macbeth context

acronym for context

King Duncan’s Grim Death Sparks Paranoia

key context

• king james 1

• Divine Right of Kings

• Great Chain of Being

• Daemonologie

• Seven deadly sins

• Patriarchy

King James 1st

• was Shakepeare’s royal patron so Shakespeare aimed to appease him

• to do this he wrote against regicide and writes Macbeth in a way that aligns with king James ideas of the sanctity of kingship

King James context link to Macbeth

• Shakespeare personifies the consequences of regicide through Macbeth to warn the audience against this ambition as regicide will lead to their tragic demise

• king James seen to be Banquo’s descendent- therefore Shakespeare presents Banquo as honourable and untainted by ambition

Divine Right of Kings

• kings were believed to be gods representative on earth

• disrupting this was seen as an assault against God himself

• this concept was especially relevant in Shakespeare’s time, as undermining the king was viewed as a direct attack on gods authority

DRoK link to macbeth

• Macbeth disrupts the Divine right by murdering King Duncan, a king anointed by God thereby committing a grave moral and religious crime.

• Macbeth faces disastrous consequences as a result of this

Great Chain of Being

• hierarchal order ordained by God- men above women, humans above animals etc

• The Great chain of being supported the social structure of the time, and any disturbance was thought to lead to chaos in the natural world

GCoB link to Macbeth

• Macbeths bloodthirsty rampage disrupts the great chain of being

• Macbeths tyrannical reign and murder of Duncan violates this cosmic order, leading to chaos in Scotland

• Lady Macbeth tries to alter her position in the GCB through power over her husband (through manipulation- flattery, emasculation, emotional blackmail and in other ways )

Daemonologie

• book written by James 1st in 1597 which describes the supernatural and how to punish witchcraft.

• 1604- act against witchcraft

• daemonologie legitimised persecution of witches,leading to witch hunts and executions across England and Scotland

Daemonologie link to Macbeth

• the witches in Macbeth directly mirror the ideas in daemonologie- they embody the malevolent supernatural forces that James condemned

• witches manipulation of macbeth aligns with the fears of witchcraft as outlined in daemonologie

• this was another way for Shakespeare to appease the King

Seven deadly sins + religion

• 7 deadly sins should be avoided within Christianity to abstain from being influenced by the devil

• 7 deadly sins have been widely understood as moral guides throughout history, making Macbeths fall a cautionary tale for Shakespeare’s audience

7 deadly sins link to macbeth

• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embody:

  • greed

  • pride

  • envy

  • wrath

• Macbeth is driven by his pride/hubris and is greedy for more power- he is envious of Duncan’s power which results in his violent wrath as he commits regicide.

Patriarchy

• Macbeth was set and performed to a patriarchal Jacobean society-where women were seen as inferior to men

• Lady Macbeths dominance challenges the audience’s expectations of women, while her downfall reinforces traditional views about the dangers of women overstepping their roles.

patriarchy link to macbeth

• Lady Macbeth manipulates and emasculates her husband, defying patriarchal norms by exerting authority and goading him into murder

• Lady Macbeth continuously deviates from the typical Jacobean expectations of a woman as she subverts her traditional role as a subservient wife and exerts influence over Macbeth, defying the patriarchy.

other relevant context

• gunpowder plot- November 5th 1605

• failed plot to commit regicide of James 1st

  - medallion with snakes and flowers in remembrance