🛂Passport To...Shakespeare's Macbeth

"Blood will have blood": The tragedy of ambition and tyranny.

Macbeth: “The Three Weird Sisters” by Henry Fuselli (1741-1825)

This is the inaugural post in my “Passport To” series (formerly known as “Study Guides”), where I’ll share a brief author biography, synopsis, and outline of a major work from the Western canon. Most selections are drawn from Mortimer Adler’s Ten Year Reading Plan, which I’m currently following with my reading group. We’re now in Year 2, working from a modified list—having already covered many of the ancient texts during our time in the now-defunct Online Great Books program, and adding an occasional work like this one. My aim is to make these guides a valuable resource to anyone exploring the Great Books individually or with a reading community.

For a review of Mortimer Adler’s inspectional and analytical stages of reading, please see my post below.

The AdlerNet Guide, Part II

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Shakespeare’s Life and Works

In at least two respects, writing a biography of Shakespeare is a futile endeavor. First, the Bard of Avon is so universally known—both to a literary audience and the general public—that I could get away with introducing him simply as “the man who needs no introduction.” Given his legendary status, many readers might be surprised to learn how few biographical facts we actually possess. While biographies abound, they often rely as much on speculation as on verifiable evidence. For our purposes, I’ll simply highlight a few key facts.