context

context

1. • Macbeth. The plot is partly based on fact. Macbeth was a real 11th Century king who reigned Scotland from 1040-1057. Shakespeare’s version of the story originates from the Chronicles of Holinshed (a well known historian). The play was most likely written in 1606 – the year after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – and reflects the insecurities of Jacobean politics.

2. • King James I of England (and VI of Scotland) came to the throne in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I. The play pays homage to the king’s Scottish lineage. The witches’ prophecy that Banquo will found a line of kings is a clear nod to James’ family’s claim to have descended from the historical Banquo. While King of Scotland, James VI became utterly convinced about the reality of witchcraft and its great danger to him leading to trials that begin in 1591.

3. • Only a century before Macbeth was written, England had suffered under the massive disorder of the Wars of the Roses. Civil disorder was now seen as the ultimate disaster and also an ungodly state.

4. • The Great Chain of Being was a strict religious hierarchical structure of all matter and life which was believed to have been decreed by God. This idea dominated Elizabethan beliefs. The chain starts from God and progresses downward to angels, demons (fallen/renegade angels), stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles, commoners, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals, and other minerals.

5. • The Divine Right of Kings says that a monarch is not subject to earthly authority and that they have the right to rule directly from the will of God. It implies that only God can judge an unjust king and that any attempt to depose, dethrone or restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute a sacrilegious act. The action of killing a king is called regicide.

6. • Divine right of Kings – the king is God’s messenger on earth. He is like a God and no one must act against him or be damned for ever

7. • Great chain of being – Everyone has a place in the hierarchy of society and no one should try to move out of their natural place.

8. • Anyone who violates the great chain of being or divine right of Kings disrupts the natural order – the way society should be. If you do this, there will be consequences e.g. nature will be disrupted with earthquakes.