The seduction of a successful war-hero by the powers of evil, his growing ambition and a domineering wife, his rise to supreme power and his final downfall, the destruction of order and its apparent restoration, the horrors of tormented souls, haunted by their conscience, the psycho-analysis of a criminal couple; all of this expressed in an unsurpassed language of fascinating images. These are the main aspects of the present selection of 19 essential passages from the tragedy of Macbeth, often considered to be the prime example of a Shakespearean tragedy and an all-time classic in schools and universities.