As Shakespeare’s works are most accessible when viewed as working theatrical playscripts, “The Tragedie of Macbeth: A Frankly Annotated First Folio Edition” preserves the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the First Folio of 1623 while at the same time providing the most comprehensive, revelatory, and plainspoken annotation to date. Based on the principle that Shakespeare’s plays were written as popular (and not entirely decent) entertainments aimed at an adult (and not overly refined) audience, this no-nonsense and sexually candid text offers performers, scholars, and anyone with an interest in Shakespeare a unique resource to gain valuable insights into the play, the world in which Shakespeare wrote, and the playhouse in which his plays were produced.

Demitra Papadinis divides her time between New Hampshire and New York City. She is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of the New England Shakespeare Festival and a founding member of New York City’s WildBard! An expert in Unrehearsed Shakespeare/First Folio Cue-Script Technique, she presents workshops and educational programs at schools, colleges, and theatres throughout the country.

William Shakespeare

Annotated and with an Introduction by Demitra Papadinis
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 434
Bibliographic Info: appendices, notes, bibliography
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6479-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9333-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
Introduction
Of Forthright Footnotes (or, putting the “count” back in “country”) 3
“Filthy Plaies and Enterluds” 6
Why the First Folio? 8
What’s Wrong with Editing? 10
The Importance of Spelling 12
The Importance of Punctuation 15
Notes on the Annotation 21
Abbreviations of Key Reference Works 24
The Tragedie of Macbeth: First Folio Play-script with Accompanying Annotation
Act I, scene i 28
Act I, scene ii 34
Act I, scene iii 50
Act I, scene iv 80
Act I, scene v 88
Act I, scene vi 104
Act I, scene vii 114
Act II, scene i 134
Act II, scene ii 148
Act II, scene iii 162
Act II, scene iv 190
Act III, scene i 198
Act III, scene ii 218
Act III, scene iii 228
Act III, scene iv 232
Act III, scene v 254
Act III, scene vi 260
Act IV, scene i 266
Act IV, scene ii 292
Act IV, scene iii 304
Act V, scene i 332
Act V, scene ii 344
Act V, scene iii 350
Act V, scene iv 362
Act V, scene v 366
Act V, scene vi 376
Act V, scene vii 378
Textual Preparation 395
Appendix I (Typographical Errors Corrected) 407
Appendix II (Stage Directions, Entrances and Exits Emended) 408
Appendix III (Lineation Emended) 410
Appendix IV (Character Tags Emended) 412
Bibliography 415

“this edition of Macbeth displays an intense degree of research, knowledge, and synthesis, which is presented in a relatively novel form and which could be helpful to teachers and dramatists”—The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies.