Macbeth Context (OCR GCSE English Literature)

Macbeth historical context: Elizabethan or Jacobean?

Shakespeare’s plays dating from before April 1603 are considered Elizabethan as they were written and performed at the time Elizabeth I was on the English throne. Macbeth, since it was written in 1606 (under the reign of James I), is therefore a Jacobean, and not an Elizabethan, play.

Macbeth political context

When Shakespeare was writing Macbeth, James I was a relatively new monarch, and so it served Shakespeare’s interests to create a play that would maintain his lucrative standing as one of the King’s Men, a successful and well-paid theatre company, whose patron was the king. 

There are many ways in which Shakespeare’s flattery of James I can be seen in the play:

• Macbeth is a play about a Scottish king:

  • James I was Scottish, and before he became the King of England, he was the King of Scotland for nearly 36 years

• The play features the supernatural and witches:

  • James I was fascinated by witchcraft, and wrote a book called Daemonologie in 1597 where he set out his beliefs that witches are slaves of Satan and should be executed

  • He attended many witch-burnings, and even personally supervised the torture of women accused of being witches

• Shakespeare made significant changes to the historical account of Macbeth to present James I as loyal to, and coming from, a lineage of morally good rulers

  • Instead of Macbeth being a good and just king, Shakespeare presents him as a treacherous tyrant

  • In the historical account, Macbeth kills the weak and ineffectual King Duncan on the battlefield

  • Banquo is presented as morally upstanding in Shakespeare’s version, not a co-conspirator (Shakespeare made these changes because James I believed he was descended from the historical Banquo)

  • Shakespeare also made Duncan a noble and honourable king to suggest that Macbeth was a threat to the natural order of the state

Macbeth social context: Jacobean beliefs

It is important to view Macbeth in the context of contemporary attitudes and ideas. Find out more about some of the typical beliefs of a Jacobean audience:

Witchcraft

• Much like James I, many Jacobeans would have believed in, and had a morbid fascination with, witches

• Witches were believed to be the agents of the Devil:

  • As such, they attempted to undermine or disrupt the order of nature as set out by God

Gender

• Jacobean society was patriarchal

• Women were expected to be dutiful mothers and respect the wishes of their fathers and husbands

• Men were expected to be dominant, loyal to their kingdom and monarch, and were believed to be superior to women both mentally and physically

The Divine Right of Kings and the Gunpowder Plot

• Although James I was mostly popular, there were many plots to kill him

• The most serious, and famous, of these plots was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605:

  • These plots were acts of treason

  • Shakespeare includes multiple references to treason in Macbeth, the most serious being the regicide of King Duncan

• James I wrote a book – the Basilikon Doron, or “Royal Gift” – which set out his belief in the Divine Right of Kings:

  • The Divine Right of Kings was a belief that kings and queens are chosen by God

  • These rulers are, therefore, representatives of God on Earth

Religion and The Great Chain of Being

• Jacobean audiences would have been overwhelmingly Christian

• They believed in the literal word of the Bible

• Jacobean audiences would also have believed in the Great Chain of Being, a belief in an order of things in the universe:

  • It represented a hierarchy of all things, with God’s authority at the top of the chain

  • Any attempt to break the chain would upset God’s order and bring about disorder in the world

Macbeth literary context: a Shakespearean tragedy

Macbeth is known as a Shakespearean tragedy and an audience has certain expectations when watching a tragedy. Discussing the key elements of tragedy in the play can help to elevate your analysis of Shakespeare’s choices as a playwright.

The structure of a tragedy

Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies, including Macbeth, follow the same five-part structure:

How do you get marks for context in Macbeth?

For the Macbeth essay — either the extract or discursive option — there will be 8 marks available (out of a total of 40) for context. However, this doesn’t mean you should allocate a fifth of your time, or a fifth of the number of lines, to cover context in your essay. 

All analysis of context should be integrated into your discussion of themes and ideas that Shakespeare is exploring. Any discussion of context should also be directly relevant to the question you’ve been set, and the argument you are making. 

What examiners don’t want to see is “bolt-on” context: irrelevant historical or biographical information that doesn’t add anything to your discussion of Shakespeare’s intentions.

OCR-specific tip

OCR examiners love to see students include “relevant generic literary contexts” in Macbeth essays. This means having an understanding that Macbeth is a Shakespearean tragedy, and knowing what the conventions of this genre are. 

Some things you could discuss that would come under “generic literary context” include:

• Understanding that Macbeth is a play, and so is performed on stage and has an audience:

  • Any discussion of dramatic irony or foreshadowing is valuable

  • Any discussion of stage directions, or events that may occur off-stage, is also highly regarded

• Acknowledging that Macbeth is a Shakespearean tragedy:

  • Mentioning the relevant part of a tragedy’s five-part structure when presenting evidence is a great idea. For example, “In the denouement of the play, when Macbeth…”

  • Being conscious that an audience would know that they are watching a tragedy, and so would have certain expectations, e.g. that the tragic hero is fated to die

Sources

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Cedric Watts, Wordsworth Classics, 2005