Macbeth - Act 1, scene 5 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Scene 5. Lady Macbeth reads her husband’s letter about his meeting the witches. She fears that Macbeth lacks the ruthlessness he needs to kill Duncan and fulfill the witches’ second prophecy. When she learns that Duncan is coming to visit, she calls upon supernatural agents to fill her with cruelty. Macbeth arrives, and Lady Macbeth tells ...
Hamlet - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJun 2, 2020 · Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play Events before the start of Hamlet set the stage for tragedy. When the king of Denmark, Prince Hamlet’s father, suddenly dies, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, marries his uncle Claudius, who becomes the new king.A spirit who claims to be the ghost of Hamlet’s …
Macbeth - Act 1, scene 3 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Act 1, scene 3. Scene 3. Synopsis: The three witches greet Macbeth as “Thane of Glamis” (as he is), “Thane of Cawdor,” and “king hereafter.”. They then promise Banquo that he will father kings, and they disappear. Almost as soon as they are gone, Ross and Angus arrive with news that the king has named Macbeth “Thane of Cawdor.”.
Macbeth - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Malcolm and Macduff lead an army against Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth goes mad and commits suicide. Macbeth confronts Malcolm’s army, trusting in the Weïrd Sisters’ comforting promises. He learns that the promises are tricks, but continues to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes Scotland’s king. p. 7.
Romeo and Juliet - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters “star-crossed lovers”—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when …
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Contents. Synopsis: In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, residents of Athens mix with fairies from a local forest, with comic results. In the city, Theseus, Duke of Athens, is to marry Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Bottom the weaver and his friends rehearse in the woods a play they hope to stage for the wedding celebrations.
Romeo and Juliet - Act 3, scene 1 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters “star-crossed lovers”—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when …
A Modern Perspective: Hamlet | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBThe great Russian director Vsevolod Meyerhold used to maintain that “if all the plays ever written suddenly disappeared and only Hamlet miraculously survived, all the theaters in the world would be saved. They could all put on Hamlet and be successful.” 1 Perhaps Meyerhold exaggerated because of his frustration—he was prevented from ever staging …
Hamlet - Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBHamlet is Shakespeare’s most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a “revenge tragedy,” in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. Among them: What is the Ghost—Hamlet’s father ...
Julius Caesar - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 · Synopsis: Caesar’s assassination is just the halfway point of Julius Caesar. The first part of the play leads to his death; the second portrays the consequences. As the action begins, Rome prepares for Caesar’s triumphal entrance. Brutus, Caesar’s friend and ally, fears that Caesar will become king, destroying the republic.