Macbeth is by William Shakespeare.
Macbeth ( [ məkˈbɛθ ] full title The Tragedy of Macbeth ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare ; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606 . It was first published in the Folio of 1623 , possibly from a prompt book , and is Shakespeare 's shortest tragedy . Shakespeare 's source for the story is the account of Macbeth , King of Scotland ; Macduff ; and Duncan in Holinshed 's Chronicles ( 1587 ) , 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 .