Macbeth Analytical Essay

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Shakespeare’s Macbeth is his bloodiest and shortest tragedy, and is one of his most notorious plays. It was written in 1606 for King James I, a patron of Shakespeare’s company, the King’s Men. The play offers a dramatized version of Scottish history and was centered around themes such as regicide, guilt, and the supernatural, all of which appeals to King James I. King James, on top of claiming to be a descendant of Banquo, a character in the play, lived in constant fear of assassinations. There were numerous attempts on his life, the most famous being the Gunpowder Plot of 1605; This was an attempt by Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, and their Catholic compatriots to blow up parliament and kill King James I, the Queen, and their heir. The plotters …show more content…

During his rule, King James I sanctioned witch trials and executions after believing that he and his bride, Anne, had been targeted by witches. He believed that the witches ahs conjured a storm to try to kill the royals while sailing across the North Sea. After being sanctioned by the king, the hunt was on. The king believed that the witches threatened his reign. He believed that the devil preached to the witches and encouraged the witches to kill the king. About 2,500 accused witched were executed under King James I. The king also wrote his treatise on spirits and witches, Daemonologie, to justify the witch hunt. So, to underexaggerate, King James I definitely believed in the supernatural, which is one reason Shakespeare included the weird sisters and their power in …show more content…

He failed many military campaigns and was said to favor the southern ways of Scotland. In 1040, the year of his death, Duncan attempted to besiege Durham, England, but failed miserably. Duncan also attempted to conquer Moray, an independent dynasty, but was defeated. One of Duncan’s worst military campaigns was against Orkney, an independent archipelago, where he was defeated twice by Thorfinn, the Earl of Orkney’s son. In line with the play, King Duncan was defeated by Macbeth, but it wasn’t a brutal assassination. Macbeth aligned himself with Thorfinn of Orkney and fought at Elgin, where King Duncan was killed in battle by Macbeth. Also, in alignment with Shakespeare’s Macbeth is that King Duncan did have two children, Malcolm and