Context Flashcards
King James 1
Macbeth was written in 1606 early reign of james,who succeeded British throne after being king Scotland,play plays homage to kings Scottish lineage and hatred of witches
The divine right of kings
idea what kings got power from god and not from subject,James believe this,idea that treasonous activity was crime against god.century earlier england suffers war of roses,supported idea to avoid civil unrest
Particarchy
Societies where men dominate,inheritance passed through male heirs
Gender
Macbeth and lady Macbeth switch between having masculine and feminine charectorisitc, in the okay gender is linked to ambition and willingness to achieve power
Woman
Woman expected follow social expectations,meant to obey all men,be faithful and respectful,not be violent and be religious.Are regarded as a possession,first owned by father then given to and own by husband
Lady Macbeth subverts these expectations in play by manipulating macbeth
Adam eve and serpent
In Bible Adam Eve live peacefull in garden of Eden until eve is temped by serpent and eats forbidden fruit from tree of knowledge,she combines Adam to eat it aswell,god curses them and banishes them to earth
Witchcraft
In Shakespeare’s time no scientific knowledge to explain natural disasters eg earthquakes .One way they accounted for it was witches
Thousands of woman were tortured and executed for in Europe bc they were accused of witchcraft.At time Shakespeare wrote this,people still beloved in whiches so they would’ve seen scary to the audience
The 5 acts
Macbeth is a typical tragedy.Firdt part builds up the turning point(Duncan’s murder),second part deals with the consiqences , which leads to main characters downfall
Tragic convection
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare tragedies and follows specific convections .climax must involve tremendous catastrophe and have the main character dying: the charectors death is caused by their hamartia
The gunpowder plot
The gunpowder plot was an assassination attempt on king James the 1st
James survived and the people who were found guilty were labelled and executed usually by beheading them
Play could be a warning against betraying king James
The kings evil
People belive there was a Desiree that could be cured by a royal touch
Supported the divine right of kings due to performing miracles just like god did
