Macbeth: Staged: the origins of YA's greatest tropes

by William Shakespeare

Overview

With a foreword by Kat Delacorte, author of With Fire in Their Blood

‘It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood’

On a bleak, stormy night in Scotland, three witches prophesy: Macbeth will be a lord twice-over and Macbeth will be king; but Banquo’s sons will also be kings.

When the witches’ predictions start to come true, the ambitious Lady Macbeth vows to help her husband become King of Scotland and hold on to the throne – by any means necessary. But as the pursuit of power leads them down a dark and bloody path, the Macbeths soon begin to unravel.

Macbeth is Shakespeare’s famously blood-soaked tale of greed and prophecy so powerful that superstitions about the curse of ‘The Scottish Play’ continue to this day.

Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.

Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:
As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia Hibbert
Hamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky Albertalli
Much Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne
Romeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780241695074
Publisher:	Penguin Random House Children's UK
Publication date:	03/14/2024
Series:	Staged
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Read an Excerpt

Dramatis Personae
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Macbeth"
by .
Copyright © 2016 William Shakespeare.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Macbeth - William Shakespeare - Edited by Sylvan Barnet Samuel Johnson: Macbeth
A. C. Bradley: From Shakespearean Tragedy
Elmer Edgar Stoll: Source and Motive in 'Macbeth' and 'Othello'
Cleanth Brooks: The Naked Babe and the Cloak of Manliness
Mary MacCarthy: General Macbeth
Joan Larsen Klein: Lady Macbeth: 'Infirm of Purpose'
Sylvan Barnet: 'Macbeth' on the Stage and Screen

NEWLY ADDED ESSAYS:
Alan Sinfield: 'Macbeth': History, Ideology, and Intellectuals

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Macbeth is a blast...ghoulish...beguiling...sardonic...an expression of how captivating an evening of crackling Shakespeare can be." — Peter Marks, The Washington Post

"The explosive and overwhelming effect of a truck bomb...this horrific, riveting Macbeth ought to be seen by as many people as possible." — Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal

Editorial Reviews

"This updated edition of Macbeth reveals thorough research, it is conscientiously annotated, and it appears a superb tool for researchers and students involved in Shakespeare scholarship."
The Year's Work in English Studies

From the Publisher

Gr 10 Up—Shakespeare's tragedy is brought to life in this studio-recorded full-cast performance starring James Marsters and Joanne Whalley. Marsters's Macbeth is solid, and Whalley turns in a remarkable performance of Lady Macbeth's calculated strength and eventual unraveling. The pacing and delivery of Shakespeare's lines are effective and accurate, and the use of sound to depict setting and action provide the essential cues listeners need. The sound effects and the theatrics of the Weird Sisters are wonderful. Listeners should be familiar with the story prior to listening due to the large number of characters and the lack of stage direction in audio format. A good choice to offer students as a reading companion.—Rebecca Flannery, Lyman Memorial High School, Lebanon, CT

School Library Journal

In one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays, a Scots noble, inspired by witches, murders to become king and then loses himself in brutality. James Marsters and Joanne Whalley, as Macbeth and his Lady, are both quite good, if rarely exciting or remarkable. Whalley hits that mark more often. There are, by turns, some flatness and overacting in the lesser roles. There’s too much forced laughter among the supernumeraries and too much grunting during fights we cannot see. Still, the overall production is effective. Without standout performances, the play takes the lead. The music and sound effects, though occasionally overdone, help build a sense of dread and things gone very wrong. Text, performances, and sound combine to deliver an affecting tale of tragic horror. W.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2011 - AudioFile