enduring contribution to the canon, a must-read for lovers of literature and drama alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDiversion Books
    Release dateAug 18, 2015
    ISBN9781682300244
    Macbeth (Diversion Classics)
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

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    Reviews for Macbeth (Diversion Classics)

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    5,748 ratings70 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I'm not a big Shakespeare fan, so I won't rate any of his works very high
    • 4/5
      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.)
    • 5/5
      Classic tragedy.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my absolute favorite plays by Shakespeare. The "Scottish Play" contains the supernatural, riddles and memorable quotes. It is a testament about the times and a warning to those that would deceive others to get what they want. This play is a must read/see!
    • 4/5
      Macbeth and Banquo defeat two armies of enemies. Later three witches appear and prophesy that Macbeth will become a thane of Cawdor, eventually the king of Scotland, and Banquo will beget a line of Scottish kings. Unsure, neither of them are too concerned. When things are starting to come true, Macbeth tells his wife the good news. Lady Macbeth wants her husband to kill Duncan, the king, so that the rest of the prophecy will come true. Macbeth would become king if the present king "died". He stabs Duncan and the two watchers. Fearful that Banquo's heirs might inherit the throne, he hires murderers to kill him and his son Fleance. Fleance has escaped death and becomes Prince of England. He raises an army and fights Macbeth. Macbeth is killed and beheaded. This play was entertaining and had some rhyming. It was easier to read than most Shakespeare plays because it didn't have many characters. It was a quick read. It only took a few days. It was violent and not happy but understanding. I could read this book again. I would recommend this book to anyone 6th grade and up.
    • 3/5
      Although I'm an English teacher, I have to admit that Macbeth is not one of my personal favorites. Does that mean that the play isn't brilliant? Absolutely not. Shakespeare, once again, exhibits the full range of characteristics and emotions that a human can display. Great play about the way a seemingly good man, can descend into the madness of becoming greedy and a murderer.
    • 5/5
      'Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. By the pricking of the thumbs, something wicked this ways comes.'That just about sums up Macbeth, the epitome of self-fulfilling prophecies and ambition. Macbeth, driven by the witches' prophecy, murders all who stand in his way of power.
    • 4/5
      Audiobook. It was done like a play and very enjoyable =)
    • 4/5
      I read this play my senior year of high school, and immediately enjoyed it more than HAMLET, especially because of the three Witches. And when my teacher pointed out that the punctuation within one of Lady Macbeth's paragraphs seems to connotate that she is reaching orgasm simply by talking about all the power she is about to obtain, I was hooked. I love several of the monologues.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      studied this play during 2nd level education. Certain lines still stick with me to this day. Amazing to think of its sheer impact, centuries into the future (and still going strong!).
    • 5/5
      I don't recall reading Macbeth since high school, yet as I listened to the audio version I found myself quoting lines along with the actors. The play seems like it's full of cliches, yet it's the source for phrases like “vaulting ambition”, “a charmed life”, “be-all and end-all”, and “milk of human kindness”. Reader that I am, I also caught several book titles “borrowed” from its lines: Borrower of the Night (Elizabeth Peters), Look to the Lady (Margery Allingham), Light Thickens (Ngaio Marsh), By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Agatha Christie), Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury), The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner). I'm a long-time fan of the TV series All Creatures Great and Small, so it was a little disconcerting to hear Siegfried Farnon (i.e., Robert Hardy) in the role of Duncan. That aside, it's an exciting dramatization of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays.
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful play with so many great things going on. One of my favourite lines comes when MacDuff learns that his family has been killed. He says, "Oh, my pretty chickens!" As those of you who've read the play will know, much of it revolves around the idea that fair is foul and foul is fair. Pretty chickens are fair fowls. I can't help but wonder if Shakespeare did that deliberately.Stuff like that kills me.
    • 3/5
      I think this is one which needs to be seen. It seemed very slow to me, aside from the bits with murder and ghosts.
    • 5/5
      Dark and supernatural, Macbeth is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies. One of the biggest questions I always ask is, "Would the weird sisters' prophecies come to pass even if Macbeth hadn't gone all murder crazy?"Macbeth is a great cautionary tale of the dangers of ambition, especially when it comes to power. Shakespeare explores what lengths men will go to for power, especially when they believe it is owed them.Adding this copy to my Little Free Library in hopes that someone in the neighborhood can learn something from it, especially as certain phrases remind me of the current political climate and I know the way my neighbors tend to vote.
