Context

• Shakespeare is England's most famous playwright. He lived from 1564 – 1616.
• Shakespeare's plays can be divided into

  • Histories
  • Comedies
  • Tragedies
• For the majority of his career, Shakespeare wrote for the acting group the Lord Chamberlain's Men (who became known as the King's Men in 1603 when James I ascended the throne).
• Shakespeare was writing during the Renaissance, a period between the 14th and 17th centuries where there was an expansion of artistic expression.
• Plays were an incredibly popular and central medium of entertainment during the Elizabethan and Jacobean era.
• Macbeth is a history play and was written in 1606 - a few years after the ascension to the throne of James VI of Scotland who succeeded as the monarch of England in 1603 known as James I.
• Hamartia


  An ancient Greek term first used by Aristotle in his Poetics, meaning 'fatal flaw'. A character's fatal flaw is the thing that leads to their ultimate downfall.
• Catharsis


  An ancient Greek term that means the 'purging' or 'cleansing' of emotions, particularly through pity and fear, that the audience experiences at the end of a tragedy. It results in renewal and restoration.
• The original source of the story of Macbeth comes from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), which is a large work describing the collaborative histories of England, Scotland and Ireland.
• 3 main changes Shakespeare made from Holinshed's 'Historie of Scotlande'

  • Characterised Macbeth as cruel and tyrannical, rather than a good king for 10 years
  • Changed the 'goddesses of destine' to three simple Elizabethan witches
  • Banquo is not an accomplice to the murder and is an honourable man, rather than a partner with Macbeth to kill King Duncan
• The Jacobean era was one of uncertainty and tension due to the way that King James I came to power.
• King James I had a great interest in the supernatural and witchcraft, so much so that he wrote a book called 'Daemonologie' (1597), meaning 'the science of demons'.
• The 3 parts of Daemonologie

  • Magic and necromancy
  • Witchcraft and sorcery
  • Spirits and spectres
• After James became the king of England he increased the severity of the law regarding witchcraft, enacting a new law in 1604 called 'An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft and Dealing with Evil and Wicked Spirits' which made witchcraft a felony punishable by death.
• Divine right of kings


  The belief that the king is chosen by God and has a supernatural duty to enact God's will, including ridding the earth of witchcraft.
• King James I was deeply misogynistic, believing that only women could be witches because they were the 'weaker sex' and so could be easily entrapped by the 'snares' of the devil.
• Witchcraft plays a large part in Macbeth and provides a basis for the events of the play, with the witches serving as a warning against witchcraft, evil and bloodshed.
• Some have argued that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch in the play, due to her passion and her power and ambition.