How did he become King?

As well as being King of England, James was also King of Scotland.

He had been king of Scotland for a while, and became the King of
England following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, as she had no
King James VI and I- Context
children. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had
plotted against Queen Elizabeth while imprisoned by her. There The Gunpowder Plot
had been issues between the Tudor family and the Stuarts for many As King of England, James faced many threats from people who didn’t believe he was the
years. At one point, it was suggested that Mary should marry rightful king of England. He may have been a Protestant ruling what was supposed to be a
Elizabeth’s brother Edward, (King Henry VIII’s son) but the Scots Protestant country, but there were still many who were attached to their Catholic faith. These
refused to agree to it. None to impressed, Henry VIII began a war people saw James as an unworthy King and plotted to remove him. The most significant and
with the Scots, referred to as the ‘Rough Wooing.’ well-remembered of these plots is the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes was
James was a Protestant, and even though the country had been discovered in the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder. In January 1606, eight of the
converted back to a protestant country under Queen Elizabeth, men involved in the plot, including Fawkes, were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and
many Catholic English people took an instant dislike to him when quartered. It was later in the year that it was decided that the event should be commemorated,
he took the throne. It is well documented that he was far more as it was a great success of James’ parliament and reign. The celebration, which has become
sympathetic to the Catholics than his predecessors, but this was not what we now know as Bonfire Night, involved the ringing of church bells and the lighting of
enough for some. Many believed that he was not the rightful King fires. Some also set off fireworks.
of England, and he was subject to one very significant plot to So, although many thought James was a superstitious, suspicious man, it certainly seems to be
remove him from the throne. the case that he had reason to suspect that people were trying to kill him- they were!

Daemonologie The Divine Right of Kings

James was highly concerned about witchcraft throughout his life. This period of British History is Another major theme of the play, people in the 17th Century
well remembered for the trials of witches, notoriously in Pendle in the North West, but James believed that the King was chosen by God. They believed that
was particularly bothered by them. He wrote the book series ‘Daemonologie’ in 1597, before he people on Earth could have no interference with who was on the
became King of England. throne because to dethrone a King was to go against God-
It was principally about witchcraft and sorcery at the time, and how to spot witchcraft, but it also something which nobody wanted to do back then.
dealt with werewolves and vampires, and sought to educate a public who, in James’ opinion, James had good reason for wanting to remind people of this; as
didn’t understand enough about the threat of Witchcraft. He also explained the reasons for we’ve seen, some people seemed to have forgotten this and were
persecuting a Catholic witch in the law at the time. intent on killing him.
James spent much of his life in fear that he would be attacked by witches. When he When Shakespeare wrote plays for monarchs, they were intended to
commissioned Shakespeare to write a play for him, in part the purpose of the play would be to flatter and promote them. This one, which shows the audience the
show people the dangers of interfering with the natural order and involving yourself in consequences of both meddling in witchcraft and killing a rightful
witchcraft. King, certainly does that!
When?
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth around 1606- a year after the Gunpowder Plot. King James had been on the
English throne since 1603, but after the foiled plot to kill him in 1605, it is possible that James felt that his
position was insecure, and the people needed reminding who was in charge of the country, and why.
About The Play- Context
Who?
While the play is clearly intended to be sympathetic to the King, and condemn those who challenged his rule, there are other historical events and themes at play. The
play is based on a real King of Scotland who was called Macbeth, who ruled in the early 11th Century. The Macbeth in the play however, is nothing like the real one,
who was a legitimate King. Another character based on a real person is Macbeth’s friend and fellow soldier, Banquo. In the play, Banquo is told by the witches that
although he will never be king himself, his children will be. King James was a descendant of the real Banquo, and so this is a clear message from Shakespeare that
James was indeed a legitimate king, who came from a line of kings.

