Context Flashcards
Year
1606
Who
William Shakespeare
During the reigns of which king and queen
Queen Elizabeth I and King James I
The play reflects the playwrights close relationship with which sovereign
James I
What elements are connected to King James I?
Shakespeare paid homage to his king’s Scottish lineage.Divine right of kings is shown which would have resonated with the royals.He was also interested into the supernatural and even wrote a book on it
The witches prophecy that Banquo will found a line of kings appeals to what?
James’s family’s claim to have descended from the historical Banquo
What may have created more tension of the supernatural
Some historians have argued that at a moment when a woman independently ruled, anxieties about female power and influence became more pronounced, leading to sterner penalties for suspected witches.
Historically, periods of intense concern about witches and witchcraft tend to overlap with…
periods of political instability, uncertain leadership, and anxieties about power dynamics.
What does the involvement of witchcraft say about the state that Scotland was in
Shakespeare used witchcraft to signal to his audience that Scotland was in a vulnerable and unsettled state.
Where are his plays
Globe theatre
Natural Order/Ths Great Chain of Being
Religious hierarchy where everything on earth was awarded a ‘rank’. Jacobean audience believed that if this was interfered with then the natural order would be thrown into chaos.
Religion
A Jacobean audience were extremely religious.Jacobean audience would be shocked by Macbeth’s nihilistic language
The Gunpowder Plot
King James I was the intended victim ofthe plot.This made him nervous of future regicide attempts.The message is a deterrent to anyone thinking of committing regicide
