English playwrights during this period were heavily censored and unable to write directly about politics, so perhaps Macbeth's act of regicide and reign of terror account for why Macbeth became THE play of the revolutionary years - and has enjoyed ongoing attention ever since. The English had an unpopular leader of their own in Prime Minister William Pitt, and a mad king prone to the kind of inexplicable outbursts that Macbeth demonstrates at the feast table. What was it about the end of the eighteenth century that brought Macbeth back to prominence? The French Revolution, with its King-killing and its spectacularly bloody aftermath, were shocking and worrisome for much of England. Allusions and lines from Macbeth showed up in the work of Godwin, Wordsworth and Baillie, and Sarah Siddons became one of England's most loved actresses playing a ferocious and impassioned Lady Macbeth. The play clearly struck a chord with eighteenth century writers and actors, as well as audiences. Yet by the late eighteenth century, Macbeth was back on the English stage in all its gore and glory and enjoying more productions and acclaim than ever before. The English theatres were closed from 1642-1660, and in the century that followed their reopening, Shakespeare's Macbeth was rarely performed, existing mainly as a much-changed adaptation by William Davenant.
"Ring the alarum bell! Murder and Treason!" (Act 2, Scene 3) Is there a trace of this fair/foul history in Shakespeare's play? And did Shakespeare improve on history with the changes he made to the story? Come and see for yourself! Together, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ruled peacefully over Scotland for seventeen years until Macbeth was killed in battle when Duncan's son Malcolm returned from England. Interestingly, Lady M had been married before, and her first husband was killed by Macbeth - who then married her and became stepfather to her son from that first marriage. This little-known fact brings interesting depth to Lady Macbeth's reason for not killing King Duncan herself: "Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it" (2.2). Lady Macbeth was also a historical figure, a woman named Gruoch, and she was a descendent of a different earlier king. Macbeth did take the throne by killing King Duncan in 1040, but it was on the battlefield and nothing as covert as Shakespeare's play stages. Macbeth was King of Scotland in the eleventh century, and his claim to the throne was about as strong as Duncan's they were in fact both grandsons of the same previous king. Macbeth is not just a great tragedy, but also a history play - though a fascinatingly unfaithful one. "Had he not resembled my father as he slept." (Act 2, Scene 2) When you come to the show, see how many references to Scottish places you can catch! Some of them, steeped in the turbulent Scottish history that Macbeth evokes are mentioned. Today, Scotland boasts about 3,000 castles, many of them older than Shakespeare's play. Scotland's rugged and remote sea borders to the north made it vulnerable to invasion, and when Macbeth opens they are at war with Norway. Thanes occupied scattered strongholds across the country, making national defense difficult and infighting common. Scotland lacked the kind of large center of power that London provided for England so authority was dispersed.
MACBETH KING OF SCOTLAND FULL
Scotland had historically been a somewhat desolate and barbaric place in the English imagination, full of wild moors and gloomy coastline. Scotland actually serves the play more in terms of geography and atmospherics than history. (In reality, Banquo was not a real historical person.) Shakespeare wrote the witches' prophecy about a line of kings stretching out endlessly from Banquo to suggest the stability and longevity of James's rule. The first monarch to rule both countries, James was also thought to be the descendent of the character Banquo from the play. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English throne in 1603 when his relative Elizabeth died without a direct heir. The choice to set Macbeth in Scotland was certainly strategic on Shakespeare's part.
"From hence to Inverness." (Act 1, Scene 4)
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