Blooms Shakespeare Through the Ages
MACBETH
Edited and with an introduction by
Harold Bloom
Sterling Professor of the Humanities
Yale University
Volume Editor _
Janyce Marson
I
BLOOM'S
LITERARY CRITICISM
An imprint of Infobase Publishing
CONTENTS
Series Introduction
ix
Introduction by Harold Bloom
xi
Biography of William Shakespeare
1
Summary of Macbeth
5
Key Passages in Macbeth
21
List of Characters in Macbeth
35
CRITICISM THROUGH THE AGES
<§> Macbeth in the Seventeenth Century
39
41
1606—William Warner. From A Continuance
ofAlbions England
43
c. 1611—Simon Forman. From The Bocke ofPlates
and Notes thereof per Formansfor Common PolHcie
43
1664—William Davenant. Excerpts from his adaptation
of Macbeth
45
1664-1668—Samuel Pepys. From The Diary
of Samuel Pepys
48
4> Macbeth in the Eighteenth Century
1708—John Downes. From Roscius Anglicanus
1745—Samuel Johnson. "Macbeth," from
Notes on Shakespeare's Plays
1769—Elizabeth Montagu. "The Tragedy of Macbeth,"
from An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare
49
51
51
57
1770—Francis Gentleman. "Macbeth," from
The Dramatic Censor; or, Critical Companion
67
vi
Contents
1780—William Richardson. "On The Character
of Macbeth," from A Philosophical Analysis and Illustration
of Some of Shakespeare's Remarkable Characters
68
1785—Thomas Whately. "Remarks." From Remarks
on Some of the Characters of Shakespere
69
<9> Macbeth in the Nineteenth Century
1809—August Wilhelm von Schlegel. From Lectures
on Dramatic Art and Literature
1817—William Hazlitt. "Macbeth," from Characters
of Shakespear's Plays
77
80
84
1818—Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Notes on Macbeth,"
from Shakspeare, with Introductory Remarks on Poetry,
the Drama, and the Stage
91
1823—Thomas DeQuincey. From "On the Knocking
at the Gate in Macbeth"
95
1832—Anna Jameson. "Lady Macbeth," from
Shakespeare's Heroines: Characteristics of Women: Moral,
Poetical and Historical
97
1836—Peter Eckermann. From Conversations with Goethe
113
1839—Thomas Campbell. "Mrs. Siddons Acts
Lady Macbeth—Her Own Remarks on the Character"
and "Observations on Mrs. Siddons Estimate," from
The Life ofMrs. Siddons
114
1864—Victor Hugo. From William Shakespeare
131
1867—P. W. Clayden. From "Macbeth and Lady Macbeth,"
from The Fortnightly Review
133
1877—Henry Irving. "The Third Murderer in Macbeth,"
from The Nineteenth Century
147
1880—H. N. Hudson. "Macbeth," from Shakespeare:
His Life, Art, and Characters
150
1882—Frances Anne Kemble. "Some Notes upon
the Characters in Shakespeare's Play of Macbeth"
from Notes Upon Some of Shakespeare's Plays
154
1893—Richard G. Moulton. From Chapter VII,
"Macbeth, Lord and Lady: A Study in Character-Contrast,"
in Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist
163
Contents
1898—Georg Brandes. "Macbeth in Comparison to Hamlet"
from William Shakespeare: A Critical Study
<§• Macbeth in the Twentieth Century
' 1904—A. C. Bradley. "Lecture IX: Macbeth" and
"Lecture X: Macbeth," from Shakespearean Tragedy
vii
165
169
172
1916—Sigmund Freud. "Remarks on Macbeth," from
Some Character-types Met With in Psychoanalytic Work
221
1917—Arthur Quiller-Couch. "Macbeth," from Notes
on Shakespeare's Workmanship
224
1930—G. Wilson Knight. From "Macbeth and
the Metaphysic of Evil," from The Wheel of Fire
235
1947—Cleanth Brooks. "The Naked Babe and the Cloak
of Manliness," from The Well Wrought Urn
239
1950—Henry N. Paul. "Macbeth's Imagination,"
from The Royal Play ofMacbeth
254
1951—Harold C. Goddard. "Macbeth," from The Meaning
of Shakespeare
264
1958—Francis Fergusson. "Macbeth," from Shakespeare:
The Pattern in His Carpet
292
1959—L. C. Knights. "Macbeth: A Lust.for Power,"
from Some Shakespearean Themes
304
1976—John Berryman. "Notes on Macbeth" from
The Freedom of the Poet
320
1986—William Empson. "Macbeth," from
Essays on Shakespeare
322
1987—Harold Bloom. "Introduction," from
Macbeth (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations series)
339
1991—Thomas McAlindon. From "Macbeth,"
in Shakespeare's Tragic Cosmos
1996—Harold Bloom. "Introduction," from Macbeth
(Bloom's Notes series)
*t> Macbeth in the Twenty-first Century
2003—Michael L. Hays. "Macbeth: Loyal Stewards
and Royal Succession," from Shakespearean Tragedy
as Chivalric Romance
343
346
349
350
viii
Contents
2005—Alexander Leggatt. "Macbeth: A Deed Without
a Name," from Shakespeare's Tragedies: Violation and Identity
358
Bibliography
387
Acknowledgments
391
Index
393