MACBETH

CONTEXT OF PRODUCTION

Macbeth bridges between Elizabethean (1558-1603) and Jakoeban 81603-1625). 17TH C:

Renaissance.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERIOD

It was an age of international expansion, mostly naval expansion: naval supremacy. Power and
prestige. Ambition. The idea that people could aspire to be something else in life.

Artistic and cultural movement. Man took the place of God and was now in the centre of the
universe. Macbeth revolves around the condition of man. Macbeth is a man, but not only a
man, if not the man because he represents mankind. Macbeth is a synechdoche for men. He
may represent every man with desires and ambitious who is turned between good and evil.

The Anglo- Spanish War (1585-1604) resulted in the Spanish defeat and the British supremacy.
It contributed to the sense of nationalism/national pride (God save the Queen).

In Macbeth, there’s a disruption of the national order (Macbeth kills King Duncan and become
the ruler of a tyranny) that brought about chaos and disorder.

As there was a new sense of nationality, attacking the King meant not only affecting the King
but also the British nation. Society was connected by linked degrees of being.

Civil servants (administrators and diplomatics) wanted power and prestige; prosperity. It
required a lot of ambition.

The central theme of Elizabeth literature is the clash between individuals and the social order.
In the play, Macbeth is a representative of mankind. He kills the King.

SOCIAL MOBILITY

It was a pyramidal society, in which everyone had its own place in the pyramid and was
superior/inferior to somebody else (King, Aristocrats by birth, Civil Servants, Commanders,
Traders/Landed Gentry). There was a hierarchical ordering of society from heavenly bodies to
the earth with a semi-divine monarch as its head, which controlled the human phisology and
psychology.

In Macbeth there’s frustration for not being in a higher position in society. There’s conspiracy
between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to get to the highest position.

It was an era of reformation (protestant reformation). Calvin, Luther and Wycliffe protested
the doctrine, rituals and leadership of the ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic
Church.

The Counter-Reformation was spearheaded by the Jesuits.

It was also an age of political conspiracies as Catholics tried to kill or remove Queen Elizabeth
and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.
In Macbeth, we see Lady Macbeth conspiracy in trying to influence her husband to commit
murder.

It was a time of superstitions (Dark Ages).

Future: Prosperity, anticipation of future events. Next meeting. If there are 3 witches we can
expect 3 meeting.

Symmetry: the number 3 is always present in the play. Poetic effect and eloquence (cadence,
beat, rhythm, parallelism).

Macbeth: challenge of the Elizabethan view. People no longer wanted them.

Macbeth becomes the King, which is unthinkable. He kills because he has no rights.

RENAISSANCE (16th C) (1500-1670)

The new ideas, information and increased knowledge about science, technology or astrology
led to a renewed interest in the supernatural, including witches, witchcraft and ghosts.

In Macbeth, Macbeth, Banquo and Lady Macbeth believe in what the witches say without
questioning anything about them. Banquo resists the witches’ temptation but Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth don’t.