Shakespeare is the brightest star in the galaxy of English writers. He excelled in writing all types of drama—Tragedy, Comedy, Romantic and Historical plays. His characterisation, plot construction, and dialogues are of the highest order. According to Bernard Shaw, “As far as sonority, imagery, wit, humour, energy of imagination, power over language, and a whimsically keen eye for idiosyncrasies can make a dramatist, Shakespeare was the king of dramatists.”
Macbeth is a well-known tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is said to have been first performed on stage in 1606. It dramatizes the damaging effects—physical as well as psychological—of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. According to Wickham, of all the plays written by Shakespeare during the reign of James I, who was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright’s relationship with his sovereign. The play was first published in the Folio of 1623.
The book gives a socio-political background of the Elizabethan era, discusses the life and works of Shakespeare, studies the role of major and minor characters in the play, and analyses the themes, plot and dramatic technique of the play. The imagery, poetic style, and critical reception to the play have been given. The book has been enriched with quotations from the text and comments of the critics on the play. References to the sources used have been given at the end of each chapter. There is Select Bibliography at the end of the book.
It will be useful for the students and teachers of English literature.
Ratri Ray is a retired University Professor and Head of the Deptt. of English, Patna University. As a student she had a unique career for she had been awarded three gold medals for her B.A. results and two more for M.A. She obtained the D. Litt. degree on a comparative study of Francis Thompson and Nishikanto. She has published two books in Bengali on Sri Aurobindo’s poetry and drama, both serialized in the cultural monthly Shrimantu, published from Kolkata. Her studies of Shakespearean plays, according to Rasavada, had been serialized in the 80’s in Mother India, published from Pondicherry. Her English books published by Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (P) Ltd. include The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, As You Like It, and Othello.
