Wills, Garry,  1934- <br/><br/>
Witches and Jesuits :  Shakespeare's Macbeth / 
 Witches & Jesuits  
Garry Wills. 
 - New York :  New York Public Library ;  Oxford University Press,  1995. 
 - ix, 223 pages :   illustrations ;   22 cm. 
<br/><br/> Based on a series of lectures. 
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-202) and indexes. 
<br/><br/>Introduction: The trouble with Macbeth<br/>Gunpowder<br/>Witches<br/>Male witch<br/>Lady Macbeth<br/>Jesuits<br/>Malcolm<br/>Macbeth<br/>Conclusion: The test of performance<br/>Appendix I: Date of the play<br/>Appendix II: Text of the play<br/>Key to brief citations 
<br/><br/> In Witches and Jesuits, Wills focuses on a single document to open up a window on an entire society. He begins with a simple question: If Macbeth is such a great tragedy, why do performances of it so often fail? Wills maintains that the fault lies not in Shakespeare's play, but in ourselves. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of the vivid intrigue and drama of Jacobean England, Wills restores Macbeth's suspenseful tension by returning it to the context of its own time, recreating the burning theological and political crises of Shakespeare's era, such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a small cell of Jesuits came within a hairsbreadth of successfully blowing up not only the king, but the prince his heir, and all members of the court and Parliament. Wills likens their shock to that endured by Americans following Pearl Harbour or the Kennedy assassination. In this new light, Macbeth is transformed. Wills presents a drama that is more than a well-scripted story of a murderer getting his just penalty, it is the struggle for the soul of a nation. Rich in insight and a joy to read, Witches and Jesuits is a tour de force of scholarship and imagination by one of our foremost writers, essential reading for anyone who loves the language.  
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>0195088794 9780195088793 
<br/><br/><label>LCCN: </label>94014201  
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Personal Names: </label><br/>Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.  Macbeth. <br/>Shakespeare, William,  1564-1616   Macbeth <br/>Macbeth, King of Scotland,  active 11th century --In literature.<br/>Macbeth,  Rey de Escocia   Siglo XI 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Corporate Names: </label><br/>Jesuits--In literature.<br/>Jesuitas en la literatura 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Literature and history--History--England--17th century.<br/>Literatura e historia--Inglaterra --Siglo XVII<br/>Gunpowder Plot, 1605--Historiography.<br/>Witchcraft in literature.<br/>Brujería en la literatura <br/>Tragedy.<br/>Teatro inglés 
<br/><br/><label>LC Class. No.: </label>PR 2823  / W741w 1995 
<br/><br/><label>Dewey Class. No.: </label>822.3/3