Macbeth: AS & A2 York Notes

King James published "Demonology" in 1605. It is thought that Shakespeare wrote his play "Macbeth" to appeal to King James's interest in the supernatural.

The Divine Right of Kings originated in the Middle Ages. Any attempt to remove the king was thought to go against God and was therefore sacrilegious, and against the natural order, hence the disturbance in nature the night of Duncan's murder.

A year before Shakespeare wrote "Macbeth", a Catholic plot to kill King James I was uncovered. Echoes of the Gunpowder Plot are seen in the plot to kill Duncan.

Open-air theatres started to appear in 1576. Plays were performed in the afternoon with few props. Torches would have been used to help emphasise the night-time scenes in "Macbeth".

The royal court was very powerful in Shakespeare's day, but in showing Duncan as a weak king as well as Malcolm as a strong king Shakespeare presents a balanced, and potentially radical view of monarchy.