Macbeth

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

5.0

Word count: 96K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Macbeth by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: Finnish, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 17, 2005

Editor's review

This is an electronic edition of the Finnish translation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy Macbeth. As a public-domain resource, it preserves the play's complete dramatic structure: the witches' prophecy, swelling ambition, regicide and usurpation, suspicion and slaughter, and final downfall. In a very short span the story completes a psychological fall from hero to tyrant; the pace is tight and the imagery dense, with blood, darkness, sleep and unnatural disturbances running through the whole play to create a strong sense of stagecraft and moral tension. The value of this edition lies in offering Finnish readers or comparative literature researchers a freely available translation, convenient for setting against the English original to observe how the translator handles puns, verse and soliloquies. It is best read as a play script, with attention to the gap between characters' soliloquies and their actions, and to how the prophecy is fulfilled step by step through the characters' own choices. Because it is a foreign-language translation, readers who do not know Finnish will find it better suited to version comparison or language study than as a first choice for beginners.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Finnish readers or students learning Finnish
Literary researchers working on translation studies and version comparison
Readers with a basic grounding in Shakespearean tragedy who want to compare a foreign-language translation
Teachers who need a public-domain play text for teaching or stage reference

Not a good fit for

General readers who do not know Finnish and wish to read the English original directly
Beginners encountering Shakespeare for the first time who need detailed notes and introductions
Readers expecting modern novelistic narrative and psychological description

Reading tips

If you know Finnish, read through once to grasp the plot, then read key soliloquies and witch scenes closely against the English original.
As you read, list where the prophecies appear and observe how the characters respond to them, to understand the chain of cause and effect in the tragedy.
Read the script as a stage text and imagine the staging and the characters' tones; this helps convey the dramatic tension.
Readers who do not know Finnish can use it as material for translation comparison, setting a soliloquy side by side with an English version.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this edition in English or Finnish?

According to the metadata, the language of this book is Finnish; it is a Finnish translation of Macbeth. For the English original you will need to find another public-domain resource. Readers who do not know Finnish and simply want to read the play itself are advised to choose an annotated English edition or a reliable Chinese translation.

Can someone who has never read Shakespeare read this directly?

Not really advisable. This is a foreign-language translation and a public-domain ebook, which usually lacks detailed notes and an introduction. Readers new to Shakespeare should first read an annotated English edition or a Chinese translation to learn the plot and historical background, and only then consider using this translation for language or translation-level comparison.

Are public-domain ebooks reliable in quality?

Public-domain ebooks are prepared and proofread by volunteers; they are generally readable, but there may be slips in formatting, notes and individual words. They are usually sufficient for general reading and teaching reference; for rigorous scholarly citation, check against a print or authoritative edition and note the source of the electronic version used.

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About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.