Overview

"Though written nearly 400 years ago, Shakespeare's ""Macbeth"" continues to capture the interest of modern audiences. Laden with political intrigue, supernatural elements, and complex psychological issues, ""Macbeth"" is a play of contemporary relevance, despite its tale of witches and ancient Scottish kings. While the play reflects 17th-century theological and political concerns, it also explores enduring themes, such as fate and free will, appearance and reality, order and disorder, ambition and obedience, and madness and sanity. ""Macbeth"" has been staged countless times, and it has also been produced for film and television. Numerous editions of the play exist, it is one of the most widely taught dramatic works, and scholars have written an enormous amount of criticism about it. This volume begins with a consideration of the play's textual history and a review of some of the most significant editions. The guide then examines important contexts and sources for ""Macbeth"", including Shakespeare's early work on ""Antony and Cleopatra"", the Elizabethan story of bodily humors, Shakespeare's appropriation of material from Holinshed's ""Chronicles"" and Buchanan's ""History of Scotland"", the significance of witchcraft, and the ""Gunpowder Plot"". The book then presents a detailed examination of the dramatic structure of the play, along with a consideration of the play's most essential themes. A section on critical approaches summarizes how scholars have responded to the play. The volume then examines specific stage, film and television productions of ""Macbeth"" and dicusses the challenges of translating the text into performance. A selected bibliography concludes the work."

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9780313300479

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Reviews

"?Coursen treats the play in a scholarly manner with a very readable style.?-Christian Library Journal ?Do we really need another guidebook to a major Shakespear play?... Coursen's book provides a decisive answer: Yes... The book is deftly organized.?-Shakespeare and Renaissance Association of West Virginia Selected Papers ?Its meticulous scholarship and readability make it useful (but not intimidating) for beginning students and advanced scholars. Coursen's illuminating presentation of the play's religious background makes this volume of special interest to Catholic libraries.?-Catholic Library World ?One of the most frequently taught of Shakespeare's plays, 'the Scottish Play' is the ideal subject for the 'Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare' series. In the first four chapters Coursen briefly reviews the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, and salient themes, the latter including controversial interpretations of key scenes by leading critics and stage directors, which are more fully explored in the final sections of the book. Chapter 5 offers a lengthy review of criticism segmented by topic (genre, world order, witchcraft, psychology, gender, and 'Macbeth as murderer'), each with its own list of references.... Especially interesting is the substantial sixth and final chapter on the play in performance on stage, film, and television, including specific references for each medium.... essential for libraries at all levels.?-Choice ""Coursen treats the play in a scholarly manner with a very readable style.""-Christian Library Journal ""Do we really need another guidebook to a major Shakespear play?... Coursen's book provides a decisive answer: Yes... The book is deftly organized.""-Shakespeare and Renaissance Association of West Virginia Selected Papers ""Its meticulous scholarship and readability make it useful (but not intimidating) for beginning students and advanced scholars. Coursen's illuminating presentation of the play's religious background makes this volume of special interest to Catholic libraries.""-Catholic Library World ""One of the most frequently taught of Shakespeare's plays, 'the Scottish Play' is the ideal subject for the 'Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare' series. In the first four chapters Coursen briefly reviews the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, and salient themes, the latter including controversial interpretations of key scenes by leading critics and stage directors, which are more fully explored in the final sections of the book. Chapter 5 offers a lengthy review of criticism segmented by topic (genre, world order, witchcraft, psychology, gender, and 'Macbeth as murderer'), each with its own list of references.... Especially interesting is the substantial sixth and final chapter on the play in performance on stage, film, and television, including specific references for each medium.... essential for libraries at all levels.""-Choice"

?Coursen treats the play in a scholarly manner with a very readable style.?-Christian Library Journal ?Do we really need another guidebook to a major Shakespear play?... Coursen's book provides a decisive answer: Yes... The book is deftly organized.?-Shakespeare and Renaissance Association of West Virginia Selected Papers ?Its meticulous scholarship and readability make it useful (but not intimidating) for beginning students and advanced scholars. Coursen's illuminating presentation of the play's religious background makes this volume of special interest to Catholic libraries.?-Catholic Library World ?One of the most frequently taught of Shakespeare's plays, 'the Scottish Play' is the ideal subject for the 'Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare' series. In the first four chapters Coursen briefly reviews the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, and salient themes, the latter including controversial interpretations of key scenes by leading critics and stage directors, which are more fully explored in the final sections of the book. Chapter 5 offers a lengthy review of criticism segmented by topic (genre, world order, witchcraft, psychology, gender, and 'Macbeth as murderer'), each with its own list of references.... Especially interesting is the substantial sixth and final chapter on the play in performance on stage, film, and television, including specific references for each medium.... essential for libraries at all levels.?-Choice Coursen treats the play in a scholarly manner with a very readable style. -Christian Library Journal Do we really need another guidebook to a major Shakespear play?... Coursen's book provides a decisive answer: Yes... The book is deftly organized. -Shakespeare and Renaissance Association of West Virginia Selected Papers Its meticulous scholarship and readability make it useful (but not intimidating) for beginning students and advanced scholars. Coursen's illuminating presentation of the play's religious background makes this volume of special interest to Catholic libraries. -Catholic Library World One of the most frequently taught of Shakespeare's plays, 'the Scottish Play' is the ideal subject for the 'Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare' series. In the first four chapters Coursen briefly reviews the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, and salient themes, the latter including controversial interpretations of key scenes by leading critics and stage directors, which are more fully explored in the final sections of the book. Chapter 5 offers a lengthy review of criticism segmented by topic (genre, world order, witchcraft, psychology, gender, and 'Macbeth as murderer'), each with its own list of references.... Especially interesting is the substantial sixth and final chapter on the play in performance on stage, film, and television, including specific references for each medium.... essential for libraries at all levels. -Choice

?One of the most frequently taught of Shakespeare's plays, 'the Scottish Play' is the ideal subject for the 'Greenwood Guides to Shakespeare' series. In the first four chapters Coursen briefly reviews the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, and salient themes, the latter including controversial interpretations of key scenes by leading critics and stage directors, which are more fully explored in the final sections of the book. Chapter 5 offers a lengthy review of criticism segmented by topic (genre, world order, witchcraft, psychology, gender, and 'Macbeth as murderer'), each with its own list of references.... Especially interesting is the substantial sixth and final chapter on the play in performance on stage, film, and television, including specific references for each medium.... essential for libraries at all levels.?-Choice

Author Information

H. R. COURSEN teaches at the University of Maine at Augusta. He is the author of more than forty books, and his many articles have appeared in journals such as Studies in English Literature, Studies in Philology, Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Studies, and Shakespeare Bulletin.

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