Depicted, anticlockwise from top-left, are: Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches; just after the murder of Duncan; Banquo's ghost; Macbeth duels Macduff; and Macbeth. Macbeth (/mÉkËbÉÎ¸/; full title The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, 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.