Macbeth: Fully Annotated Edition with Over 900 Textual Notes

By William Shakespeare, William George Clark, William Macpherson, et al.

Book Overview

A tale of unbridled greed and an insatiable thirst for power set in eleventh-century Scotland, Macbeth has long been recognized as Shakespeare's fastest-moving tragedy, combining relentless narrative momentum with a profound examination of how psychological coercion mixed with personal ambition can lead to murder - and how individual impulses can shape both a man's own destiny and the course of history.

Written in around 1606 and published in the First Folio of 1623, Macbeth is presented here in a fully annotated edition that will make the text accessible to twenty-first-century readers, enabling them to appreciate its poetry andencouraging them to delve deeper into its variegated and complex history.

Textual Approach: Light editorial approach making the text more accessible to modern readers - Meticulous editing, faithful to the first Folio of 1623 - Over 900 textual notes for a clearer or fuller understanding of a word, sentence or passage - Historical notes at the end of the book Additional notes about variants - Appendix with modernised and annotated Holinshed text - Includes Middleton's witches' songs - Takes into consideration all modern Shakespeare scholarship - Provides new insight into one of Shakespeare's major tragedies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1847495133
• ISBN13: 9781847495136
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Alma Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

False Advertising

This book was apparently shipped from Texas, and whoever sold it should be ASHAMED. It was in horrible condition for being labeled as "very good". All the pages were there, but the spine of the book was completely cracked, there was pink highlighter in the pages, and the cover itself was chewed up. It was acceptable quality at best, and now I'm frustrated because the quality is so bad that I can't get rid of it!

Written book

The previous owner wrote into it

Shakespeare is the fabric of our lives.

This review is of Macbeth (Signature Shakespeare), edited by Jesse M. Lander. There may be other versions that come close. Macbeth was made to be watched. However, it is well that we slow down and read the words. I have time to think about the meaning and what they mean to us. There are several renditions in print. However, his rendition is the one you want to handle and display in your library. Short of expensive incunabula, we can display this book with pride. It is not just another pretty face with exquisite laser-cut designs, as we can get insights from the annotation. The introductory material is worth the price alone. If you are new to Macbeth: It starts with three witches who tell a Scottish general, Macbeth, that he will become king. Macbeth's wife eggs him on as suggesting that he dispatch the existing ruler and cousin Duncan to move the process forward. Little did Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (or we, for that matter) suspect at the time that they would encounter more blood and supernatural forces to correct the situation. You may find this a tad more layered than you think, as we must decide if the hero Macbeth is the bad person as suggested by Malcolm and Angus. Do not overlook the politics of the time. Warning: you may find yourself going around and saying, "Out, d-a-m-n-'-d spot!"

Thumbs Up from the Teacher

After struggling with my decision to use this book with my senior students, I am finding they are less hesitant to read AND they are enjoying the concepts in this drama! If it were an honors class, I think I would make students read the original text, but for my regular classes, I am very happy with my decision because they are GETTING IT. We are reading the authentic Shakespeare for the really good lines/soliloquys that shouldn't be missed. This is much better than other renditions that simply paraphrase as far as comprehension is concerned.

Yale's may be the best edition of Macbeth

Virtually all editions of Macbeth will have at least some annotations. Rummaging through five different editions, I preferred this 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. 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.

Excellent Macbeth for Middle and High School Teachers and Students

Interfact Shakepeare series only includes Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet so far. Both books are easily readable and allow students and teachers to follow along in its setup. Each scene is explained in a synopsis and the dialogue is faithful to Shakespeare's language. What makes this exceptional is the CD that comes with the book. The book also provides useful information and helps you out with the CD. The CD is a great asset and is filled with easy tests, games, and allows the teacher and students to explore Macbeth without worrying about getting it wrong. This book and CD should be available to all Literature and Language Arts teachers everywhere. Macbeth should not have to be so hard. It's worth the money, believe me. It's truly a bargain.

Shakespeare can be fun

I borrowed this book from a fellow Language Arts teacher and was happy to find fun poems, sample essays, activities, and notes on the play itself.

A "Dummy's" Dream!

This is a fantastic book for someone who has difficulty understanding Shakespeare's language. I was impressed with the way the book is set up--original Shakespeare on the left and a modern translation on the right. It is especially useful to teachers or homeschoolers because of the study questions included in the back of the book. I give it an A+!