What?
The play is principally about the soldier Macbeth, who receives a prophecy from three witches that he will one day become King. On the instruction of his ambitious
wife, Macbeth kills the rightful King, Duncan, and pins the murder on his guards. As Duncan’s sons flee the country, in fear of their own lives, Macbeth is crowned the
new king of Scotland, thus fulfilling the prophecy. It is marked, however, that on the night that Duncan is killed, the world seems to change- animals eat each other, and
the sky grows darker. Shakespeare is alluding to the idea that to kill a King is to commit a crime against the natural world and God.
Macbeth becomes a bloody and much feared ruler who kills anyone and everyone who tries to interfere with his new-found status- including Banquo, fearing his
children will usurp him. A key plot point is that Banquo’s son Fleance manages to escape and is not killed- meaning that the line can continue, all the way down to
James himself.
Macbeth continues to seek out the advice of the witches- something which would have been seen as scandalous in Shakespeare’s day- and ultimately believes he is
invincible due to their confusing and equivocatory prophecies. Finally, he is killed at the end of the play and the natural order is restored when Duncan’s son Malcolm is
crowned King.

Why?
The play in its context is clearly a condemnation of witchcraft, and of interfering with witches. Shakespeare presents the possible consequences of the black magic
used by the witches in a way which is a very clear warning to the English people in 1606. He also shows them the dangers of interfering with God’s appointment of
Kings, and how by removing the rightful king, the natural world will revolt and rebel until harmony and peace are restored. After being subject to so significant an
assassination plot as the one that took place in 1605, there is little wonder why Shakespeare felt this play was topical, relevant and important.
Appearance vs Reality Ambition
Appearance and reality are at odds throughout the play. Lady
Macbeth tells Macbeth to “look like th’innocent flower, but be the
serpent under’t” when they are planning the murder, and Macbeth
Key Themes Ambition is a driving force in the play. Macbeth’s ambition to be
King is what makes him murder Duncan, despite not wanting to. He
himself identifies his ambition as ‘vaulting,’ implying that he
later says “false face must hide what the false heart doth know,” understands that while he is being carried by it in the moment, he
again showing how things are not as they seem. The apparitions will inevitably ’crash’ on the other side and suffer for his actions.
from the witches in Act 4 also link to this theme as they equivocate The main ideas Lady Macbeth talks about the “illness” that should accompany
and obfuscate in order to mislead Macbeth and lull him into a false ambition, and how Macbeth lacks this ruthlessness. She is the more
sense of security. There is also the fact that while Macbeth initially explored in the play. ambitious of the two at the beginning of the play. The corrupting
appears to be a courageous, strong man, and the other characters power of ambition and the destruction brought about by an excess
see him as a good choice to rule after Duncan’s murder, the truth is of ambition are both major themes of the play, as we see an
he is an unworthy and untrustworthy man, and was in fact the innocent man, and a King, murdered by Macbeth, and the natural
murderer. order being thrown into chaos as a result.

Fate and Free Will

The witches can be seen as responsible for a lot of what Macbeth decides to do in this play. The question of whether what he does is of his own free will or not is a
difficult one. He is influenced by his wife as well as by supernatural forces, and it can be said that it is those forces which lead him down the path of murder which
ultimately leads to his death. It is also arguable whether becoming King was ever Macbeth’s fate, or if it only became that way once the witches had spoken to him.

Supernatural
The supernatural is clearly an important part of the play as it is the witches who appear in the first scene. They also drive Macbeth’s ambition and spark the desire for
him to be King. King James’ beliefs are also significant to the play, as Shakespeare uses the plot to warn against meddling in the supernatural, and also against
disloyalty to the monarch- something James was also all too familiar with.

