Author(s): William Shakespeare

Plays

One of the great Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth is a dark and bloody drama of ambition, murder, guilt, and revenge. Prompted by the prophecies of three mysterious witches and goaded by his ambitious wife, the Scottish thane Macbeth murders Duncan, King of Scotland, in order to succeed him on the throne. This foul deed soon entangles the conscience-stricken nobleman in a web of treachery, deceit, and more murders, which ultimately spells his doom. Set amid the gloomy castles and lonely heaths of medieval Scotland, Macbeth paints a striking dramatic portrait of a man of honor and integrity destroyed by a fatal character flaw and the tortures of a guilty imagination.Thunder and lightning. Enter three WitchesFirst WitchWhen shall we three meet againIn thunder, lightning, or in rain?Second WitchWhen the hurlyburly's done,When the battle's lost and won.Third WitchThat will be ere the set of sun.First WitchWhere the place?Second WitchUpon the heath.Third WitchThere to meet with Macbeth.First WitchI come, Graymalkin!Second WitchPaddock calls.Third WitchAnon.ALLFair is foul, and foul is fair: