“All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.” Shakespeare’s England Shakespeare grew up during the Renaissance (rebirth), an era during which art, theatre, and literature thrived. Because only the nobility kept accounts of their lives, few details are known about the lives of commoners such as Shakespeare. What we do know about William Shakespeare Born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, third in a family of eight children His mother, Mary Arden came from a wealthy family His father, John Shakespeare, was a respected glove maker and as a prosperous tradesman, also took part in local government Educated at the local grammar school (never went to university) Married at age 18 to Anne Hathaway, age 26 and had three children, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith Moved to London shortly after his children were born, leaving his wife and family behind in Stratford Acted with several companies, including the Chamberlain’s Men (later called the King’s Men) who provided entertainment for the Royal Court Wrote 37 plays, many of them for his own acting company Partner in several theatrical ventures, including the famous Globe Theatre Retired to Stratford-upon-Avon where he had enough money to live in Stratford’s largest house and elevated his family name from commoner to the rank of gentleman Died in 1616 on the day of his birth and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon Witches in Shakespeare’s Time In Shakespeare’s time, people not only believed in witches, but feared their power so intensely that anybody accused and found guilty of witchcraft was immediately executed. Between 1560 and 1603, an estimated 16 000 people (most of them women) were burned at the stake for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Today it is thought that more than half of the so-called witches who were executed were persons suffering from psychiatric disorders. Witches were believed to do the devil’s work on earth. People thought they had the power to: raise evil spirits induce nightmares bring on sterility curse enemies with fatal diseases predict the future fly cause bad weather bring on night when it was day King James IV, King of Scotland [King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to 1513 (until his death)] King James was convinced the cruel events of his life were caused by a conspiracy of witches. King James IV Cruel Events… kidnapped at the age of 16 by a group of rivals at 20, he witnessed the brutal execution of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. in 1590, a group of witches tried to kill him, and he began a serious investigation of “witch incidents” in Scotland he wrote a book on the subject entitled Demonology. Life of a Warrior in 11th Century Scotland Scotland in the 11th century was a violent and troubled society. Families and clans were involved in constant feuding as they fought to keep their own territories. Raids from marauding Vikings and Norsemen were a continual threat. Revenge killings and murder for political reasons were common. Battle was a way of life. They sang, danced and drummed their way into battle, as if anticipating a great and dangerous game. Killing was justified in war; murder was seen both as a tool and as pleasure. It is in this bloody, violent era that the play Macbeth takes place. Social Structure in Macbeth Since the play is set in 11th Century Scotland, the society and government were quite different from our society today. The most important societal structure that you need to understand is a concept called “The Great Chain of Being”. The Great Chain of Being The Great Chain of Being God Human Beings Animate Creation Inanimate Creation Being all spirit, God was at the top of the Chain. Then came human beings. Then animate creation such as animals, Followed by inanimate creation such as trees, stones, and earth. Hierarchies within the Chain Human Beings King Royal Family Noblemen Commoners Women Within each level, more specific hierarchies also existed. For example, the King would be at the top of the human level, being considered God’s representative on earth, followed by successively lower status human beings;women being considered at the bottom of the human hierarchy. Inanimate Creation Another example: Trees would be considered higher than flowers because trees were longer lived and more substantial, while flowers were higher than stones, because they would be perceived to have more obvious “spirit” and so on. Trees Flowers Stones earth If the order of the Great Chain of Being was followed, a stable society was believed to be the result. If the Great Chain of Being became disordered, then instability resulted. Since scientific knowledge was limited, events such as earthquakes and eclipses were considered to be signs that something was unbalanced in the Great Chain. Since God was totally “spirit” and could never be blamed, any disorder had to be initiated on the human level. People were expected to know and accept “their proper place” in society in order to maintain a stable society. Audiences in Shakespeare’s time would view the events of the play, Macbeth, through this common view of their societal structure. Roots of the play In 1606, King James 1 of England commissioned Shakespeare to write a new play in honour of a visit from his brother-in-law, King Christian of Denmark. The result was Macbeth. Shakespeare’s source for the story was The Chronicles of Holinshed, a history book which provided the material for most of his history plays. The plot of Macbeth is loosely based on Holinshed’s account of a real King Macbeth who reigned in 11th Century Scotland for 17 years from 1040 to 1057. It is believed that Shakespeare selected this particular story because James I was Scottish born and also because he was said to be descended from Banquo (a real person and also a character in the play). However, Shakespeare made some crucial changes to the historical facts in Holinshed’s Chronicles in order to please King James, so his account of Macbeth’s life has been fictionalized. The Study of Macbeth The study of Macbeth requires an awareness of three different time periods in order to maximize your understanding of the play. The Three Time Periods 11th. Century in which the play is set 1600's when the play was written 21st. Century from which we study the play Each time period becomes a window through which the play can be glimpsed, and the three historical parallels allow a thorough appreciation of its universality. The Curse of “Macbeth” Theatre tradition has it that Macbeth is cursed. Just mentioning the play’s name is considered bad luck among actors so that they never call the play by name, but refer to it as “the Scottish play”. It is believed that the trouble stems from the witches’ scenes in the play. Apparently, Shakespeare used a genuine witches’ curse and its effect has brought bad luck to any production of the play. The Curse of “The Scottish Play” During play’s first performance, on Aug.7, 1606, Hal Berridge, the boy who played Lady Macbeth died backstage In 1849 , the rivalry between American actor Edwin Forrest and British actor John Macready ended in a riot in which 31 people were killed in front of the theatre where Macready was playing Macbeth In 1934, at the Old Vic Theatre in London, in one week, a production of Macbeth went through 4 different Macbeths, each of the first three having been felled by some misfortune In 1938, the Stratford Festival’s production of Macbeth had one of its actors suffer two broken legs when he was hit by his own car in the parking lot; Lady Macbeth ran her car into a store window; Macduff fell off his horse and had to be replaced by his understudy In a 1942 production, the actors playing King Duncan and 2 of the witches died; one right on stage In Orson Welles’ production of Macbeth, the well-known critic, Percy Hammond, who gave it a bad review, died some days later, of pneumonia, it was said In a Bermuda production in the 50’s, the flames around Macbeth’s castle roared out of control and nearly roasted the audience There are many more strange and sometimes fatal events associated with various productions of Macbeth over the centuries, but the play, in all its glory, lives on, because of the compelling nature of its story, the beauty of its language, and the universality of its themes. Despite the superstitions surrounding the play, it has remained one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays.