Shakespeare on the Double! Macbeth [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), Mary Ellen Snodgrass (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Shakespeare on the Double! | Publication Date: September 5, 2006

No more "Double, double, toil and trouble?"

Now you can learn Shakespeare on the double!

Macbeth has all the ingredients of a modern day bestseller-greed, ambition, murder, mayhem, madness, politics, assassinations, hallucinations, prophecies, spells, and rebellion. Potions and emotions simmer. One betrayal leads to another. Now you can sit back and read Macbeth like the thriller it is! This modern, easy-to-understand translation makes reading it quick and painless. Other aids make following the action and grasping the meaning a snap:

• A brief synopsis of the plot and action
• A comprehensive character list that describes the characteristics, motivations, and actions of each major player
• A visual character map that shows the relationships of major characters
• A cycle-of-death graphic that pinpoints the sequence of deaths and includes who dies, how they die, and why
• Reflective questions that help you understand the themes of the play

Shakespeare on the Double! Macbeth lets you enjoy this classic play your way!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

No more "Double, double, toil and trouble?"

Now you can learn Shakespeare on the double!

Macbeth has all the ingredients of a modern day bestseller—greed, ambition, murder, mayhem, madness, politics, assassinations, hallucinations, prophecies, spells, and rebellion. Potions and emotions simmer. One betrayal leads to another. Now you can sit back and read Macbeth like the thriller it is! This modern, easy-to-understand translation makes reading it quick and painless. Other aids make following the action and grasping the meaning a snap:

• A brief synopsis of the plot and action
• A comprehensive character list that describes the characteristics, motivations, and actions of each major player
• A visual character map that shows the relationships of major characters
• A cycle-of-death graphic that pinpoints the sequence of deaths and includes who dies, how they die, and why
• Reflective questions that help you understand the themes of the play

Shakespeare on the Double! Macbeth lets you enjoy this classic play your way!

About the Author

Mary Ellen Snodgrass is an award-winning author of textbooks and general reference works and a former columnist for the Charlotte Observer. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Appalachian State University and holds degrees in English, Latin, psychology, and education of gifted children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470041560
• ISBN-13: 978-0470041567
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #378,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.