The
Tragedy of Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have
been first performed in 1606. It dramatizes the damaging physical and
psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own
sake. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of
witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and
spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the
Scottish throne for himself.