Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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by Andrew Perman | Tuesday 17th of January 2023

Macbeth by William Shakespeare


Published: 1606

Country: United Kingdom

Publisher: John Heminges and Henry Condell


The darkest of all Shakespeare’s great tragedies, Macbeth shows how ambition corrupts even those who have the potential to be noble. The murky atmosphere, orchestrated by the witches, the 'weird sisters', whose strange communion with Macbeth himself precipitates his descent into darkness, permeates a play steeped in blood and slaughter. With the help of 'his fiend-like queen', who is willing to deny her own morality to spur on her husband, Macbeth sets out on the bloody course to realise the ambition that the witches sensed in him. Even murdering the king is not enough. 'To be thus is nothing', he laments when planning the murder of Banquo. There is always one more obstacle to be overthrown if he is to retain power – a lesson tyrants have learnt throughout history- always one more person who is in the way. When Lady Macbeth is seen obsessively washing her hands – 'Here’s the smell of blood still', – we see the workings of guilt that has turned to madness. At the close, Macbeth is overthrown but the sense of his own futility, remains powerful and memorable. 


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