• A new edition of Shakespeare's most theatrical, most renown tragedy
• Emma Smith's introduction offers a comprehensive assessment of the play, from its stage setting, to performance history, to Macbeth's first soliloquy, and the final act
• Examines the play's contemporary contexts — the patronage of James VI and the Gunpowder Plot — and modern contexts — gender, psychology, and representation
• Combines fresh, new scholarship from leading researchers with authoritative texts and comprehensive notes in order to offer readers a complete guide to Shakespeare
• Uses the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work
• Presented in modern spelling and punctuation with accessible critical apparatus to best aid understanding of the plays and poems

'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?'

Dark and violent, Macbeth is a restless, haunting exploration of the human costs of violence and power. One of the most theatrically spectacular of Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth has endured as a psychologically and supernaturally sinister work. Emma Smith's introduction considers the historical and contemporary contexts of the play, from the influence of the Gunpowder Plot as an act of domestic terrorism, to the combination of banal domesticity and pure horror in the play's setting and events.

The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.