Lord Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis and quickly the Thane of Cawdor, is the title character and main protagonist in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The character is loosely based on the historical king Macbeth of Scotland and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), a compilation of British history.
Orson Welles (Macbeth) and Jeanette Nolan (Lady Macbeth) in Welles's 1948 film adaptation of the play, Macbeth.
Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo
Macbeth and the witches by George Romney
Macbeth Seeing the Ghost of Banquo by Théodore Chassériau
Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, Macbeth most clearly reflects his relationship with King James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.
Title page of the part in the First Folio.
Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches for the first time.
Macbeth consulting the Vision of the Armed Head by Johann Heinrich Füssli
Lady Macbeth sleepwalking by Johann Heinrich Füssli