Femininity vs Masculinity
Set in a highly Patriarchal society, it is unusual that we see Lady Macbeth as the far stronger, more masculine character in the relationship. She demands that her
feminine qualities be removed, and this does seem to harden her for a while. She questions Macbeth’s masculinity repeatedly as she tries to convince him to murder
Duncan, showing how strength and power were the most highly valued qualities in males in this era. Lady Macbeth’s demise at the end is symptomatic of her inability
to escape her destiny, just like her husband.
Who is Macbeth? What is our initial impression?
Macbeth is a soldier; this is established from the very beginning of the play, When we first hear about Macbeth’s character, it is from a captain reporting of the
when a bloody battle is being reported to the King. We know that Macbeth is battle that is taking place. (A1.s2) We are presented with a view of Macbeth that paints
a fearless and skilful soldier from the reports brought back about his actions in him as a valiant, courageous soldier, practically single-handedly responsible for the
the battle. He has killed the leader of the enemy forces in a gory and Scottish victory. He is described as “brave Macbeth,” and as “Bellona’s bridegroom.”
gruesome fashion, and mounted his head on their walls. It is due to his Bellona is the goddess of war, and so this quote suggests to us that he could, indeed,
impressive performance in the battle that he is named ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ be the god of war. While the message the captain is trying to get across is of
replacing the old Thane, who had betrayed them. He is married to Lady Macbeth’s incredible bravery and heroism, he also intrinsically ties Macbeth to
Macbeth, but they have no children, although there is some suggestion in the violence from this point on. For a Shakespearean audience, his heroism in battle
play that they have lost a child. Despite being a strong and powerful soldier, it makes him a strong and likeable character, yet his entanglement with witches, who
is clear in the play that Lady Macbeth is in charge in their relationship, and seem to be planning to meet him already, (A1.s1) creates some ambiguity about how
Macbeth largely does as his wife tells him to. we are supposed to respond to him.

the heat-oppressed brain?

Why do things change? Key quotations: • I have done the deed

Macbeth
The main problem Macbeth encounters is his own ambition. His • There to meet with Macbeth • Look on’t again I dare not
hamartia (or ‘fatal flaw’) is that he is blinded by his desires and rising • So foul and fair a day I have not • Macbeth doth murder sleep
ambition to become King. He acknowledges that listening to seen • Blood will have blood
prophecies from witches is not something he should do in the quote • All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, • Full of scorpions is my mind
“this supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good.” (A1.s3) and Thane of Cawdor • Be innocent of the knowledge
even that “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent but only
vaulting ambition” (A1.s7). Despite this, he ultimately cannot fight his
The eponymous • All hail Macbeth, hail to thee that
shalt be king hereafter •
dearest chuck
Which of you has done this?
desire to be King, and as a result, kills Duncan, Banquo and all of tragic hero • Why do you dress me in • Thou canst not say I did it
Macduff’s family. borrowed robes? • I am in blood stepp’d in so far,
• Whose horrid image doth unfix that should I wade no more,
my hair returning were as tedious as to go
What is he like at the end? • Two truths are told, as happy
prologues to the swelling act •
o’er
How now, you secret, black, and
The Macbeth who fights the final battle at the end of the play is almost completely
unrecognisable from the heroic Macbeth we heard about at the start. He has become a • We will proceed no further in this midnight hags
‘butcher;’ responsible for so much blood and death that even his own army have turned business • Life’s but a walking shadow… it is
• Is this a dagger which I see before a tale told by an idiot, full of
against him. The death of his wife appears at first glance to have very little effect on him;
“she should have died hereafter.” (A5.s5) He reveals that he himself has become me, the handle towards my hand? sound and fury, signifying nothing
desensitised to fear and violence, and yet in his soliloquy, the line “all our yesterdays have • Art thou a dagger of the mind, a • I bear a charmed life
lighted fools the way to dusty death” we begin to understand the depression he is feeling. false creation, proceeding from • This dead butcher
Who is Lady Macbeth? How do we respond to her?
Shakespeare initially uses Lady Macbeth to challenge the Jacobean Lady Macbeth is arguably the villain of the story, despite the fact she doesn’t commit any of
perception of women. She tells the audience in her first appearance the murders in the play. She is a difficult character for us to like, even at the end of the play
how Macbeth, while ambitious, lacks the ruthlessness and drive he when she dies.
needs to go after what he wants. After demanding that the Spirits
take away her feminine qualities, she becomes the driving force
behind the murder of Duncan. Through threats, blackmail and Key quotations:
Lady
bullying, she manages to ensure that Macbeth does indeed go “Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness to catch
through with it, and she then becomes queen. Her role in the rest of the nearest way.”
the play however, is dramatically different. She becomes increasingly “Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it”
absent, being left in the dark by Macbeth regarding his further plans,

