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Macbeth
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Macbeth (1971) Ray Fearon as Macbeth and Tara Fitzgerald as Lady Macbeth, both wearing crowns and regal costumes, stand at center stage with actors in dark robes behind them at The Globe Theatre. Macbeth Macbeth, directed by Orson Welles David Thewlis as King Duncan and Jack Reynor as Malcolm stand outdoors in medieval robes, holding weapons, against a backdrop of hills in a scene from the 2015 film Macbeth. Ray Fearon as Macbeth, in a bloodstained shirt holding a bloody dagger, and Tara Fitzgerald as Lady Macbeth, also with blood on her hands, perform onstage at The Globe Theatre. Alec Guinness as Macbeth Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Macbeth Macbeth and Banquo encounter the Three Witches, illustration by John Gilbert for an edition of Shakespeare's works, 1858–60. Joseph Anton Koch: Macbeth and the Witches
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William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. c 1907
Shakespeare's Monsters, Demons, and Giants Quiz
Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)
Animals in Shakespeare Quiz
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Macbeth (1971)
Macbeth (1971) Jon Finch (center) as Macbeth in Roman Polanski's 1971 film version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Macbeth

work by Shakespeare
Also known as: “the Scottish play”
Written by
David Bevington
Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and Chair of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Chicago. World authority on Shakespeare. Editor of The Complete...
David Bevington
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
‱History

Macbeth, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written sometime in 1606–07 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from a playbook or a transcript of one. Some portions of the original text are corrupted or missing from the published edition. The play is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, without diversions or subplots. It chronicles Macbeth’s seizing of power and subsequent destruction, both his rise and his fall the result of blind ambition. The...

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