Macbeth:

Question 1

What was government like in the Jacobean era?

Answer 1

• It was a period of high inflation
• When political and social unease resulted in constant threats to the king and the establishment.
• Poverty was widespread
• The average man had no vote, women had no rights at all.
• For most of Shakespeare’s life, Elizabeth I had been the reigning monarch of England.

Question 1

What was religion like in the Jacobean era?

Answer 1

• England was a strictly Christian country
• Through religion, authorities were able to keep some control over the population.
• Authorities stayed alert for anyone who refused to accept standard religious practices.
• Elizabeth I’s father, Henry VIII had broken away from the Church of Rome- the book of Common Prayer was used in every Church, english translation of the Bible was read aloud in public. The Christian religion had never been so well taught before.

Question 2

What was education like during the Jacobean era?

Answer 2

• School education reinforced the Church’s teachings.
• From the age of 4, booys could attend the ‘petty school’
• Girls were refused education, they satyed at home, learnt domestic and social skills- cooking, sewing, perhaps even music. They learnt the skills necessary that prepared them for child-bearing and playing the expressive role.

Question 3

What was Scotland like in the time of Macbeth?

Answer 3

• Warring families and **clans battled **to control land and trade.
• Each side was led by a thane, whose castle became an important power base.
• Murder was committed frequently, particularly for political reasons and revenge killings were common.

Question 4

What was Scotland like in 1606?

Answer 4

• In 1603, Queen ELizabeth I died.
• She was succeeded to the throne by James VI of Scotland and I of Englnad.
• He hoped that his succession would bring England and Scotland closer together. Unfortunentely, his succession (Union Of the Crowns) was very unpopular, Socts considered it disastrous to have two parliaments.
• During the first few years to the English throne, James had been faced with a variety of challenges- including the ongoing argument between Protestants and Catholics and the Gunpowder Plot.

Question 5

What was Shakespeare’s writing like?

Answer 5

• He wrote many comedies with romantic love stories of young people whi fall in love, and at the end of the play, they mary and live happily ever after.
• At the end of the 16th century, Shakespeare wrote some **melancholy, bitter and tragic plays. **This may have been caused by some sadness in the writer’s life (his only son died in 1596).
• The whole of England was facing a crisis- Queen Elizabeth I was growing old. She was greatly loved and the pople were sad to think she must die soon, they were also afraid because the Queen had never been marrried and so had no child to succeed her.

Question 6

What do the witches symbolise?

Answer 6

Pure evil and darkness