Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

A little bit of history to understand the play

James I: The beginning of the Stuarts

Becomes King of England after Elizabeth I – takes throne in 1604 Was formerly James VI of Scotland, a country regarded as a small,3rd rate,

backward land England had become a superpower under Elizabeth I, also a Protestant

nation As King, became more rich, powerful than he could imagine Believed in witches, demons; wrote books on the subject; saw a connection

between witchcraft and treason

The Tudor-Stuart Family Tree

The Gunpowder Plot

The role of faith James I inherited a nation pulled apart by

faith Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII broke with the

Catholic Church over his divorce with Katherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess

Elizabeth, James are Protestant but Mary, who was queen before Elizabeth (Henry’s daughter by Catherine) is Catholic.

Gunpowder plot, cont. Gunpowder Plot devised by Papists

(Catholic) to destroy Parliament, King (Protestant)

Comes after years of persecution of Catholics by Protestant rulers

See James I as a failure as continues Protestant reforms in England

The Conspirators Plot devised from May, 1604 through to

execution on November 5, 1605 Conspirators all Catholic looking to destroy

government they see as oppressors 10 men part of the plot, including Guy

Fawkes, a munitions expert who had learned his skills fighting with the Spanish (Catholic) against the Dutch (Protestant)

Plot Uncovered Plotters put gunpowder under the Houses of

Parliament, with the intent to blow up the building Plot uncovered by an anonymous letter; an

investigation was launched and Fawkes was discovered leaving the cellars of Parliament on the evening of November 5

Fawkes is taken to the Tower of London and interrogated under torture (the rack)

Fawkes and several other conspirators are hanged, drawn and quartered on January 31 for their acts of treason

James I and “Macbeth” Shakespeare wrote plays for Elizabeth,

now takes on role for James James is entertaining his father-in-law, King

of Denmark and needs a play Macbeth was a warrior king of Scotland

(1040-1057) James is a descendant of Banquo

Macbeth: the play (1606) Shakespeare had to write it in a hurry Many inconsistencies: II.iv/III.vi Not always his style: III.v/IV.i Critics believe he had help in the witch scenes Someone may have even finished it The story comes from Hollinshed’s Chronicles, THE history book of

the time. Shakespeare knew his history and his audience Published in the First Folio in 1623

Shakespeare combines 2 stories: the murder of Duncan and the story of King Macbeth

Integrates elements and themes from the Gunpowder plot Shakespeare “plays” with a new idea: a hero as villain or the

villain as hero, precursor to anti-hero Shakespeare knew he had a strong boy actor so he wrote a strong

female part: Lady Macbeth Shakespeare’s company became The King’s Men under James, the

most powerful acting company in England

The “rules” of the Supernatural(As an Elizabethan you KNEW these rules cold. You never know when you may meet a ghost)

Ghosts can only walk the earth from midnight to dawn Not every one can see the apparition Divine people wrote with their right hands; left handed people

were cursed On April 30 you would scare off the fairies and witches that roam

the earth by setting fire to the gorse and blowing horns If you are “fatidical” you can predict the future To conjure, you must create the circle first; this is the dangerous

area of the deviland where the spell will be worked. Witches dance in a ring Witches cannot fly by day. They need the thick humors of the

night to bear them up. Demons can thicken the air

The rules, cont. To cast a spell, you need death, thus the witches hang out in the

battlefield and graveyards Some ingredients for the spell must be gathered in night Sometimes witches need a starless night or an eclipse to work their spells Necromancy: the art of communication with the spirits of the dead to

predict the future. A bone-orchard is Elizabethan slang for a “cemetery”. Witches have limited powers Elizabethans believed all of the above and thought Jesuits and Turks to be

sorcerers. Jesuit priests were believed to know magic, idolatry, and witchcraft

because of icons, healing, and exorcisms. Elizabethans loved the supernatural, so Shakespeare made a point of

pleasing his audiences by usually including a bit in most plays.

Important questions in reading “Macbeth”

Why do people do evil, knowing it is evil? Does Macbeth do evil because he is

tempted by fate/because he is pushed/because of his personal ambition?

What is guilt? Why does Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s

success fall apart so quickly?