Shakespearean context:

Jacobean Era:
DEFINITION:

The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of
James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era
succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era.

RELIGION:

England in the Jacobean era was mainly divided into two main religions; Catholic and Protestant.
King James was a Protestant which upset many Catholics at the time. This led to conflict and violence
between people and was the cause of many deaths in the Jacobean era.

WHAT ARE JACOBEAN VALUES:

They are loyal, brave, and honest and serve their county as best as they can. Also throughout the
play, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth's masculinity when he changes his mind about assassinating
King Duncan. Loyalty was greatly sought after during the Jacobean era just like it is today.

GENDER ROLES:

Jacobean gender roles were very similar to the Elizabethan ones. Men assumed a dominant position
in the society. Young couples getting married, often had no choice in selecting their spouse. For a
long time women were often played by young boys. Men basically functioned as the ruling voice
over all aspects of society; “. . . all forms of public and domestic authority in Elizabethan England
were vested in men: in fathers, husbands, masters, teachers, preachers, magistrates, [and] lords”.
Women had virtually no control over their role in society.

Marriage:

The average age of marriage was 26 years of age, so Anne would have been an eligible young lady of
her time.

Politics:

King James' reign in the Jacobean era was marked by intense conflict between protestant and
catholic states across Europe. One of the bloodiest wars in European history, the Thirty Years War,
was fought between 1618 and 1648. While the war began over religion, its lasting impact would be
about the sovereignty of individual states in Europe.

Food:

They enjoyed all kinds of meat, including beef, pork, lamb, mutton, bacon, veal, and deer, and fancy
fowl such as peacock, swan, and goose. Their diet also included freshwater and sea fish, such as
salmon, trout, eel, pike, and sturgeon, and shellfish such as crabs, lobsters, oysters, cockles and
mussels.

Entertainment:

 Smoking: People gathered together occasionally and smoked for entertainment as tobacco
was fairly new at the time.
 Witch Persecutions
 Reading
  Bear Baiting: also a popular type of entertainment during the Elizabethan Era. The people
would gather and bet on bears to fight against bulls or English dogs. Was popular until the
19th century

Education

The main form of school was the Petty School. This provided education from the age of 5. Education
in Petty and Grammar Schools was very formal. Lessons tended to concentrate on learning the
reading and writing of Latin, the Bible and Histories. At 14 children could progress to University. Here
they could specialise in a wider range of subjects.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT:

Early in King James's reign, a group of English Catholics led by Guy Fawkes attempted to destroy
Parliament and assassinate the king in what became known as the Gunpowder Plot. Since King Henry
VIII, the monarch of England was head of the state and the protestant Church of England. During the
reign of James' predecessors Queen Elizabeth and Henry VIII, England broke from the Catholic
Church and adopted Protestantism, known as the Reformation. The protestant Church of England
became the official religion, and the reigning monarch the head of the church. Following the
reformation Catholics were marginalized and excluded from public office, they were forced to
worship in secret. By King James' reign many Catholics who had not converted to Protestantism
wished to see the monarchy restored to the catholic faith. So on November 5, 1605 Guy Fawkes and
a small group of conspirators planted barrels of gunpowder under the parliament building in an
attempt to blow it up. The plot was exposed, and the conspirators were arrested, tried, and hanged
for treason against the crown.

SOCIETY:

Jacobean England was a hierarchical society with strict social classes arranged in tiers like a pyramid.
At the top of the pyramid were members of the English noblemen, the royal court, and landowners,
and at the bottom were servants, everyday workers, and farmers who did not own the land they
worked on. There was also a middle class of skilled tradespeople and merchants. Men could own
property, land, and hold political positions but women could not if they were married. Women in the
lower classes could rarely read and write, but wealthy women were educated and had leisure time
to learn music and foreign languages. Women of all classes took care of children and ran the
household. Women had virtually no control over their role in society

Medieval wall of feudalism:

