Macbeth (The Annotated Shakespeare)

253 Pages·2005·2.16 MB·English

by  William Shakespeare

the annotated shakespeare

Macbeth
(cid:1)
William Shakespeare
Fully annotated,with an Introduction,by Burton Raffel
With an essay by Harold Bloom
the annotated shakespeare
Burton Raffel,General Editor
Yale University Press • New Haven and London
Copyright © 2005by Burton Raffel.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced,in whole or in part,including illustrations,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107and108
of the U.S.Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publishers.
“Macbeth,”from Shakespeare:The Invention of the Human,by Harold Bloom,
copyright © 1998 by Harold Bloom.Used by permission of Riverhead Books,
an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Designed by Rebecca Gibb.
Set in Bembo type by The Composing Room of Michigan,Inc.
Printed in the United States of America by R.R.Donnelley & Sons.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shakespeare,William,1564–1616.
Macbeth /William Shakespeare ;fully annotated,with an introduction,
by Burton Raffel ;with an essay by Harold Bloom.
p. cm.— (The annotated Shakespeare)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN0-300-10654-8(pbk.)
1. Macbeth,King of Scotland,11th cent.—Drama. 2. Regicides—Drama.
3. Scotland—Drama. I. Raffel,Burton. II. Bloom,Harold. III. Title.
PR2823.A2R34 2005
822.3(cid:1)3—dc22 2004024959
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10987654321
For Evander Lomke

contents
(cid:1)
AboutThis Book ix
Introduction xix
Some Essentials of the Shakespearean Stage xxxix
Macbeth 1
An Essay by Harold Bloom 169
Further Reading 205
Finding List 209

about this book
(cid:1)
In act 3,scene 1,Macbeth,alone,speaks of his fears about
Banquo:
To be thus is nothing,but to be safely thus.
Our fears in Banquo stick deep,
And in his royalty of nature reigns that
Which would be feared.’Tis much he dares,
And,to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety.There is none but he
Whose being I do fear and,under him,
My genius is rebuked,as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
(lines48–57)
This was perfectly understandable,we must assume,to the mostly
very average persons who paid to watch Elizabethan plays.But
who today can make much sense of it? In this very fully annotated
edition,I therefore present this passage,not in the bare form quoted
above,but thoroughly supported by bottom-of-the-page notes:
ix