Macbeth context

• During Shakespeare’s lifetime, society was controlled by the Church and the crown
• feudalism


  the divine right of kings= part of the societal order
• king james wanted the public to believe if the divine right of kings was disrupted it would cause chaos.
• the play could be said to be a piece of propaganda showing what happens to traitors when they commit treason
• there were some conspiracies that Shakespeare’s family had catholic sympathies- this could be a reason why all of his plays ave some ambiguity when it comes to religion.
• James VI was king of Scotland during the time period of Shakespeare’s life
• King James lineage wasn’t clear which had caused civil wars in the past over rights/claims to the throne
• Duncan in reality wasn’t a good king and macbeths overthrow of Duncan meant stability in Scotland between 1040-1057- however james VI is a descendant of Duncan so Shakespeare made him a good, just king in the play to keep the peace between him and James VI.
• Historically, Banquo was an ally of Macbeth, but because he was an ancestor of james, Shakespeare put him in the side of good in the play.
• Shakespeares company was referred to as ’ the Lord Chamberlains men’ and came under royal patronage.
• King james could have had Shakespeare's company shut down or had him arrested if he wasn’t pleased, which was the cause for a lot of theatrical flattery in the play, because of the pressure to placate james
• Because James held so much power over Shakespeare's company, the idea for the play could have come from james as an attempt to be honoured through his bloodline.
• The gunpowder plot was a failed attempt to blow up James in The House of Lords in 1605 during the state opening of parliament, by a group of catholic conspirators, who were later captured, tortured and executed for their attempts to reinstate Catholicism as the state religion through their assassination attempt, and their heads were placed on traitors gate as an expample to others who may have been conspiring against James
• Under the reign of james, 2.5 thousand executions were made of “so called” witches which influenced Shakespeare to include them in the play, but left ambiguity in the role of the witches to show he wasn’t completely convinced of the threat of the witches.
• the porters drunken rant in Act Scene 3 , repeats the word “equivocater” (meaning double talk to hide ones true beliefs) used by the Jesuit priest, Henry garnett, who was hung in may 1606 for his role in the gunpowder plot. Shakespeare’s double talk could have been a clever device to avoid accusations of having catholic sentiments.
• in act 3, scene 3, the ghost of Banquo is sometimes invisible, suggesting he could be in the mind of Macbeth just like the dagger, suggesting a supernatural presence throughout the play.
• Macbeth approaches the witches when they say “by the pricking of my thumb, something evil this way comes:- it is possible to see Macbeth as the evil and the witches as simply mischievous but many interpretations have focused on the witches having supernatural powers, furthermore hinting to the supernatural presence through the play.
• there is also a re-occurring theme of the number 3 in the poem:

  -the 3 witches addressing Macbeth by three titles in their first prediction

  -the witches conjuring up 3 apparitions- “Macbeth”

  -there are also 3 murders and 3 murder scenes

  -porter; “drink sir, hes a great provoker of 3 things”

  -Macbeth; “ tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow“
• the church played a massive role in Shakespeare's time, persecuting those who did not believe the teachings of the church.
• the re-occurrence of the number 3 throughout the play, links to three being a very important number in the bible:

  -signifies harmony and wholeness

  -the holy trinity

  -the three apostles

  -3 arch angels

  • there also being three witches could be an attempt to create ambiguity over the evilness of the witches by Shakespeare