Macbeth
“Wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.”
and we don’t see her at all in Act 4. When she reappears in Act 5, it is “Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”
as a mentally unstable, troubled woman, who cannot cope with the “Fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty.”
deeds she has been involved in. After revealing her secrets while “O never shall sun that morrow see.”
sleepwalking, she then commits suicide offstage. “Look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.”
“You will put the night’s great business into my dispatch.”
“When you durst do it, then you were a man.”
What happens to her in the end? “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks
me.”
Lady Macbeth is increasingly absent from the play after the murder of Duncan. While she
continues to appear to be the stronger of the two, she does ultimately kill herself in Act 5. “Th’attempt and not the deed confounds us.”
“Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.”
“My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”
“A little water clears us of this deed, how easy is it then?”
Why does she change? “Tis better to be that which we destroy, than by destruction dwell in
In the 1600s, England was a Patriarchal society. Men were expected to be strong, doubtful joy.”
powerful and in charge in all aspects of life, while women were required to be “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck.”
subservient and meek. As a woman, your role was to marry and have children. Women “You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting with most
were the property of their fathers when they were growing up, and had to obey what admired disorder.”
their fathers wanted. Once they married, they became the property of their husbands, “Yet, here’s a spot. Out, damned spot, out I say!”
and again, were expected to do as they were told. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Lady “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?”
Macbeth at the start of the play is entirely at odds with what his audience would expect of “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in
a female character. In many ways, Lady Macbeth’s demise can be interpreted as a part of him.”
the return to the natural order which she had disturbed later in the play, and as further “The queen, my lord, is dead.”
proof that nobody in the play can escape their true destiny. “This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”
Who are they? The Moirai
The Witches are characters who appear in a few key scenes in the play. The Witches can be said to be inspired by the Moirai. In Greek Mythology, these three
They don’t say much, but what they do say is significant. They are the were responsible for all human lives. Clotho, the first one, was the spinner of the thread of
ones who tell Macbeth that he is going to be King, arguably setting off life, or the Past and birth; this is the first witch, who greets Macbeth by the title he already
the chain of events that lead to Macbeth’s death at the end of the play. has- the Thane of Glamis. The second is Lachesis, who measured out the length of the
They tell Banquo that his descendants will be Kings too, which is thread, represented the present. She is the second witch, who greets him as Thane of
significant as King James was thought to be descended from the real-life Cawdor- a title he has just been awarded but doesn’t know about yet. The third is
Banquo, on whom the character is based. Through their scenes, and the Atropos, the one who cut the thread and ended the life. She represents the future and
conversations they have with Hecate, we know that they are aware that death, and she is the one who tells Macbeth that he will one day be King. Read in this
they are misleading Macbeth, and that this is in fact their aim. Their way, it seems clear that these prophecies are actually about telling Macbeth how he’s
equivocation leads him into over confidence, which is ultimately his going to die, rather than revealing an exciting destiny that lies ahead of him.
downfall. We are left wondering what the purpose of the initial
prophecies was.
Key quotations:
Why are they there?
The play was written at a time when superstitions and fears of the
supernatural were at their peak. Hangings were commonplace, and
The Witches “There to meet with Macbeth.”
“All hail Macbeth, that shall be King
hereafter”
“Thou shalt get Kings, though thou be
being accused of being a witch was one of the worst things that could none.”
happen to you, as it would be difficult to prove your innocence. King “As by the strength of their illusion shall
James himself was deeply afraid of witchcraft, writing three books on the How do we respond? draw him on to his confusion”
subject, entitled ‘Daemonologie.’ In Shakespeare’s day, this was a topical In Shakespeare’s day, these would have “Security is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
issue, and having them open the play would have made it clear to the been terrifying characters. While we are no “By the pricking of my thumbs,
audience that they would be a significant, and deadly, element of the longer scared by them, we can still something wicked this was comes.”
story. The way that Macbeth interacts with them would also be a flag for appreciate the impact they have on the “Macbeth shall never vanquished be,
the audience that he cannot be trusted. They also refer to Macbeth as play and the other characters, and we until Great Birnham Wood to high
‘something wicked’ by Act 4, showing us how far his character has fallen. understand the role they play in the plot. Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.”

