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Macbeth: Texts and Contexts (Bedford Shakespeare Series) » (1st Edition)

Book cover image of Macbeth: Texts and Contexts (Bedford Shakespeare Series) by William Shakespeare

Authors: William Shakespeare, William C. Carroll (Editor), Jean E. Howard
ISBN-13: 9780312144548, ISBN-10: 0312144547
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
Date Published: April 1999
Edition: 1st Edition

Author Biography: William Shakespeare

Book Synopsis

Dark and bloody drama of ambition, guilt, and revenge.

Publishers Weekly

Based on an HBO animated series, these condensations emphasize the dramatic content of some of Shakespeare's best known works. As abridged by Garfield in consultation with a panel of scholars, the books on the whole retain the magic of Shakespeare's vision and remain true to his poetics. Linguistic fluidity is perforce sacrificed (omitted lines are presented as italicized summaries interspersed throughout the dialogue), but these versions should still fire children's imaginations. Though the artwork varies in quality, the Eastern European illustrators generally capture the underlying theatrics. Palettes are subdued for the dramas, and appropriately brighter for the comedies (though the tone reproductions frequently seem off). Several plays' illustrations have a cartoony appearance; a few exhibit the stilted look of old Classics Comics. While the plays forgo their complexities--many subplots are omitted--as they become more linear in their themes (Macbeth loses much of his humanity, Romeo and Juliet is pared of its politics), their nobility shines through in these visualized introductions. One hopes that readers will be encouraged to move on to the originals. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)

	About the Series
	About this Volume
	List of Illustrations
	Introduction	1
	Macbeth	21
1	Representations of Macbeth	115
	From A History of Greater Britain	126
	From History of Scotland	128
	From The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland	135
	From Book of Plays	153
	From The Witch	155
	From "The Story of Macbeth," in A Collection of Divers and Remarkable Stories	159
	From Macbeth, A Tragedy	162
	Epilogue to The Empress of Morocco	178
2	Discourses of Sovereignty	185
	From A Conference about the Next Succession to the Crown of England	191
	From A Discovery of a Counterfeit Conference	201
	From An Answer to the First Part of a Certain Conference	203
	From Succession Act	205
	From Basilikon Doron	211
	From The True Law of Free Monarchies	213
	From A Speech to the Lords and Commons of the Parliament at Whitehall	217
	From Patriarcha: Or the Natural Power of Kings	220
	From The Divine Power or Gift of Healing	227
	From A Right Fruitful and Approved Treatise	228
	From A Sermon Preached at St. Mary's in Oxford, the 17. Day of November, 1602	230
3	Treason and Resistance	231
	From A Short Treatise of Politic Power	237
	From An Homily against Disobedience and Willful Rebellion	238
	From The Powers of the Crown in Scotland	242
	From A Defense of Liberty against Tyrants	244
	Report to the Doge and Senate	256
	From A Speech to Parliament	261
	From Speech at the Trial of Father Henry Garnet	265
	From A Treatise of Equivocation	266
	From A Treatise Tending to Mitigation towards Catholic Subjects in England	268
4	The Cultural Construction of Scotland	271
	From The Description of Scotland	280
	Henry V, Act I, Scene 2	286
	From A Treatise on the Union of the British Realms	288
	From An Itinerary	290
	From A Perfect Description of the People and Country of Scotland	293
	From The Penniless Pilgrimage, Or the Moneyless Perambulation	296
5	Witchcraft and Prophecy	300
	From The Discovery of Witchcraft	307
	From A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcrafts	311
	News from Scotland	313
	From Daemonology, In Form of a Dialogue	325
	An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft, and Dealing with Evil and Wicked Spirits	328
	From An Act against Fond and Fantastical Prophecies	335
	From A Defensative against the Poison of Supposed Prophecies	336
	From The Discovery of Witchcraft	337
	From A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft	338
	From Of Prognostications	341
	From Of Prophecies	342
6	Discourses of the Feminine	344
	From The Discovery of Witchcraft	352
	From The Method of Physic	353
	From A Brief Discourse of a Disease Called the Suffocation of the Mother	354
	From The Sick Woman's Private Looking-Glass	357
	From Microcosmographia: A Description of the Body of Man	361
	From The Countess of Lincoln's Nursery	364
	From Childbirth, Or the Happy Delivery of Women	366
	Bibliography	369
	Index	381

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