ABSTRACT

Eighteen of the thirty-six plays the First Folio contains were printed there for the first time after Shakespeare's death in 1616 and are the sole extant source of the plays. The introduction to the Folio also contains a table of contents that divides its plays into comedies, histories and tragedies. Macbeth is one of them. "Folio" is from the Latin word folium or leaf. The Second Folio (1632) was reprinted from the first, with corrections. The list of plays first printed in quartos leaves the impression that they were among Shakespeare's hits. The great cycle of English history plays helped make his reputation as a playwright. Editors also deduce manuscript copy when there are inconsistencies that the book-keeper would have standardized for rehearsal. Shakespeare seems to have struggled with a play that was a leap forward for him, particularly in his mastery of the soliloquy to suggest interior thoughts.