Context
During the first part of Shakespeare’s career Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. Possibly to impress her, and secure her
support for his theatre, he wrote plays with a lot of strong female characters. It is likely that this influenced the creation of Lady
Macbeth.
James I had Scottish ancestors, the Stuarts, so a play concerning the early kings of Scotland was bound to interest him greatly.
Macbeth was one of these kings, and he ruled part of Scotland in the 11 th Century. Shakespeare had read about the historical
Macbeth in several sources, but principally Holinshed’s Chronicles. In Holinshed’s account, however, although we learn that
Macbeth’s wife is ambitious to become queen, she does not feature as an accomplice. Instead, Banquo joins forces with
Macbeth in killing Duncan. The posed a problem, as the Stuarts were supposedly descended from Banquo, who, as Holinshed’s
Chronicles make clear, helped Macbeth murder the king. Shakespeare would not have wanted to imply that his patron was
descended from a regicidal maniac, so he gave the ‘accomplice’ role to Lady Macbeth instead.
Macbeth was probably written in 1605, and first performed for King James I of England in 1606, less than a year after the
infamous Gunpowder plot in which a group of Catholics attempted to blow up the king and the English parliament . A play that
concerned treachery and regicide (the killing of a king) was bound to be topical and politically significant. Regicide would have
been considered sinful by the Jacobeans, as it upset the natural hierarchy decreed by God. This hierarchy was called ‘The Great
Chain of Being’. The chain starts with God and progresses downward to angels, demons, stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles,
commoners, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals and other minerals.
These were difficult times for the general populace too: 1603 (the year of James’s coronation) saw England’s worst outbreak of
the plague to date. Arguably, the dark atmosphere pervading the play reflects the politically volatile time in which it was written.
While king of Scotland, James VI became utterly convinced about the reality of witchcraft and its great danger to him, leading to
trials that began in 1591. James sincerely believed that a coven of powerful witches was conspiring to murder him through
magic, and that they were in league with the Devil. In 1597, with the end of the trials, James published his study of witchcraft or
‘necromancy’, entitled Daemonologie. When James became king of England in 1603, the book was published in London as well.
James I’s fascination with witches was well known, and no doubt Shakespeare composed Macbeth in 1605 or 1606, using
Holinshed’s Chronicles as his source, to please his new king.
King James was also very interested in kingship, including the divine right of kings. In 1599, he even wrote a book on the subject,
detailing what makes a good king, and how he should govern. This book was called the Basilikon Doron. James believed that his
‘divine right’ imbued him with the power to heal, a power inherited from Edward the Confessor.
In Shakespeare’s time people believed in witches. They were people who had made a pact with the Devil in exchange for
supernatural powers. Witches might have a familiar – a pet, or a toad, or a bird – which was supposed to be a demon advisor.
People accused of being witches tended to be old, poor, single women.
Macbeth is a tragedy – a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall
of the main character. Shakespeare developed his distinctive form of tragedy over the course of his career, drawing on a number
of different ancient, historical and contemporary sources and influences, ranging from Senecan tragedy to the morality and
mystery play cycles of medieval England to the works of his peers, playwrights like Kyd and Marlowe. Shakespearean tragedies
intertwine the individual and the social, the psychological and the political and are an arena for the exploration of primal human
desires and values—revenge, love, ambition, hatred, and power.
During the first part of Shakespeare’s career Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. Possibly to impress her, and secure her
support for his theatre, he wrote plays with a lot of strong female characters. It is likely that this influenced the creation of Lady
Macbeth.
James I had Scottish ancestors, the Stuarts, so a play concerning the early kings of Scotland was bound to interest him greatly.
Macbeth was one of these kings, and he ruled part of Scotland in the 11 th Century. Shakespeare had read about the historical
Macbeth in several sources, but principally Holinshed’s Chronicles. In Holinshed’s account, however, although we learn that
Macbeth’s wife is ambitious to become queen, she does not feature as an accomplice. Instead, Banquo joins forces with
Macbeth in killing Duncan. The posed a problem, as the Stuarts were supposedly descended from Banquo, who, as Holinshed’s
Chronicles make clear, helped Macbeth murder the king. Shakespeare would not have wanted to imply that his patron was
descended from a regicidal maniac, so he gave the ‘accomplice’ role to Lady Macbeth instead.
Macbeth was probably written in 1605, and first performed for King James I of England in 1606, less than a year after the
infamous Gunpowder plot in which a group of Catholics attempted to blow up the king and the English parliament . A play that
concerned treachery and regicide (the killing of a king) was bound to be topical and politically significant. Regicide would have
been considered sinful by the Jacobeans, as it upset the natural hierarchy decreed by God. This hierarchy was called ‘The Great
Chain of Being’. The chain starts with God and progresses downward to angels, demons, stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles,
commoners, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals and other minerals.
These were difficult times for the general populace too: 1603 (the year of James’s coronation) saw England’s worst outbreak of
the plague to date. Arguably, the dark atmosphere pervading the play reflects the politically volatile time in which it was written.
While king of Scotland, James VI became utterly convinced about the reality of witchcraft and its great danger to him, leading to
trials that began in 1591. James sincerely believed that a coven of powerful witches was conspiring to murder him through
magic, and that they were in league with the Devil. In 1597, with the end of the trials, James published his study of witchcraft or
‘necromancy’, entitled Daemonologie. When James became king of England in 1603, the book was published in London as well.
James I’s fascination with witches was well known, and no doubt Shakespeare composed Macbeth in 1605 or 1606, using
Holinshed’s Chronicles as his source, to please his new king.
King James was also very interested in kingship, including the divine right of kings. In 1599, he even wrote a book on the subject,
detailing what makes a good king, and how he should govern. This book was called the Basilikon Doron. James believed that his
‘divine right’ imbued him with the power to heal, a power inherited from Edward the Confessor.
In Shakespeare’s time people believed in witches. They were people who had made a pact with the Devil in exchange for
supernatural powers. Witches might have a familiar – a pet, or a toad, or a bird – which was supposed to be a demon advisor.
People accused of being witches tended to be old, poor, single women.
Macbeth is a tragedy – a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall
of the main character. Shakespeare developed his distinctive form of tragedy over the course of his career, drawing on a number
of different ancient, historical and contemporary sources and influences, ranging from Senecan tragedy to the morality and
mystery play cycles of medieval England to the works of his peers, playwrights like Kyd and Marlowe. Shakespearean tragedies
intertwine the individual and the social, the psychological and the political and are an arena for the exploration of primal human
desires and values—revenge, love, ambition, hatred, and power.