Fate or Free Will?

The question is whether or not it was Macbeth’s destiny to become King, or whether that only became his destiny once they’d told him that it was. The play focuses a lot
on the idea of fate vs free will, as many of Macbeth’s initial actions and decisions seem to come from others; first the witches and then from his wife. He does make
some decisions independently, but then visits the witches again, and his final decisions, which lead to his death, are motivated by that meeting. Do the witches exist in
the play solely to push Macbeth down this path that leads to his death?
Who is he? How do we respond to him?
Shakespeare wrote this play for James I, and a lot of his message can be interpreted Although Banquo is only in the play for a short while, as an audience, we
through Banquo. The real Banquo was thought to be an ancestor of King James, and in are encouraged to like him. He is seen as a more level-headed, rational
this play he is painted as a strong, intelligent character, and the father of a rightful line character than Macbeth, and he is the one who is said to be father to a line
of kings. In Act 4 he appears as part of the apparitions with his line of kings, holding a of kings in the future. His murder marks a shift in Macbeth’s character
mirror in order to show James as the next in the line. He is introduced to us as a friend where he begins more gratuitous murders of his own free will, with no
of Macbeth’s as well as a fellow soldier. He reacts far more rationally to the appearance interference from Lady Macbeth or the Witches. The fact he has a son also
of the witches than Macbeth does, but is murdered at Macbeth’s command in Act 3. He makes us feel more sympathetic towards him as he is so needlessly killed.
then comes back as a ghost and appears to Macbeth at his first banquet as King. This is
arguably a manifestation of Macbeth’s own guilty conscience.
The King James thing:
In Scottish royal history, the beginning of the Stewart line, which James was
What is his relationship with Macbeth?
Banquo
part of, could be traced back to Robert II, thought to be the son of Fleance.
He is a soldier like Macbeth, and they are friends at the start of In the play, Fleance is Banquo’s son who appears alongside him, despite
the play when they are confronted by the three witches on the not having any lines. At the time, the audience would have recognised the
heath. Macbeth hints to Banquo that he plans to become king, links being made between the characters and the King.
and suggests that he will make sure Banquo is looked after if
he is loyal to him. After the murder of Duncan, Banquo is the
first to suspect that Macbeth may have been involved,
although he also hopes that if the witches were telling the
Key quotations:
“If you can look into the seeds of time and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then
truth to Macbeth, then they may have been honest with him
to me”
too. Macbeth, however, fears this too. He tries to have Banquo
“What, can the devil speak true?”
and Fleance his son murdered to avoid his descendants taking
his crown. Macbeth talks about how Banquo is an intelligent “The instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest
consequence.”
man, and how if anyone would figure out what he had done, it
“There’s husbandry in heaven.”
would be him. When Banquo’s ghost reappears at the
“Thou hast it now- king, Cawdor, Glamis, all as the weird women promised. And I feel thou played
banquet, it can be seen as a manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt,
most foully for’t.”
not only for the murders he has committed, but for betraying
his friend in such a horrific way. It also shows how he too is “May they not be my oracles as well, and set me up in hope?”
“There is none but he whose being I do fear”
starting to struggle to cope with his own actions and his
“For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind”
mental state is beginning to unravel. The appearance of the
“Mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man, to make them Kings, the seed of Banquo
ghost also ruins his first official banquet as King, showing that
Kings!”
he is not a rightful monarch, and therefore the natural world is
interfering with his ability to do the job. “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me.”