MacbethMacbeth

A tragedy

By William Shakespeare

• The Scottish Play is based loosely on an episode from history: the death of King Duncan at the hands of his kinsman, Macbeth, in the year 1040.

• Full title: The Tragedy of Macbeth• Genre: Tragedy• Setting 11th century• Setting Scotland, and briefly, England

Historical Connection• Scotland at the time was a violent and

troubled country• The castle was the center of each rival aristocrat’s (Thane’s) power• Political murder and revenge were not unusual ways to gain power

• Written between 1604-1606.• The shortest of Shakespeare's

tragedies. • It chronicles Macbeth's seizing of power

and subsequent destruction.• It is considered Shakespeare’s darkest

work.

Shakespeare’s Writing

-Queen Elizabeth died in 1603.

-James was the next blood relative and was the King of Scotland. He became God’s appointed heir on the thrown (Divine Right)

-When writing, Shakespeare would have wanted to impress his new King.

Shakespeare’s Writing

• The play's focus on regicide, a supreme crime in Shakespeare's day, tied into the November 1605 Gunpowder Plot where English Roman Catholic conspirators plotted against King James.

• Shakespeare also incorporated James’ interest in Witchcraft.

Shakespeare’s Inspiration for Macbeth

Some images from recent productions

Macbeth

From This…

To This…

Lady

Macbeth

From This…

To This…

The Representation of Witches

Modern Perception of Witches

- fly, talk to the dead, see the future- make people ill- conjure visions- make themselves invisible- conjure storms- cause shipwrecks- cause crops to fail

In Shakespeare's day it was believed that witches could :

It was believed that witches were women who sold their souls to the devil in

exchange for doing evil deeds and also murdered children.

Throughout Europe in the late 1500s/early 1600s, hundreds of thousands of women were accused of witchcraft, tortured or even killed.

King James I

Very interested in witchcraft before coming to England

He believed black magic was used on him- this increased his concern

Believed in Christian Witch Theory

(that witches worked in groups and made pacts with the devil)

Good

King James was a Christian who believed firmly that he was God's representative on earth.

Evil

He argued that if God was represented on earth in human form, then so was the Devil. The Devil's representatives were witches.

V

King James I

-Wrote Daemonologie in 1597

-80 page book

- 3 sections: magic, sorcery/witchcraft, and spirits/ghosts

Let’s look at the criteria that marks a tragedy…..

The hero is of high birth and position

He has many good qualities but one fatal flaw

This brings about his downfall.

Innocent people suffer in the process.

-Macbeth is our hero who ultimately falls

Getting back to the play…