Macbeth

Rating:
Summary: An amazing value
Review: Dover Thrift Editions-- a godsend to college students everywhere! They even provide a handful of explanatory footnotes; for a dollar, I wasn't expecting any.

Rating:
Summary: Blown to bits by a bout of bellowing
Review: Without a doubt, this is the worst audio book I have ever heard. One of the things we take for granted in any movie, radio broadcast, or audio book is that we will be able to hear what the actors are saying. Not so with this disastrous recording of Macbeth.

The players in this production, demonstrating the worst kind of over-acting, spend half the time shouting at the top of their lungs, and half the time whispering so softly you can't hear them. Worse yet, they alternate between the two, for no apparent reason, constantly. The audio engineers, who could have rescued us from this tragedy, chose to do nothing. You will spend the entire duration of this play with your hand on the volume control. Yet you will be unable to hear most of what is said. You will spin the volume up and up in utter frustration, only to be nearly deafened by the next bout of bellowing.

These comments are based on the Harper Audio CD, introduction by Harold Bloom. Hopefully, these criticisms will not apply to other recordings of this superb play, although Amazon may show these comments on the page next to other recordings.

Rating:
Summary: A doozie
Review: Next to Othello, Shakespeare's most haunting royal tragedy. And quite easy to follow along, if you delve closely into the language. King Lear was more complex but the theme of callous ambition still rings true today, with elements of the supernatural thrown in for good measure, such as Banquo's ghost and those sublime cackling old witches. Best enjoyed if you just mouth the words out loud, or better yet, see a production of it lived out on stage. The action is fast, and really, you can read the whole thing in probably about an hour.

Rating:
Summary: Simply a good book
Review: The New Folger edition of Macbeth is one of the best that i have ever read, the text side-by-side with explanatory notes and scene summeries was a great help. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read MacBeth

Rating:
Summary: Mi favorito
Review: This play is my favorite of all the Shakespeare plays I have read, which is only 5 or so, but still, I love it. I was the only person in my quasi-remedial English class that felt sorry for the guy. I wrote poems about it--it's just inspiring. My only complaint is that Macbeth slipped too easily into rancor without as much resistance as I thought he should have had, but who am I to criticise the character development of a master? ^_^ In short--I'm the kind of person who likes plays and tragedy, so that could be why I love this so much. But for anyone with the same sentiments, I reccomend that you read this--although it's probably more fun to act out with some wannabe thesbian friends.

Rating:
Summary: O wonderful trembling!
Review: Sumarizing, this is a play of fear which make us feel danger and is greatly crafted with artistic means infinite in the same measure of all human capabilities in this way.

Rating:
Summary: Good edition to act from
Review: These comments are primarily about the New Penguin Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', rather than the play proper. (Classic literature has enough folks on the case without me throwing in my two-cents-worth.)

This is a good edition to act from. The book is cheap to buy, but well-made, with a good binding, print, and paper, AND the commentary is at the end, so the play's pages are clean and clear. The introduction is good, and somewhat witty. The Commentary is pretty good, too, but not as complete as I would have it. Everyone in the play should get a copy of this book, but the director will need more resources, I would think.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult but great
Review: The play is written in old English with a very rich and entertaining language. Basically it was quite terrible to read because of this old fashioned English, but the story is pretty obvious and easy to understand. The story is very thrilling because you never know if he really does the murder of the king or not. But then finally, he sees his chance and executes Duncan to get king himself. It is very interesting because there are a lot of murders and intrigues. By the way, there's a very good film by Roman Polanski

Rating:
Summary: Cruelty, sex and alcohol abuse
Review: Little joke. Although Macbeth has some scenes were cruelty, sex and alcohol abuse is treated, the play is mostly about honour, blood and remorse. Shakespeare writes about a man getting king with killing the old one and loosing the crown after very short period of governing. The author has a blooming fantasy and he uses a rich vocabulary. The problem of a rich vocabulary is, that you almost don't understand a thing. That's a reason why it becomes boring. We' ve seen the play in a new interpretation at the Saalbau in Aarau, which helped a lot for the understanding. The first part of the play is more interesting than the second one. Because in the second part everything gets confusing and becomes very historical. But all in all it's worth it to be read. But there are surely better plays of Shakespeare to read than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Impressions of A Historical Aspect
Review: Actually I found that the play was very interesting following the historical aspect of the play. But the language was too difficult for me. I often was not able to understand some contents. I think that Mac Beth is surely one of Shakespeare's most huge plays and it also shows the resurrection of the true history elements. But there is absolutely no tension which is fascinating. For me who am living in our time today, the play was rather boring . Even though there are some elements which are very translucent (like the affair with the witches ), the whole story seems to be a bit like a rubbish. It was a pity that there is not described the mystery of this time. After reading I asked myself why this play is keeping busy so many people and why it is celebrated? Actually the cruelty is the only effect which made me thinking about the relations between actors and their destination during the play . Even though following is quite difficult, I think the play is written very well.