Macbeth Context

Macbeth Context

1. James 1 England

   • Distant ancestors were Banquo and Fleance
     • In the 'true' story, Banquo helped murder the king but Shakespeare didn't want to reveal that James l had descended from a regicide.
   • Came into power in England in 1603
   • Strong beliefs in witchcraft
     • Convinced witches would murder him
       • Called forth an Act to make witchcraft an offence - trialled and killed if found out
   • He was also James VI of Scotland and the two kingdoms were united in 1603 after Elizabeth died

2. 16th Century Witches

   • Could not be trusted!
   • could make people go mad/bring disease
   • Usually women
     • Accusations were often made on those who were poor, old, widowed or had pets
       • In 'Macbeth', the Weird Sisters all have familiars (like pets) which would instantly inform a contempory audience that they were supernatural
       • Men were not often accused as they could not treat diseases like women and were more powerful to speak out against their accussations
         • In Macbeth, Macbeth is not thought to be a witch but instead possessed by the witches
   • Could control the weather
   • Able to fly
   • Could predict the future and cast spells

3. Women's rights

   • Belonged to their father and then to their husband
     • Could not choose who they wanted to marry
     • Any property also belonged to their male relations
   • Noble women
     • Were literate
       • Women of lower classes were not usually well educated - expected to stay at home
         • Could not go into professions involved in teaching, law, medicine
     • Didn't breastfeed - had a 'wetnurse'
       • Were expected to have a child every other year (at least!)

4. Origin

   • Raphael Holinshed's 'Chronicles of Scotland' (1577)
     • Porter scene
       • Reference to Father Garnet who was a Jesuit Priest involved in the Gun Powder Plot (1605)
         • Other direct links to the Plot which took place a year before the release of the play

5. Elizabethan World Order

   • Elizabethans believed that God appointed the King
     • By killing the monarch, the murderer would also be rebelling against God, destroying a part of Him
   • Order: People believed that God was at the top of the order, followed by Angels, Humans, Animals, Plants, Fire and then Minerals at the bottom
     • Shakespeare challenges this idea because when Macbeth first moves up the order, nothing too awful happens

6. Other links

   • 'How not to be a Boy' (Robert Webb) - gender conditioning of men
   • 'The Hero's Journey'
   • Guy Fawkes
   • Propp's character roles
     • Hero and donor who helps hero
       • Helper supports hero
       • Dispatcher send hero off
     • False hero
     • Villlain
     • Princess (and her father)
   • Todorov's Rarrative Theorey