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 - Yale's may be the best edition of MacbethVirtually all editions of Macbeth will have at least some annotations. Rummaging through five different editions, I preferred the Yale University Press version, edited by Burton Raffel, as having the most comprehensive and comprehensible notes, as well as an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's play. Raffel not only explains the meanings of obscure words, but also gives brief notes pertaining to relevant history, geography, stage directions, etc, that are rarely addressed as fully by other editors. In addition, Raffel frequently gives the proper way to stress the syllables in a line when reading it aloud, which can be extremely helpful. (However, in most places these stresses need to be very subtle, so that you don't sound like "taDUM taDUM taDUM".) And Yale's page layout is among the clearest that I've seen. (To find this edition: at Avanced Search, enter ISBN 0300106548; or, enter Macbeth as title, and either Raffel as author or Yale as publisher.) As a bonus, this edition includes at the back a long essay on the play by Harold Bloom. This is not an uninteresting commentary, but Bloom desperately needs a good editor. His essay is not only at least three times longer than it should be, but is startlingly repetitious. Yale would have been wise to have asked Bloom for a rewrite. Rating: - Macbeth does murder sleep - finish it tonightOne of the great Shakespearian tragedies. It deals with political avarice in the royal family and the consequences thereof on the personal lives of those involved. What else can I say that has not already been said. The play has survived so long with such esteem for a reason. It's brilliant. Rating: - a wonderful tragedy ...Today, many people desire to see what lies ahead in life but fail to realize the ceaseless consequences that can transpire if premonitions about the future come about prior to its arrival. Macbeth is the victim in this situation, when he receives a foretelling from three supernatural witches that he would become the king of Scotland. From then on, fueled by his greed, Macbeth does anything to reign, and goes far enough as to killing his best friend. As the previous noble knight becomes a malicious evildoer, many people in Scotland yearn for his abdication or someone to put an end to his life. Soon, their wish comes through. Though it is difficult to understand Shakespeare's style of writing and some of the language he used, this did not keep me from enjoying the book. The story itself was action-packed and had many metaphors that related to human nature. My suggestion on reading Macbeth is to receive an overview of the story before actually reading the text, as it is extremely convoluted (but meaningful). I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading classic literature. Rating: - A Masterpiece "To the last syllable of recorded time.""Macbeth" comes out as one of William Shakespeare's darkest and murkiest plays, most likely as a result of being written during one of Shakespeare's darkest times in his own life. This play strays away from the more common Shakespearean formula that contains a hero and his demise resulting from a specific tragic flaw. In "MacBeth", the title character is not a hero, but rather a villian. MacBeth murders the king of Scotland to bring truth to a prophecy given to him by three witches (the famous "toil and trouble" sisters). After assuming the throne, MacBeth returns to the witches and requests to hear the circumstances of his own death. The witches tell MacBeth he cannot be killed by any "man of woman born." Under a false assumption of near immortality, MacBeth relaxes his gaurd and perhaps displays his own tragic flaw of over confidence. Focusing on the power corrupt and merciless villain MacBeth and his dastardly and influential wife Lady MacBeth, this play works as a twisted look into a mind poisioned with greed and hate. Though pessimistic and disturbing, this play must not be dismissed. It contains some of the most poetic language and beautiful lines ever to be written. It is no mystery that MacBeth stands as one of the most quoted works in literature. It is however a mystery that Shakespeare could create something so magnificient in a period when he saw life as "...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Rating: - MacbethWhat to say about Macbeth? Words cannot describe the ultimate spine-tingling, soul-shaking nature of it until you've read it. Then you know that there is only one way to describe this terrifying yet amazing play: by reading it. Shakespeare captures a whole new age and style with this harsh tragedy about the powers of evil. Riding home from battle, Macbeth is told by three mysterious witches that his future holds great things-he will be king. When Lady Macbeth hears the news, she prays for the spirits of evil to infect her heart so she will have the courage to kill King Duncan and assure the prophecy's carrying out. After the awful deed's been done, Macbeth goes mad, although he is also granted the title `King.' Evil and madness soon holds sway over both Macbeth and his lady's will, and the kingdom falls apart. Will there be a way to triumph over this man who cannot be slain by a man born of woman? Who will not be slain until a forest moves up a hill? This seeming immortal demon? So... "When shall we three met again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won. That will be ere the set of sun. Where the place? Upon the heath. There to meet with Macbeth..."
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