Shakespeare's Influence on the Audience's Opinion of Macbeth in the Play

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Shakespeare's Influence on the Audience's Opinion of Macbeth in the Play

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most terrifying tragedies. It centres

around two main characters Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. It tell

us of Macbeth rise to power as King of Scotland, by murdering the

current King Duncan I, after three witches forewarn him of his coming

of power. He then seeks to secure his position; by killing anyone who

threatens him, for instance Banquo, because the three witches, also

told Macbeth that Banquo's children will be kings. Duncan's son

Malcolm, who fled to England, after his father death, returns with the

English army, including the noble Macduff, who later slays Macbeth.

Macbeth at the beginning of the play starts off as a great general

returning home after a victorious battle, but after his encounter with

the witches, evil and ambition slowly starts to take its grip, even

though, throughout the play we see the struggle Macbeth has with his

conscience.

Macbeth was first performed in 1606. It reflects many of the beliefs

of the time. The King on the throne at the time was James I of

Scotland and England. He inherited the English throne of his cousin

Queen Elizabeth I, after her death in 1603. James I, it has been

suggested, was not a good King. He drank too much, had a temper, and

had a debauched lifestyle, and he loved hunting. However, he was

intelligent, and took part in debates, and published books on

political theory. The presence of the supernatural in Macbeth maybe

due to the fact that James I, who the play was written for, also had

an interest in the supernatural, and the hunting of witches.

Witches have bee...

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..., so Shakespeare what the audience to feel upset,

shocked, angry, all at the same time and at different times. In the

end that good triumphed over evil. Macbeth is the evil character that

everyone is supposed to feel angry and disgusted at. Lady Macbeth is

the evil woman, who edges on her husband, but is finally overcome will

guilt. The witches are the mysterious angle; we don't know whether

Macbeth's hallucinations are caused by his own mind or something more

dark and deadly. The witches also are important, because they are tell

the audience the story, so the audience and the witches know what is

going to happen, but the character don't, so it help you to follow the

story. We don't know whether the witches planed Macbeth fate or did

Macbeth himself determine it. That shall be left to our own

imaginations to determine.

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