Claim: Shakespeare's shortest tragedy is Macbeth.

Macbeth -LRB- -LSB- məkˈbɛθ -RSB- full title The Tragedy of Macbeth -RRB- 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 for its own sake . Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I , who was patron of Shakespeare 's acting company , Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright 's relationship with his sovereign . It was first published in the Folio of 1623 , possibly from a prompt book , and is Shakespeare 's shortest tragedy .   A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland . Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife , Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself . He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia . Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion , he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler . The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death .   Shakespeare 's source for the story is the account of Macbeth , King of Scotland ; Macduff ; and Duncan in Holinshed 's Chronicles -LRB- 1587 -RRB- , a history of England , Scotland , and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries , although the events in the play differ extensively from the history of the real Macbeth . The events of the tragedy are usually associated with the execution of Henry Garnet for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 .   In the backstage world of theatre , some believe that the play is cursed , and will not mention its title aloud , referring to it instead as `` The Scottish Play '' . Over the course of many centuries , the play has attracted some of the most renowned actors to the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth . It has been adapted to film , television , opera , novels , comics , and other media .