Macbeth, Shakespeare and the Gunpowder Plot Essay

"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.

2. Setting: Macbeth took place during the eleventh century (The Middle Ages) (“SparkNotes”), briefly in England, but mainly in Scotland. The social environment valued friendship among free, white,, and relatively equal men. There was a significant amount of religious conflict, women were held as inferior to men, and the monarch was an important figurehead. The atmosphere of the book is quite dark. For the most part, Macbeth’s ambition terrifies himself because he fears the consequences of his evil deeds. Therefore, this tragic play has a sinister atmosphere of despair. Macbeth is haunting and ominous, significant in the way it portrays Macbeth as a crazed lunatic with a dangerous ambition. Shakespeare wrote the play for his new patron, James VI of Scotland, honoring him through Banquo. The play still holds significance today as it teaches people to beware of dark power and extreme ambition.

Shakespeare, did not write this play to depict psychological disorders but wrote it for King James, the Monarch, after Queen Elizabeth had died. Before this play was written there was an incident call the “Gunpowder Plot” which was a plot to kill King James since he ruled harshly over Catholics and was not Queen Elizabeth's son but her sister’s, Mary (Stokes). Although the conspiracy was uncovered and they were caught, Shakespeare based Macbeth off of it to show what would have happened if King James died (Stokes). Therefore, this portrays a terrible cruel world England would’ve experienced if King James had died since he was the closest heir to the throne. This is also supported by the fact that the witches are like Francis Tresham, the man who betrayed the people in the gunpowder plot (Stokes). The witches and Francis Tresham support why this play is not about psychological disorders because for a point, both were “supporting” the traitors. In reality, they were playing games with Macbeth and the people in the gunpowder plot. They did this, by acting and saying things that the Macbeth and the people involved in the plot wanted to hear. These actions, made it seem as if they were on their side, when in reality they were betraying them. For example, the witches show they are not on Macbeth's side when they brew a potion to keep him from sleeping, and creating prophecies that were easily undone for they knew of the truth but he did not. While Francis Tresham, told his Lord

‘Macbeth’ a Scottish play known as one of Shakespeare’s best plays was written in 1611 by William Shakespeare, during that time King James the 1st was the king of Scotland, the Jacobean times was a time where people had a fascination with witches and witchcraft, ‘Daemonolgie’ was a book written by King James the 1st himself, this was about ways to spot a witch, which intrigued people. Since ‘Macbeth’ has a Scottish theme Shakespeare may have written this play to please King James since there is references to Banquo which is a direct descendant of King James, also it is said that Banquo wasn’t a very nice man but Shakespeare presents him as very loyal and kind person

Today I will be analysing and comparing one of the greatest literatures of all time produced by William Shakespeare. Macbeth, was first performed in 1606. This play details a Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prediction from a trio of witches that believes in the future he will become the king of Scotland. Disbursed by political ambition and urged to action by his wife, Grouch, Macbeth murders king Duncan and takes over the throne himself. Yet, in return Macbeth then suffers from liability and paranoia. Copious amounts of adaptations have been made to modernise the 16th Century play. Rupert Goold’s adaptation was broadcasted in 2010 on BBC Four to suit the modern spectators and adapt the

“It is neither the wickedness of the witches nor the urging of Lady Macbeth that finally ruins Macbeth. His basic weakness leads him astray.”

The driving force to achieve the Macbeths’ goals was ambition. However, because they were solemnly ambitious at the same aptitude, it caused them not to fully achieve their goals, as one was always more or less ambitious than the other.

Macbeth is an epic tragedy inspiring pity and remorse because the hero, though flawed, is also shown to be human. The play portrays a journey of self-discovery and awareness as both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth pass from happiness to misery. Their punishment is well deserved but the retributive price is enormous.

‘Macbeth’ was written in 1606 by William Shakespeare. The play is set in Medieval Scotland and follows Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness - evolving from when her and her husband commit regicide and kill the King. Lady Macbeth is initially presented as driven, manipulative and defiant of the traditional gender role of women of obedient and submissive. Her character changes by the end of the play as she begins to fade into madness until eventually she is reduced to a deranged state, ultimately ending with her suicide.

Shakespeare succeeds in making his audience understand and emphasise with a tyrant. He has many methods of executing this. For example, he makes Macbeth talk to the audience, explaining what he is feeling and what his true desires are. This is called a soliloquy; he uses many other techniques and I am going to clarify what they are.

¨Fair is foul, and foul is fair,¨ a line that has been confusing and perplexing English students for years. How can something be both foul and fair at the same time. This line comes from the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, and can be used, however nonsensical this phrase may seem, to describe a great many events and characters throughout the story. In Macbeth, the reader follows the title character as he is twisted and morphed by his own ambitions and visions of glory. Many of the characters and events that occur during this play, have hidden consequences that are revealed as the play progresses.

Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare has engraved himself into humanity’s history as a result of his famous and prodigious plays. Macbeth, Shakespeare’s famous and powerful tragedy, was written in 1606. One recurrent theme that Shakespeare uses in his plays is the theme of unrestrained ambition and its consequences. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to depict the negative effects of having unrestrained ambition by showing the progressive downfall of Macbeth after he chooses to follow a dark ambition. Macbeth’s progressive change caused by his ambition is shown in three stages: his initial apparent heroic and good-hearted persona, his curious and power-hungry character after learning the prophecy, and finally

According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?

Written in 1606 by Shakespeare, Macbeth is a prized tragedy that conveys Machiavellian principles to impress King James I. When the Virgin Queen died without a heir, James IV of Scotland, distant cousin of Elizabeth, was offered the throne. Even though, James was brought up as a Protestant, he wasn’t a very popular choice for monarch in England leading to many conspiracies that would kill the king and parliament. One example of such a scheme was the Gunpowder Plot, where Guy Fawkes and his men tried to blow up the government, but were betrayed, “and horribly tortured on the rack until they confessed. They were then executed in the most brutal fashion as a warning to other would-be traitors. Shakespeare's play Macbeth is to some extent a cautionary

William Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, Macbeth, was written around 1606 in tribute to King James I of England and was based on Holinshed’s Chronicles of England. This play was mainly set in Scotland in the eleventh century (1000-1099). Macbeth, a Scottish general whose fate was determined by the prophecies of three witches, contributes to his own rise as an honorable hero to his own downfall as envious tyrant. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s character undergoes a gradual, drastic change in his quest for power.