Some background on the source of Shakespeare's Scottish play.

1. MACBETH
THE SCOTTISH PLAY

2. THE POINT OF IT ALL
• Shakespeare wrote Macbeth for King James I of England, who was
also King James VI of Scotland, about a year after the Gunpowder
Plot, when Guy Fawkes & other Catholics tried to blow up
Parliament when the king was there

3. THE SCOTTISH PLAY
• The play is about Scottish kings. The subject of the play
was supposedly suggested by James I himself
• One of the characters--Banquo--was an ancestor of King
James
• Pay close attention to how Shakespeare paints events in
such a way that King James is honored
• Shakespeare's acting company changed its name to The
King's Men, due to the patronage of James I--guess he
liked what Shakespeare had done with the story!

4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• Holinshed's Chronicles of England
• Shakespeare drew much from this historical document, but he
changed information as he needed to fit his purposes
• He reversed the ages of Duncan and Macbeth, making
Duncan the elder statesman in his play
• Shakespeare has Banquo play an honorable character who
cannot abide a plot against the king, but in Holinshed,
Banquo was a co-conspirator with Macbeth in the murder
of Duncan

5. MORE SHAKESPEAREAN CHANGES
• In Holinshed's account, Macbeth and Banquo do encounter witches after a battle,
and Shakespeare capitalizes on the inclusion of the supernatural in his version
• The battle Macbeth had won was in part due to a sleeping potion Macbeth had
mixed into drinks sent to the Danish enemy. When the enemy had been affected,
Macbeth easily defeated them.
• In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth does not drug the enemy; HOWEVER, sleep
becomes a major theme of the play after Macbeth and his wife plot to kill Duncan
in his sleep

6. "MACBETH DOTH MURDER
SLEEP"
In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth does not drug the
enemy; HOWEVER, sleep becomes a major theme of
the play after Macbeth and his wife plot to kill
Duncan in his sleep

7. BASED ON A REAL STORY...
• Shakespeare's King Duncan is wise and honorable; in reality, Duncan had been a
weak king
• Macbeth is portrayed as someone who has no real claim to the throne and who
lasts only about a year before being killed; in reality, Macbeth was a good king
who ruled for about 17 years
• Macbeth was defeated both in the play and in real life by Duncan's son Malcolm

8. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
James I had written a treatise about the traits of a good king
Shakespeare included some of James' ideas in Malcolm's speech
about what makes a good king
James I had also written a book on witches called Demonologie
Shakespeare includes witches in several places--in part, because
Holinshed mentioned them in his history, and in part because he
knew James was interested in them