Act 2 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Act 2 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Shakespeare's Macbeth was written in 1605 and first performed in 1606,

in front of King James I (James IV of Scotland) at Hampton Court,

London, three years after he ascended to the throne following the

death of Elizabeth I.

Like Elizabeth, James was deeply interested in witchcraft and

published a book in 1597 called Demonology which may have influenced

Shakespeare. Shakespeare often found inspiration in historical sources

for his plays. Shakespeare had used Raphael Holinshed's account of

Scottish history in his Chronicles of England, Scotlandand Irelandpublished

in 1557. However, in turn Holinshed based his account on earlier

sources. The plot of Macbeth was firstly mentioned in Scotichronicon

by John of Fordun in the fourteenth century.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth Duncan is portrayed as a noble and honest man

and Macbeth as a tyrant. This is where Shakespeare has changed the

original source because in reality Macbeth was a good king who brought

peace to the country and Duncanwas weak. Changes of the sources

however could be seen as a way of catering to the beliefs of the

reigning monarch, James.

Also, I think Macbeth could have been influenced by the gunpowder plot

which was unraveling whilst Shakespeare was writing the play. As Guy

Fawkes, amongst other people had plotted against the monarchy of

England, Macbeth and his wife were plotting to seize the throne in

Scotland. Also, because of this, Shakespeare intended to put a very

strong message across about the murder of kings and the consequences

of committing the wicked crime within his story of Macbeth.

The enduring story of Macbeth is set in the heart of Scotland in the

eleventh century and Scotland at that time was a violent and troubled

country, "feuding families or clans fought in order to control

territory; castles were the centre of each rival Thane's power, and

political murder and revenge killings were not unusual methods to gain

power" (www.rsc.org.uk). Macbeth had fought his way up the ranks of

the army to become one of Duncan's most trusted Thanes, but an