The Bard of Avon - William Shakespeare

In 1606 William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, wrote a play which would go down in history as the cursed Scottish play after numerous mishaps during production. It was written for his new patron, James I (James VI of Scotland), following the death of Queen Elizabeth. James was interested in witchcraft and Scotland, and hence the themes in the play. Banquo is James's ancestor. The play itself tells the story of a man, urged by his wife and foretold by prophecy, who commits regicide in order to gain power. Unfortunately, due to numerous quirks of language and obscure allusions, the play is difficult to understand without assistance. Using this annotated version along with external links and analysis, to more information, you can now get a better grasp of one the best tragedies ever written, the tale of Macbeth.

Notes on reading this:

The summaries, notes, and definitions are all stored in large files that serve you throughout the play. It is a good idea to let them load completely into your browser's cache the first time you access them, and from then on there will be a minimal de lay.

Try reading through quickly, trying to get the gist and not dwelling on specific phrases. Then