Shakespeare's unforgettable play: The story of Macbeth is often cited as an exemplary story of power-hungry and betrayal of friends. So who is Macbeth in this play, really?
Issue date: 1606
Genre: Tragedy
Main Themes: Ambition; Fate and free will; True leadership and cruelty; Gender issues
First performed at the Globe Theater in London in 1606, Macbeth is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. It is also one of the most eventful. The 5-act play tells the story of a Scottish nobleman who stole the throne, reigned in terror, and came to a bloody end.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare raises important questions about greed, power, and violence that make direct references to the politics of his time and continue to resonate in our own time.
At the beginning of the 17th century, England was politically unstable. Queen Elizabeth died without an heir in 1603, and her advisers unexpectedly put the crown on James Stewart, king of Scotland. Two years later, James faced an assassination attempt called the Gunpowder Plot. The question of what makes a king legitimate was on everyone's lips.
Shakespeare must have known he had solid material on hand when he assembled and adapted the stories of the murderous 11th-century Scottish king named Macbeth and several other Scottish nobles. He found their stories in Holinshed's Chronicle. This is a work that chronicles the history of England and Ireland in the 16th century.
The story set in Macbeth
Macbeth is a loyal commander of Duncan, the king of Scotland. While returning from a bloody victory over the Norwegian armies with his close friend Banquo, he encounters three witches. These three witches say that Macbeth will first become the Lord of Cawdor and then the king, but that he will be taken away from the kingdom by Banquo's son. Although Macbeth does not listen to this prophecy at first, when he learns that he is appointed to replace the Lord of Cawdor, who was punished with death for trying to cause a rebellion, he begins to think that there is a grain of truth in what the witches say. Believing that other prophecies will also come true, Macbeth's ambition to become a king arises.
Macbeth in summary; is the story of the fall of Macbeth, who killed the king under the influence of his wife and his lust for power, and who covered his guilt after his murder with a Machiavellian principle such as "Life is meaningless. Keep your strength is enough"...
However, when Macbeth comes to power, he kills people unnecessarily, causing the people to hate him... The people are afraid of him, yes he is, but there is no love that should be accompanied by fear, on the contrary, there is hatred.
In fact, Macbeth is a game of stupidity and deception. Macbeth is stupid, witches rage, Duncan is stupid, Macbeth believes, Banquo is stupid, he can't see.
The real Macbeth (1005-1057) is a Scottish king who ruled from 1040-1057. King II. He is thought to be Kenneth's grandson. He became king of Scotland upon his father's death in 1031.
Three years later, Maleolm ascends to the throne of Scotland after killing Macbeth in the battle near Aberdeen. Macbeth's tomb is on the Isle of Lona, where the tombs of Scottish kings are located. Lulach, the son of Lady Macbeth by her first husband, rebelled against Maleolm, who took the throne after her stepfather was murdered, but was killed in 1058. For many years, Lulach and his descendants revolted against Maleolm and his descendants kings.
Duncan, killed by Macbeth in battle, is a young and inexperienced king who is not very successful in administration. So Duncan, When he is killed by Macbeth, people are not very upset.