Product Description
NOT A CD! THIS IS THE 2-CASSETTE (MONAURAL) AUDIOTAPE RECORDING OF THE POETRY OF T. S. ELIOT--READ BY SIR ALEC GUINNESS! 1986 MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY #MHC 229139X (CASSETTES #MHC 9139 & MHC 9140). ORIGINALLY RECORDED IN 1975 IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH COUNCIL; A BBC PRODUCTION PRODUCED BY HALLAM TENNYSON. UNDER LICENSE FROM 1975 POLYGRAM SPECIAL PROJECTS INC. & 1982 THE DECCA RECORD CO. LTD. DOLBY SYSTEM (MONAURAL). APPROX. 90 MIN. PLAYING TIME. PAPER INSERTS INCLUDE NOTES BY HALLAM TENNYSON ON T.S. ELIOT (AND HIS POETRY) AND ON SIR ALEC GUINNESS.SIDE 1: THE WASTE LAND: THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD, A GAME OF CHESS, THE FIRE SERMON, DEATH BY WATER, WHAT THE THUNDER SAID.SIDE 2: PRELUDES, THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, SWEENEY AMONG THE NIGHTINGALES, NEW HAMPSHIRE, FAMILY REUNION (EXCERPT), THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK, GUS THE THEATRE CAT, THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI.SIDE 3: FOUR QUARTETS (BEGINNING): BURNT NORTON, EAST COKER, THE DRY SALVAGES (BEGINNING).SIDE 4: FOUR QUARTETS (CONCLUSION): THE DRY SALVAGES (CONCLUSION), LITTLE GIDDING. ... Read more

Product Description
This text is part of a series of selected Shakepeare texts designed for student use. The introduction provides criticsim, covering themes, characters and dramatic structure, and helpful notes are provided at the right level on every page, facing the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (124)

Certainly not Shakespeare's best
Though Macbeth does have some very quotable lines--such as the Three Witches' infamous "Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron bubble"--it made for a confusing and rather unsatisfying read. I would only recommend this to the Shakespeare fans who want to grasp the full range of the bard's oeuvre.

The entire play seemed very disjointed, like there was a scene or even an act missing. This is one of Shakespeare's shortest plays, and it was published after his death, so it stands to reason that perhaps it was unfinished.

Macbeth and his wife aren't very convincing characters; at no point did I feel any sympathy for them, and their motivations seem predictable and flimsy. Both change throughout the play, but neither for the better.

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Great book
Perfect ad for any literature collection. Fast shipping and the book was in good condition.

Let not light see my black and deep desires
In the theater, people apparently don't call Shakespeare's "Macbeth" by its actual name -- it's usually called "MacB" or "The Scottish Play." The dark superstitions that hover around this play really show its power: it's a harrowing portrait of a weak man who spirals into a personal hell of ambition, murder and madness.

Shortly after a victory in battle, Macbeth and his friend Banquo are traveling home across a heath when they encounter three witches -- who greet him with "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!"

When MacBeth is made Thane of Cawdor, he naturally begins to think that being king might be next in line. And when King Duncan visits his castle, Lady MacBeth goads her husband into murdering the king and framing a couple of innocent servants for the deed. As the witches predicted, MacBeth becomes king of Scotland.

But the witches also prophesied that Banquo would be the father of kings, so MacBeth starts tying off loose ends by hiring assassins to kill Banquo and his young son, as well as a wily thane named MacDuff and all of his family. But though MacBeth believes himself to be safe from everyone, his fear begins to grow as madness and guilt torment him and his wife...

One of the most fascinating things about "Macbeth" is how evil it is -- mass murder, insanity, bloody ghosts, a trio of manipulative witches pulling MacBeth's strings, and a nice if weak man who becomes a raving murderous paranoiac. Shakespeare starts the story on a dark note, and it gets darker and bloodier as the story winds on to its bleak climax.

In fact, the entire story is a two-part spiral -- things get tighter and more intense, even as MacBeth and Lady M. get crazier and more violent. Shakespeare litters the story with brutally intense scenes (Banquo's ghost crashing the dinner, Lady M. trying to scrub her hands clean) and powerful dialogue ("Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit,/And look on death itself! up, up, and see/The great doom's image!").

The one flaw: Shakespeare's handling of the "no man born of woman" prediction is a bit lame. I mean, didn't that count as "born" back in Elizabethan times too?

Honestly, MacBeth is both a fascinating and repulsive character. He starts off as a nice ordinary thane with no particular ambition, but his weakness and his wife drive him to some pretty horrible acts. Before long, he's become somebody you desperately want to see diced into little pieces. And Lady Macbeth is little better, although there's a slight disparity between her ruthless ambition and her later insanity.

"MacBeth" is a story filled with stormy darkness and all-consuming fire -- a powerful depiction of evil and how easily we can be seduced. Just don't say its name in the theater.

Good, but not the Arden
I ordered the Arden Shakespeare version of Macbeth and was sent the Signet Classic edition, which is also good, but of course we all like to get what we order. I suppose it was just a matter of misnomer, and I am relatively content with Signet.

Footnotes are decent, but any Shakespeare play should also be used in accordance with a Lexicon for a second definition if nothing else.

100% Satisfied with my order!
This order was perfect ~ Thank you!The book arrived quickly and was in exactly the condition that was described.Thank you for the great service~Carole in Southern California ~ ... Read more