Context

• Why do people think that Shakespeare wrote his plays for James I?

  • James funded his plays
  • central themes in the play were tailored to fit his interests: treason, regicide and supernatural
  • James I believed in divine right to rule and great chain of being
  • Banquo‘s character emphasises James I ancient royal lineage
  • appeased James I by warning Jacobean audience about the extreme consequences of regicide + as well as eternal damnation
• What is the belief of the divine right of kings?

  • A monarch derived their authority from God
  • Any attempt to depose or murder this king is an attempt on God himself - if you kill the king you are going directly against God and that’s an ultimate sin. You will be eternally punished, separated from God in hell —> would have been a deep rooted fear for Jacobean audience
  • If God appointed the king, he appointed all of the family
  • Macbeth violates the divine right of kings and suffers a gruelling death - his downfall is synonymous with his violation of this
• What’s the belief of the great chain of being?

  • God created the world with a clear hierarchical structure encompassing all matter and life
  • Monarch top of structure
  • Men higher on structure than women so women were expected to be subordinate to their husbands
  • Trying to move yourself on these categories would be going against God’s will
  • Considered to be fact of life
  • Macbeth violates great chain of being by betraying his superior (Duncan) and therefore God
  • Lady Macbeth violates chain by emasculating Macbeth and forcing him into regicide
• What was the Daemonologie and how does it link to the play?

  • Published by James I
  • Explores James beliefs in magic and witchcraft, aiming to prove the existence of such forces
  • in the book James looks at the witches ability to change the weather, make potions and chant etc
  • Shakespeare depiction of the witches matches with James’s
• How does religion and the 7 deadly sins link to the play?

  • Jacobean society was highly religious
  • 7 deadly sins are group of vices intended to prevent sin in Christian teachings
  • They are: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth
  • Committing any of the sins would be straying from God’s will
  • Macbeth is guilty of pride, anger, envy, greed, his death is seen as a punishment for this
• How does the patriarchy link to the play?

  • Social system in which men hold the power and women face oppression from these men in power
  • Great chain of being dictates that men are superior to women leading to a patriarchal social structure
  • Shakespeare conforms to the idea and challenges it
  • The country is led by a male monarch, supported by male subjects, but lady Macbeth consistently subverts patriarchal expectations of women
  • Lady Macbeth subverts Jacobean patriarchal ideals about women by being so barbaric --> more barbaric and tyrannical than macbeth