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Macbeth by William Shakespeare 8572-X Introduction.F 4/12/00 7:25 AM Page 17 Introduction to Macbeth 17 Bevington, David. “General Introduction.” The In a good tragedy, such as Macbeth, readers and Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Updated audience members get pulled into the play by iden- Fourth edition. New York: Longman, 1997. tifying with the protagonist, who is painted as a great and admirable person wielding considerable influ- Greenblatt, Stephen. “Shakespeare’s World.” Norton ence in society. Having established this point of iden- Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., tification, Shakespeare then leads his audience 1997. through the downfall of this character, involving the Kastan, David Scott, ed. A Companion to Shake- audience in the hero’s pain and suffering, as well as speare. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. his or her mistakes. This identification slowly sepa- McDonald, Russ. The Bedford Companion to Shake- rates as, through the course of the play, the audience speare: An Introduction with Documents. Boston: gains more knowledge of the situation than the hero Bedford-St. Martin’s Press, 1996. does. This distance and enlarged view allows the audience to foresee the hero’s demise. Though no longer identifying with the hero, the audience is still INTRODUCTION TO MACBETH trapped in the tension of the play and released only Macbeth is among the shortest and most intense of by the protagonist’s death. Shakespeare’s plays, as well as one of the best known In most tragedies, the decline of the character and most widely recognized. Macbeth is generally arises from circumstances of the protagonist’s own viewed as one of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, creation. Because tragic heroes are almost always in addition to Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. The responsible for their demise, critics and scholars play’s penetrating exploration of human nature, sometimes identify their mistakes as stemming from ambition, evil, gender, human relationships, and some sort of tragic flaw, be it indecision, ambition, kingship — along with the periodic appearance of pride, or jealousy. Though Shakespeare’s tragic heroes supernatural forces — has captivated audiences and are complex and cannot be easily reduced to one critics for centuries. abstract principle, identifying a character’s tragic flaw Like all of Shakespeare’s works, Macbeth is an can provide a wonderful place to begin studying incredibly rich and rewarding play to read and study. the play. It was written more than 400 years ago, so this intro- duction provides cultural, theatrical, and publication contexts. The introduction also highlights many of The rise and fall of Macbeth the themes and concepts that Shakespeare explores. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s fastest and most straight-forward tragedies in its portrayal of the rise and fall of Macbeth, a nobleman of Scotland who is Shakespeare’s tragedies also a successful military leader. Early in the play, he Although Shakespeare wrote many comedies and his- encounters three “weird sisters,” usually referred to tory plays, he seems to be best known for his as witches. These witches refer to him by his current tragedies. A tragedy usually depicts the fall of a man title, Thane of Glamis; then by a title that he is not of high station or class, such as a king, a prince, or a yet aware of, Thane of Cawdor; and finally by a title general. Occasionally, as in Romeo and Juliet, it por- that he does not yet possess, King of Scotland. trays the fall of a couple. Main characters in a tragedy When Macbeth later learns that he has been can fall from power or fall from happiness, but they named Thane of Cawdor, he begins to believe that almost always die by the end of the play. 8572-X Introduction.F 4/12/00 7:25 AM Page 18 18 CliffsComplete Macbeth the weird sisters have the gift of prophecy. He then Threatened by Banquo’s prophecy, Macbeth must decide between waiting patiently for the begins to behave like a tyrant, killing Banquo and prophecy to come true or killing the current king, trying to kill his son, Fleance. His paranoia takes Duncan, and forcing it to come true. Prompted by over, and he begins to kill anyone who seems to pose his wife (and by the announcement that Malcolm, a threat to his reign. Literally haunted by apparitions, Duncan’s son, is the heir to throne), Macbeth kills Macbeth continues his horrific behavior until Mal- Duncan and becomes the King of Scotland. colm returns with the help of Macduff, another Scot- tish nobleman, and support from England. Macbeth Unfortunately for Macbeth, the witches’ is killed, and at the play’s end, Malcolm becomes prophecy also indicated that although he would be king and restores Duncan’s line to the Scottish king, his