FASHION:
Heavy brocade, stockings, tight-fitting doublets, long billowing dresses embellished with pearls and
jewels, knee-length trousers, stiff linen collars or ruffs, and feathered hats were all staple elements of
the wardrobes of the well off

During the Jacobean period, people were religious. However, they also believed in the existence of
witchcraft and supernatural beings and activities
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
CAREER OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William worked in a theatre company named 'Lord Chamberlin's Men'. They regularly performed at
a place called 'The Theatre'. However, after a disagreement with the landlord, they relocated to
across the river Thames and named their new theatre 'The Globe'. Both Elizabeth I and James I
would come to watch his plays, both showing a very different preference for theme judging by the
play scripts written under each's reign.

PLAYS

Though William wrote many plays, they can all be sorted into three main categories:

Tragedy: Hamlet, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet

History: Richard III, Henry V and Henry IV

Comedy: The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night.

GLOBE THEATRE

Was the first ever theatre. William Shakespeare and his company of actors helped with the
construction of the globe. Anyone could go and watch the performances there, however, lower class
people could only afford the bottom floor where they had to stand in the rain and cold. Plays here
featured lots of trapdoors, actors lifted on wires, fire smoke and cannons. However, in 1613 a
cannon set fire to the roof and the entire theatre burnt down.

MACBETH

People at this time believed in the Great Chain of Being, whereby every person, animal and even
plant or mineral was assigned a place in the world by God. It was wrong to aspire to a different
place. God, of course, was at the top of the chain. Everyone else was in a strict order descending
from God.

King James was very anxious. His own father was killed and the family home was blown up with
gunpowder. James came to the Scottish throne at 13 months old. There were several attempts on his
life throughout his reign. James had every right to fear for his life; Catholics hoped that, as King of
England, James would bring Catholicism back. However, James had been brought up as a
Presbyterian and so did nothing to change the Church in England at the time. James feared the
revenge of the Catholics and believed they might plot against him. Owing to some odd coincidences
when he married, James also had a great fear of witches and witchcraft.

KING MACBETH (THE REAL ONE)

Macbeth was King of Scots from 1040 until his death. He ruled over the Kingdom of Alba, which
covered only a portion of present-day Scotland. In 1040, Duncan I launched an attack into Moray and
was killed in action by Macbeth's troops. Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057 by
forces loyal to the future Malcolm III. He was buried on Iona, the traditional resting place of Scottish
kings.

MACBETH (THE FAKE ONE)

In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth is initially a valiant and loyal general to the elderly King Duncan.
After being manipulated by Three Witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders Duncan
and takes the throne. Ultimately, the prophecies of the witches prove misleading, and Macbeth
becomes a murderous tyrant. During battle, Macbeth encounters Macduff, a refugee nobleman
whose wife and children had earlier been murdered on Macbeth's orders. Upon realising that he will
die if he duels with Macduff, Macbeth at first refuses to do so. But when Macduff explains that if
Macbeth surrenders he will be subjected to ridicule by his former subjects. He chooses instead to
fight Macduff to the death. Macduff kills and beheads Macbeth, and the play ends with Prince
Malcolm becoming king.

People in the Jacobean era believed in witches, ghosts, star signs, God and breaking mirrors is bad
luck. It was very important that Shakespeare’s plays appealed to King James as he had the power to
shut down any company or group of actors. Shakespeare changed the history of Macbeth to appeal
to the superstitious nature of King James and his country in the Jacobean era and to allow flexibility
of characterisation and theme. Sheakespeare changed his style to save his own skin as this was most
likely performed to the monarch. James had every right to fear for his life; Catholics hoped that, as
King of England, James would bring Catholicism back. However, James had been brought up as a
Presbyterian and so did nothing to change the Church in England at the time. James feared the
revenge of the Catholics and believed they might plot against him. The overall message is that
witches cannot be trusted and this would be appropriate for King James as it plays on his fears and
beliefs to scare and catch his attention.