William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a timeless tale of love, greed and power, which has given rise to heated debates around such issues as the representation of gender roles, political violence and the dramatisation of evil.Taking the form of a sourcebook, this guide to Shakespeare's play presents: extensive introductory comment on the contexts, critical history and performance of the text, from publication to present annotated extracts from key contextual documents, reviews, critical works and the text itself cross-references between documents and sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism suggestions for further reading. Part of the Routledge Guides to Literature series, this volume is essential reading for all those beginning detailed study of Macbeth and seeking not only a guide to the play, but a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds Shakespeare's text.