The Folger Shakespeare Library offers the definitive, updated edition of Macbeth, with newly edited text, explanatory notes, scene summaries, and more. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit. This authoritative edition of Macbethfeatures: · Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play · Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play · Scene-by-scene plot summaries · A key to famous lines and phrases · An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language · Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books · An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

Barbara A. Mowat is the director of research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare’s Romances and of essays on Shakespeare’s plays and their editing.

Paul Werstine is a professor of English at King’s University College and the graduate school at the University of Western Ontario. He is general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare’s plays.