friend Banquo’s descendents would estab- throne. We do not see the witches’ prophecy for Ban- lish a line of kings after Macbeth. (An apparition that quo come true, but because Fleance survives the Macbeth sees in Act IV, Scene 1 of the play indicates attempt against his life, the possibility exists that that Banquo’s line stretches all the way to King James Banquo’s line will someday assume the throne. VI of Scotland, who became King James I of Eng- land during Shakespeare’s lifetime.) A scene from a 1997 production at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Clive Barda/PAL 8572-X Introduction.F 4/12/00 7:25 AM Page 19 Introduction to Macbeth 19 Historical sources of the story major alteration concerns Lady Macbeth, who fig- Though Macbeth is not considered a history play, the ures very little in the historical accounts but is quite title character is a Scottish historical figure. As we shall prominent in Shakespeare’s play. Lady Macbeth see when we look at its cultural context, this play also appears only once in Holinshed’s Chronicles, and her has intimate links with Early Modern England. His- only action is to persuade her husband to commit torically, Macbeth ruled as King of Scotland for 17 regicide (the murder of a king). Critics have specu- years, from 1040 to 1057. The accounts of this period lated that Shakespeare’s depiction of Duncan’s mur- in Scottish history vary. They all agree, however, that der and Lady Macbeth’s active and ambitious role Macbeth gained the throne by killing King Duncan (drugging the servants and smearing them with and lost the throne to Malcolm by being killed. blood) may be borrowed from Holinshed’s account Shakespeare relied upon these histories as well as other of Captain Donwald and his wife’s murder of King sources in the composition of this play. Specifically, Duffe. As we can see, in addition to revising histor- he drew heavily from Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles ical sources, Shakespeare frequently integrated vari- of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587), but he may ous accounts to construct one coherent story. also have been familiar with George Buchanan’s The revisions to the historical accounts of Mac- Rerum Scoticarum Historae (1582). beth are more easily understood when we understand Shakespeare deviates from these historical the culture in which Shakespeare was writing. Pin- sources a great deal in his exploration of the themes pointing the date of composition for this tragedy will of kingship, human nature, and evil. These alter- allow us to get a better glimpse at the play’s imme- ations to the story include portraying the tragic hero diate context. in a more evil manner while painting Banquo (King James I’s ancestor) in a more sympathetic light. For example, Holinshed’s and Shakespeare’s depictions The birth of the play of Duncan differ wildly. Historically, Duncan is The earliest published version of Macbeth appears in described as a young, weak, and ineffective king. But the First Folio in 1623, though many critics feel that Shakespeare’s Duncan is an older, benevolent, influ- this edition of the play is modified from the lost orig- ential, and virtuous king, whose murder is a crime inal. The first reference to a production of Macbeth against nature itself. pushes the play’s date back to 1611. A Jacobean play- Furthermore, in Holinshed’s account, Banquo goer named Simon Forman recorded in his Book of figures more prominently in Macbeth’s ascension to Plays that he saw this work performed on April 20, the throne because he serves as Macbeth’s accomplice 1611 at the Globe theatre. in Duncan’s murder. Shakespeare’s Banquo maintains Upon examining references to contemporary his loyalty to Duncan, telling Macbeth that he will events and people, however, critics have concluded help as long as it does not compromise this loyalty: that Macbeth was most likely written and first per- “So I lose none / In seeking to augment it, but still formed in 1606. In the intervening 17 years, the play keep / My bosom franchis’d and allegiance clear, / I was revised (around 1609), most likely by dramatist shall be counsell’d” (II.1.26–29). Thomas Middleton, who added some of the witches’ In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth’s descent into songs in Act III, Scene 5 and Act IV, Scene 1. Mid- tyranny occurs over what seems a matter of weeks, dleton may also be responsible for other lines in the and there is no mention of the ten years of peaceful play, though we cannot be certain. Keep in mind, rule that Scotland enjoyed under Macbeth. The final as explained in the “Introduction to Early Modern 8572-X Introduction.F 4/12/00 7:25 AM Page 20 20 CliffsComplete Macbeth England,” that a play belonged to the theatre com- the practice of primogeniture, which meant that a pany.
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