Macbeth

            Macbeth is the first one of the many of Shakespeare's great tragedies. It is a compelling drama about the success, deceit, and disintegration of a brave but flawed human being. Its diagnosis of evil is as apt today as it was when The King's Men first presented the play. .
             I am most interested in studying Macbeth because the author, William Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer of English literature. Macbeth is one of his first tragedies therefore setting precedence as the standard of his following plays, which I am also interest in reading. Because of his bottomless knowledge of the many aspects of human nature, his compassion toward all types and classes of people, and the influence, strength and beauty of his language I have been drawn to his literature. For more than three hundred years after his death, Shakespeare's plays continue to be read far and wide. His audiences are impacted the same today as they were when the play was first released.
             Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon. He was born in this country town in 1564. His father was a successful businessman who held a number of positions in the town government. Presumably educated at the Stratford grammar school, Shakespeare acquired a basic understanding of Latin, but he did not attend a university. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and the couple had a daughter, Susanna, in 1583 and twins, Hamneth and Judith, in 1585. Very little is known about Shakespeare's life from the date the twins were born to his appearance in London acting company seven years later. His experience with acting led him to write his plays, therefore lending to the reason the date of the plays being written is vague. Shakespeare went on to write several plays, poems, and sonnets in his lifetime. All of which have been referred to as icons of to be studied within literature.
             Shakespeare finished Macbeth in 1606. This was before Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear.