William Shakespeare is the most well known playwright of all time. Throughout his career he wrote around thirty-seven exceptional plays, which are all extremely well known and have been recognized throughout the world for centuries. One of Shakespeare's most well known plays is Macbeth, a tragedy of a man (Macbeth) who aspires to become king, upon hearing a prophecy that it is his destiny. The protagonist reaches this goal through desperate measures that include killing anyone who gets in his way. Within the play, Shakespeare blends historic facts with fictional ideas. As a product of time, Shakespearean adaptation of history often gets confused with the true events. Although Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on events in history, it is historically
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The story is intensely well researched and penetrates deep into Shakespearean beliefs from the time period. As would be expected, Macbeth was extremely dramatized and built up to the tragedy that it is. Therefore, most of the play was a historical inaccuracy. Shakespeare's primary source of information for Macbeth (and many of his other plays) was the Holinshed's Chronicles, where Shakespeare used the King Macbeth of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan I of Scotland’s stories to create the famous play. The Chronicles where the “source for the play” and “the character of Macbeth was based a historical figure… the king of scotland from 1040 to 1077” (McConnell, 175) In the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote the play specifically for King James I, who was the newly named the king and a huge supporter of theater. King James played a very important role in the changing of Macbeth considering the play was written to please him. Banquos role in the play was one of the biggest changes within Macbeth. The true records, from the Holinshed’s Chronicles shows Banquo as an accomplice to Macbeth in the murder of the king. In Shakespeare's Macbeth this is adapted to a noble man who resisted evil, and was murdered out of fear. This is because when the play was written it was widely believed that king James was a descendant of Banquo, and Shakespeare adapted the play to preserve King …show more content…
Although names remained the same Shakespeare shaped the plotline and characters roles quite a bit. To begin, “Macbeth and his wife murder the aged King Duncan when he comes to visit them in their castle [Inverness].” while in reality, King Duncan is not murdered in Inverness as the play sets up the scene, but in reality, “Macbeth killed Duncan, who was about 39, in battle, and made himself king instead.”( ) At the time, was one of the most honorable and respected ways to die, and unlike in the play, Macbeth most likely hardly gave the murder a second thought, while in the play he is haunted by it. Additionally, in reality, King Duncan was widely disliked, unlike the sweet and beloved king that Shakespeare portrays him as. Similarly, Macbeth was not a horrendous villain, but an honorable and good man. Another difference is that unlike in Macbeth, Duncan oldest son, Malcolm, was too young to rule, so the crown was passed to Macbeth, as opposed to the brutal chain of murders committed to reach monarchy in the play. Additionally, In Macbeth, Macbeth's reign lasted about a year, while in actuality it lasted seventeen years before his
The story is intensely well researched and penetrates deep into Shakespearean beliefs from the time period. As would be expected, Macbeth was extremely dramatized and built up to the tragedy that it is. Therefore, most of the play was a historical inaccuracy. Shakespeare's primary source of information for Macbeth (and many of his other plays) was the Holinshed's Chronicles, where Shakespeare used the King Macbeth of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan I of Scotland’s stories to create the famous play. The Chronicles where the “source for the play” and “the character of Macbeth was based a historical figure… the king of scotland from 1040 to 1077” (McConnell, 175) In the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote the play specifically for King James I, who was the newly named the king and a huge supporter of theater. King James played a very important role in the changing of Macbeth considering the play was written to please him. Banquos role in the play was one of the biggest changes within Macbeth. The true records, from the Holinshed’s Chronicles shows Banquo as an accomplice to Macbeth in the murder of the king. In Shakespeare's Macbeth this is adapted to a noble man who resisted evil, and was murdered out of fear. This is because when the play was written it was widely believed that king James was a descendant of Banquo, and Shakespeare adapted the play to preserve King …show more content…
Although names remained the same Shakespeare shaped the plotline and characters roles quite a bit. To begin, “Macbeth and his wife murder the aged King Duncan when he comes to visit them in their castle [Inverness].” while in reality, King Duncan is not murdered in Inverness as the play sets up the scene, but in reality, “Macbeth killed Duncan, who was about 39, in battle, and made himself king instead.”( ) At the time, was one of the most honorable and respected ways to die, and unlike in the play, Macbeth most likely hardly gave the murder a second thought, while in the play he is haunted by it. Additionally, in reality, King Duncan was widely disliked, unlike the sweet and beloved king that Shakespeare portrays him as. Similarly, Macbeth was not a horrendous villain, but an honorable and good man. Another difference is that unlike in Macbeth, Duncan oldest son, Malcolm, was too young to rule, so the crown was passed to Macbeth, as opposed to the brutal chain of murders committed to reach monarchy in the play. Additionally, In Macbeth, Macbeth's reign lasted about a year, while in actuality it lasted seventeen years before his