Context---- Macbeth----William Shakespeare The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564

to a successful middle-class glo e-maker in Stratford-upon-! on, England" Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further" #n 15$% he married an older woman, !nne &athawa', and had three children with her" !round 15() he left his famil' behind and tra eled to *ondon to work as an actor and pla'wright" +ublic and critical acclaim ,uickl' followed, and Shakespeare e entuall' became the most popular pla'wright in England and part-owner of the -lobe Theater" &is career bridged the reigns of Eli.abeth # /ruled 155$016)12 and 3ames # /ruled 16)10 16%52, and he was a fa orite of both monarchs" #ndeed, 3ames granted Shakespeare4s compan' the greatest possible compliment b' bestowing upon its members the title of 5ing4s 6en" Wealth' and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fift'-two" !t the time of Shakespeare4s death, literar' luminaries such as 7en 3onson hailed his works as timeless" Shakespeare4s works were collected and printed in arious editions in the centur' following his death, and b' the earl' eighteenth centur' his reputation as the greatest poet e er to write in English was well established" The unprecedented admiration garnered b' his works led to a fierce curiosit' about Shakespeare4s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left man' details of Shakespeare4s personal histor' shrouded in m'ster'" Some people ha e concluded from this fact and from Shakespeare4s modest education that Shakespeare4s pla's were actuall' written b' someone else89rancis 7acon and the Earl of :;ford are the two most popular candidates8but the support for this claim is o erwhelmingl' circumstantial, and the theor' is not taken seriousl' b' man' scholars" #n the absence of credible e idence to the contrar', Shakespeare must be iewed as the author of the thirt'-se en pla's and 154 sonnets that bear his name" The legac' of this bod' of work is immense" ! number of Shakespeare4s pla's seem to ha e transcended e en the categor' of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundl' the course of Western literature and culture e er after" Shakespeare4s shortest and bloodiest traged', Macbeth tells the stor' of a bra e Scottish general /6acbeth2 who recei es a prophec' from a trio of sinister witches that one da' he will become 5ing of Scotland" <onsumed with ambitious thoughts and spurred to action b' his wife, 6acbeth murders 5ing =uncan and sei.es the throne for himself" &e begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a t'rannical ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmit' and suspicion" The bloodbath swiftl' propels 6acbeth and *ad' 6acbeth to arrogance, madness, and death" Macbeth was most likel' written in 16)6, earl' in the reign of 3ames #, who had been 3ames ># of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in 16)1" 3ames was a patron of Shakespeare4s acting compan', and of all the pla's Shakespeare wrote under 3ames4s reign, Macbeth most clearl' reflects the pla'wright4s close relationship with the so ereign" #n focusing on 6acbeth, a figure from Scottish histor', Shakespeare paid homage to his king4s Scottish lineage" !dditionall', the witches4 prophec' that 7an,uo will found a line of kings is a clear nod to 3ames4s famil'4s claim to ha e descended from the historical 7an,uo" #n a larger sense, the theme of bad ersus good kingship, embodied b' 6acbeth and =uncan, respecti el', would ha e resonated at the ro'al court, where

3ames was bus' de eloping his English ersion of the theor' of di ine right" Macbeth is not Shakespeare4s most comple; pla', but it is certainl' one of his most powerful and emotionall' intense" Whereas Shakespeare4s other ma?or tragedies, such as Hamlet and Othello, fastidiousl' e;plore the intellectual predicaments faced b' their sub?ects and the fine nuances of their sub?ects4 characters, Macbeth tumbles madl' from its opening to its conclusion" #t is a sharp, ?agged sketch of theme and character@ as such, it has shocked and fascinated audiences for nearl' four hundred 'ears"