    • 4/5
      A shakespeare play full of tragedy, love, and a crazy hunger for power. An amazing play by William Shakespeare.
    • 3/5
      Actually enjoyed this one, and I typically loathe reading Shakespeare. This and Hamlet are the only ones worth reading, in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      Opening with the prophecies of the three witches always caught my imagination. I love how the story relates to that throughout the play, and also how Macbeth is intrigued that he may indeed become king. It adds a great, dramatic effect. Beginning to end this is a brilliantly written play.
    • 2/5
      “Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble!” {pg. 82}Comprised of five acts, The Tragedy of Macbeth starts as three witches agree to meet up again after a battle is fought. Originally, Macbeth starts off being portrayed as a hero, having led King Duncan’s forces successfully in battle, and hence will get a new title. The witches flatter his ego by telling him of the titles he will receive - more than he could ever have hoped - and that he will become king, ultimately.From then on, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth become ‘evil’, and pursue the witches’ prediction, and plot to kill Duncan. They have become greedy from the prediction. The play then follows their corruption, the murders they commit, and their ultimate downfall.I prefer to watch Shakespeare’s plays rather than read them, especially when they’re very long. Lucky for me, The Tragedy of Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays and probably has the easiest message to comprehend-the corrupted nature of power and greed, and the terrible affects it can have. However, The Tragedy of Macbeth is Shakespeare’s equivalent of a summer blockbuster. Entertaining with lots of action (fight scenes, murder), oddities (witches, ghosts, prophesies, hallucinations, and insanity) but poor character development and nothing intellectual to take from the play.
    • 4/5
      Macbeth performed is one of the most thrilling and engrossing plays I've ever seen. Macbeth read is...well. It's Shakespeare's shortest play, and I feel like that is apparent in the rather harried and haphazard plot, the miscellany of characters who wander in and out and are never seen again, and the lack of character development for pretty much everyone who isn't Macbeth himself.But on the other hand, this play is the source of some of the greatest speeches ever written - "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,...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 taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing."I mean, it's just gorgeous.
    • 5/5
      Macbeth; Complete Study Edition. William Shakespeare, edited by Sidney Lamb. As soon as I found out the Shakespeare Festival was putting on Macbeth, I knew I wanted to see it, but I held back when I found out this production was to be set in a post-apocalyptic society. I have always wanted Shakespeare the way I think “it’s ‘sposed to be.” But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was. So when I decided to see it, I decided to re-read it, and I am glad I did. This is good edition for people like me who haven’t read Shakespeare. There are plenty of explanatory notes that explain the history surrounding the play and the unfamiliar vocabulary.
    • 4/5
      My daughter has shamed me a bit in recent months. She's been on a Shakespeare kick--purchasing his works here and there from book sales and the like. Me, I've read a couple of plays and seen one or two others on television. I've never got around to reading these treasures of English literature. It was this shame, and the need to find a book that would fit in my lunch box, that led me to check out Shakespeare's Macbeth. 'Tis the tale of a Scottish thane or chieftain who, tempted by a cryptic prophecy, murders his king and tries to cover it up. There is much bloodshed and guilt, all set in iambic pentameter. The story was enjoyable enough, though I have to confess, I read through the synopsis before attempting to tackle the 17th Century English. (This, the Oxford School Shakespeare edition, is chock full of notes to help us poor students along in our studies.) Reading it spoiled the drama, but also helped me follow the story. So anyway, now my own guilt has been assuaged--for the nonce--and I can get back to reading more modern fluff. I don't think the child has procured a copy of Othello yet, anyway.--J.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating scholarly edition, but looking forward to the updated Arden edition, to be released in 2014.
    • 5/5
      My all time favorite.
    • 4/5
      Seems like a lot of build up to just suddenly end like that. Damn those witches and their doubletalk. Pro tip: mention this play as often at theatres as possible.
    • 4/5
      Was a great book, at the time I had a teacher who understood how to make Shakesphere approachable to students.It could easily be staged as a leadership bid at one of those Fortune 500s all over Wall Street.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      This was my father's, now it is mine. Each fan of Shakespeare has read this one. It's a goodie.
    • 5/5
      It's interesting to consider the role fate has in this play. And of course, it helps to have the guides at the bottom of the page that explains some of the texts.

