“All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.”

Shakespeare’s England

Shakespeare grew up during the Renaissance (rebirth), an era during which art, theatre, and literature thrived. Because only the nobility kept accounts of their lives, few details are known about the lives of commoners

such as Shakespeare.

What we do know about William Shakespeare

Born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, third in a family of eight children

His mother, Mary Arden came from a wealthy family His father, John Shakespeare, was a respected glove maker

and as a prosperous tradesman, also took part in local government

Educated at the local grammar school (never went to university)

Married at age 18 to Anne Hathaway, age 26 and had three children, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith

Moved to London shortly after his children were born, leaving his wife and family behind in Stratford

Acted with several companies, including the Chamberlain’s Men (later called the King’s Men) who provided entertainment for the Royal Court

Wrote 37 plays, many of them for his own acting company Partner in several theatrical ventures, including the famous

Globe Theatre Retired to Stratford-upon-Avon where he had enough money

to live in Stratford’s largest house and elevated his family name from commoner to the rank of gentleman

Died in 1616 on the day of his birth and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

Witches in Shakespeare’s Time

In Shakespeare’s time, people not only believed in witches, but feared their power so intensely that anybody

accused and found guilty of witchcraft was immediately executed.

Between 1560 and 1603, an estimated 16 000people (most of them women) were burnedat the stake for allegedly practicing witch-craft.

Today it is thought that more than half of theso-called witches who were executed werepersons suffering from psychiatric disorders.

Witches were believed to do the devil’s work on earth. People thought they had the

power to:

raise evil spirits induce nightmares bring on sterility

curse enemies with fatal diseases predict the future

fly cause bad weather

bring on night when it was day

King James was convinced the cruel events of his life were caused by a conspiracy of witches.

King James IV, King of Scotland[King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to 1513 (until his death)]

King James IV Cruel Events… kidnapped at the age of 16 by a group of rivals

at 20, he witnessed the brutal execution of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots.

in 1590, a group of witches tried to kill him, and he began a serious investigation of “witch incidents” in Scotland

he wrote a book on the subject entitled Demonology.

Life of a Warrior in 11th Century Scotland

Scotland in the 11th century was a violent and troubled society. Families and clans were involved in constant feuding as they fought to keep their own territories.

Raids from marauding Vikings and Norsemen were a continual threat. Revenge killings and murder for political reasons were common. Battle was a way of life. They sang, danced and drummed their way into battle, as if anticipating a great and dangerous game.

Killing was justified in war; murder was seen both as a tool and as pleasure. It is in this bloody, violent era that the play Macbeth takes place.

Social Structure in Macbeth

Since the play is set in 11th Century Scotland,the society and government were quite differentfrom our society today. The most important societal structure that you need to understand is a concept called “The Great Chain of Being”.

The Great Chain of BeingTh e G rea t C h a in o f B e in g

In an im ate C rea tion

A n im ate C rea tion

H u m an B e in g s

G odBeing all spirit, God was at the top of the Chain.

Then came human beings.

Then animate creation such as animals,

Followed by inanimate creationsuch as trees, stones, and earth.

Hierarchies within the ChainH u m an B e in g s

W om en

C om m on ers

N ob lem en

R oya l F am ily

K in g

Within each level, more specific hierarchies also existed. For example, the King would be at the top of the human level, beingconsidered God’s representative onearth, followed by successively lower status human beings;womenbeing considered at the bottom of the human hierarchy.

In an im ate C rea tion

earth

S ton es

F low ers

Trees

Trees would be considered higher than flowers becausetrees were longer lived andmore substantial, while flowerswere higher than stones, becausethey would be perceived to havemore obvious “spirit” and so on.

Another example:

If the order of the Great Chain of Being was followed, a stable society was believed to bethe result. If the Great Chain of Being became disordered, then instability resulted. Since scientific knowledge was limited, events such as earthquakes and eclipses were considered tobe signs that something was unbalanced in theGreat Chain.

Since God was totally “spirit” and could never be blamed, any disorder had to be initiated on the human level.People were expected to know and accept “their proper place” in society in order to maintain a stable society. Audiences in Shakespeare’s time would view the events of the play, Macbeth, through this common view of their societal structure.

Roots of the play

In 1606, King James 1 of England commissionedShakespeare to write a new play in honour of a visit from his brother-in-law, King Christian of Denmark. The result was Macbeth.

Shakespeare’s source for the story was The Chronicles of Holinshed, a history book which provided the material for most of his history plays.

The plot of Macbeth is loosely based on Holinshed’s account of a real King Macbethwho reigned in 11th Century Scotland for17 years from 1040 to 1057.It is believed that Shakespeare selected thisparticular story because James I was Scottishborn and also because he was said to bedescended from Banquo (a real person andalso a character in the play).

However, Shakespeare made some crucialchanges to the historical facts in Holinshed’sChronicles in order to please King James, sohis account of Macbeth’s life has beenfictionalized.

The Study of Macbeth

The study of Macbeth requires an awareness of three different time periods in order tomaximize your understanding of the play.

Th e Th ree T im e P eriod s

1 1 th . C en tu ryin w h ich th e p lay

is se t

1 6 0 0 'sw h en th e

p lay w as w ritten

2 1 s t. C en tu ryfrom w h ich w es tu d y th e p lay

Each time period becomes a window through which the playcan be glimpsed, and the three historical parallels allow athorough appreciation of its universality.

The Curse of “Macbeth”Theatre tradition has it that Macbeth is cursed. Just mentioning the play’s name is consideredbad luck among actors so that they never call the play by name, but refer to it as “the Scottish play”.It is believed that the trouble stems from thewitches’ scenes in the play. Apparently, Shakespeare used a genuine witches’ curse andits effect has brought bad luck to any productionof the play.

The Curse of “The Scottish Play” During play’s first performance, on

Aug.7, 1606, Hal Berridge, the boy who played Lady Macbeth died backstage

In 1849 , the rivalry between American actor Edwin Forrest and British actor John Macready ended in a riot in which 31 people were killed in front of the theatre where Macready was playing Macbeth

In 1934, at the Old Vic Theatre in London, in one week, a production of Macbeth went through 4 different Macbeths, each of the first three having been felled by some misfortune

In 1938, the Stratford Festival’s production of Macbeth had one of its actors suffer two broken legs when he was hit by his own car in the parking lot; Lady Macbeth ran her car into a store window; Macduff fell off his horse and had to be replaced by his understudy

In a 1942 production, the actors playing King Duncan and 2 of the witches died; one right on stage

In Orson Welles’ production of Macbeth, the well-known critic, Percy Hammond, who gave it a bad review, died some days later, of pneumonia, it was said

In a Bermuda production in the 50’s, the flames around Macbeth’s castle roared out of control and nearly roasted the audience

There are many more strange and sometimes fatalevents associated with various productions of Macbeth over the centuries, but the play, in all itsglory, lives on, because of the compelling nature of its story, the beauty of its language, and theuniversality of its themes. Despite the superstitionssurrounding the play, it has remained one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays.