AO3: Jacobean Context

AO3: Jacobean Context

1. The artist period in which Shakesprease wrote his plays is known, as the Renaissance. This was the time during which some of the world's greatest art was produced.

2. Like Shakespeare's other plays Macbeth will have been performed, at the Globe Theatre in London, which brought the art of theatre to the mass.

3. It is a widely held superstition in the world of theatre that saying the play's name out loud is bad luck. Instead, actors refer to it as "The Scottish Play".

4. In the 11th Century (when the play is set), and the 17th (when the play is written) people believed in the supernatural and the evil powers of witches and demons.

5. Although Macbeth is not one of Shakespeare's most complex plays, it is certainly one of his most powerful and emotionally intense, especially when seen on stage.

6. The play is a sharp, jogged portrayal of the themes of power and ambition, and has shocked and fascinated audience for over 400 years.

7. Shakespeare based the play on then real life Macbeth, a Scottish figure who murdered the king in 1040 and became King of Scotland.

8. Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare in 1606, and is an example of a shakespearean tragedy, which generally end in death.

9. In the 1600s, England's monarchy had much greater power than it does today, and the King at the time was James I, who had come to the throne in 1603.

10. James I was a parton of Shakespeare's acting company, which meant that he donated money to help Shakespeare stage his plays.