    Book preview

    Macbeth (Diversion Classics) - William Shakespeare

    Act I

    Scene I. A desert place.

    Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.

    FIRST WITCH. When shall we three meet again?

    In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

    SECOND WITCH. When the hurlyburly’s done,

    When the battle’s lost and won.

    THIRD WITCH. That will be ere the set of sun.

    FIRST WITCH. Where the place?

    SECOND WITCH. Upon the heath.

    THIRD WITCH. There to meet with Macbeth.

    FIRST WITCH. I come, Graymalkin.

    SECOND WITCH. Paddock calls. Anon!

    ALL. Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

    Hover through the fog and filthy air.

    Exeunt.

    Scene II. A camp near Forres.

    Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant.

    DUNCAN. What bloody man is that? He can report,

    As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt

    The newest state.

    MALCOLM. This is the sergeant

    Who like a good and hardy soldier fought

    ’Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!

    Say to the King the knowledge of the broil

    As thou didst leave it.

    SERGEANT. Doubtful it stood,

    As two spent swimmers that do cling together

    And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald—

    Worthy to be a rebel, for to that

    The multiplying villainies of nature

    Do swarm upon him—from the Western Isles

    Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;

    And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,

    Show’d like a rebel’s whore. But all’s too weak;

    For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—

    Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish’d steel,

    Which smoked with bloody execution,

    Like Valor’s minion carved out his passage

    Till he faced the slave,

    Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,

    Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps,

    And fix’d his head upon our battlements.

    DUNCAN. O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!

    SERGEANT. As whence the sun ’gins his reflection

    Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,

    So from that spring whence comfort seem’d to come

    Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland, mark.

    No sooner justice had, with valor arm’d,

    Compell’d these skipping kerns to trust their heels,

    But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage,

    With furbish’d arms and new supplies of men,

    Began a fresh assault.

    DUNCAN. Dismay’d not this

    Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo.?

    SERGEANT. Yes,

    As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.

    If I say sooth, I must report they were

    As cannons overcharged with double cracks,

    So they redoubled strokes upon the foe.

    Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,

    Or memorize another Golgotha,

    I cannot tell—

    But I am faint; my gashes cry for help.

    DUNCAN. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;

    They smack of honor both. Go get him surgeons.

    Exit Sergeant, attended.

    Who comes here?

    Enter Ross.

    MALCOLM. The worthy Thane of Ross.

    LENNOX. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look

    That seems to speak things strange.

    ROSS. God save the King!

    DUNCAN. Whence camest thou, worthy Thane?

    ROSS. From Fife, great King,

    Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky

    And fan our people cold.

    Norway himself, with terrible numbers,

    Assisted by that most disloyal traitor

    The Thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict,

    Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof,

    Confronted him with self-comparisons,

    Point against point rebellious, arm ’gainst arm,

    Curbing his lavish spirit; and, to conclude,

    The victory fell on us.

    DUNCAN. Great happiness!

    ROSS. That now

    Sweno, the Norways’ king, craves composition;

    Nor would we deign him burial of his men

    Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme’s Inch,

    Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

    DUNCAN. No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive

    Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death,

    And with his former title greet Macbeth.

    ROSS. I’ll see it done.

    DUNCAN. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.

    Exeunt

    Scene III. A heath.

    Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

    FIRST WITCH. Where hast thou been, sister?

    SECOND WITCH. Killing swine.

    THIRD WITCH. Sister, where thou?

    FIRST WITCH. A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap,

    And mounch’d, and mounch’d, and mounch’d. Give me, quoth I.

    Aroint thee, witch! the rump-fed ronyon cries.

    Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master the Tiger;

    But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,

    And, like a rat without a tail,

    I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.

    SECOND WITCH. I’ll give thee a wind.

    FIRST WITCH. Thou’rt kind.

    THIRD WITCH. And I another.

    FIRST WITCH. I myself have all the other,

    And the very ports they blow,

    All the quarters that they know

    I’ the shipman’s card.

    I will drain him dry as hay:

    Sleep shall neither night nor day

    Hang upon his penthouse lid;

    He shall live a man forbid.

    Weary se’nnights nine times nine

    Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine;

    Though his bark cannot be lost,

    Yet it shall be tempest-toss’d.

    Look what I have.

    SECOND WITCH. Show me, show me.

    FIRST WITCH. Here I have a pilot’s thumb,

    Wreck’d as homeward he did come.

    Drum within.

    THIRD WITCH. A drum, a drum!

    Macbeth doth come.

    ALL. The weird sisters, hand in hand,

    Posters of the sea and land,

    Thus do go about, about,

    Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine,

    And thrice again, to make up nine.

    Peace! The charm’s wound up.

    Enter Macbeth and Banquo.

    MACBETH. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

    BANQUO. How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these

    So wither’d and so wild in their attire,

    That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,

    And yet are on’t? Live you? or are you aught

    That man may question? You seem to understand me,

    By each at once her choppy finger

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