Many of William Shakespeare’s plays were inspired by history. Macbeth is no exception. Shakespeare was influenced by Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Ireland and Scotland and by King James I, the reigning King of England at the time the play was written. Shakespeare combined two stories from Holinshed’s account to create the play, Macbeth: the reign of the real King Macbeth and the murder of King Duff by Donwald and Donwald’s wife. Since King James was Scottish, it only seemed appropriate to write a play about Scotland. By throwing in a little bit of witchcraft, Shakespeare gained a rather captive audience for this bloody tragedy. Many people at the time believed in witches. In fact, King James had recently written Demonology, a book about the current trend of witchcraft.
Shakespeare was a pretty experienced playwright by the time he started writing Macbeth. He knew a thing or two about creating entertaining characters and exciting plots. While Holinshed’s history of Scotland was intriguing, Shakespeare condensed and altered it to better suit a theatre-going audience. The real King Macbeth reigned for 17 years; Shakespeare’s Macbeth reigned for one. The real Banquo took part in the murder of King Duff; Shakespeare’s Banquo remained innocent (the Banquo of history would have a family link to King James and Shakespeare didn’t want to suggest James had murderers in his family). King Duncan of history was noted as a feeble, inexperienced young man; Shakepeare’s Duncan is an older, respected ruler. Finally, since King James and most of England’s population believed in witches, Shakespeare added three of them to the cast along with a ghost to make this tragedy – his shortest one – action-packed.
Centuries after Macbeth was written, we still ponder the question: If Macbeth is a tragedy, whose tragedy is it? Is it the tragedy of Scotland? Is it the tragedy of nature, whose ministers create irreversible damage? Is it the tragedy of Macbeth himself, once an esteemed soldier whose choices were ill-conceived? Or is it the tragedy of a vulnerable world? There are many answers to the question – a strength in the penmanship of William Shakespeare. He crafted a tale with such epic and mythical qualities that it can be reinvented with the times. It is a tragedy that simply transcends history.

… you should be women,
 and yet your beards forbid me to interpret
 that you are so.
 How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!

According to history, elderly women and the poor were sometimes accused of witchcraft. They were most likely deemed unfit or useless to society and thus easier to point fingers at when things went wrong. Again, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible illustrates a good example of society’s need to project blame even on the young, kind and good-natured (Macbeth himself was viewed this way in the beginning of the play by King Duncan, his wife and countrymen). The haggard descriptions we often encounter in folklore may simply stem from ailments suffered by the elderly being accused of witchcraft. Medical care after all, was not available in previous centuries as it is today.
Other items associated with the popular witch image and Halloween is a conical hat, broomstick and cat. These items also have a place in history.
The conical hat – with or without a brim - was a fashion as well as a label. In the 17th century (which coincides with Macbeth), the conical hat was popular. Princesses of fairy tales wore conical hats in pastel shades accompanied by a sheer fabric streaming from its top. But the conical hat alone, especially in black, had other meanings. At the order of the church, heretics donned the conical hat. The point represented something like the horns of the devil the heretic worshipped. The use of the hat became an easy way to label criminals for public ridicule.
The witch’s "broom" is a slightly obscured item that stemmed from fertility rituals in old times. People participating in these rituals would do a dance among the grain in fields. However high they wanted the crops to grow, they would jump with sticks to help them leap. The leaping action, along with a stick, gave image to a person "riding" or "flying" on a broomstick (broom plants were often tied to the stick to help "sweep" the area for a ritual, thus giving it the look of a modern broomstick).
As for that familiar black cat, many animals were associated with witches and witchcraft – the cat being no exception. "I come, Graymalkin!" is cried by one of the witches at the top of Macbeth. Graymalkin was a type of cat. Witches were also believed to morph into small animals to allow them easy entry into places. Cats in particular have been considered sacred animals since ancient times and have remained valued for their psychic sensitivity. Throughout history, cats were believed to be agents both for good and bad luck. In Scottish folklore, there is a certain breed of cats said to be witches in disguise. This particular breed has a black coat, an arched back and bristly fur. Sound familiar? Just take a look at those popular trick-or-treat bags at Halloween!
The witches in Macbeth and all of those elements associated with them, remain a source of mystery. They possess (again, pun intended) qualities of folklore proportion. When left to the devices of the supernatural world as they are in Macbeth, their meaning and existence have infinite possibilities.
 
 
 

For a very long time, Macbeth has brought a lot of raised eyebrows to actors. Any lines spoken from the play or even the mere mention of the title sends some more superstitious actors into a fit of fear. Whether you’re superstitious or not, the truth of the matter is this: Macbeth has had more bad luck than almost any other play to date. Take a look below at some of the play’s history of bad luck and you’ll see why some actors will only refer to Macbeth as The Scottish Play:
 

•  August 7, 1606 (1st performance) – the boy who played Lady Macbeth died backstage
•  1849 - 31 people were killed in a riot over the rivalry between actors Edwin Forrest and John Macready in front of the theatre where Macready played Macbeth
•  1934 – in one week of performances at the Old Vic, four different Macbeths had to be used: one came down with laryngitis; one caught a chill; one was fired and the fourth one had to finish the run.
•  1937 – During the Laurence Olivier-Judith Anderson production at the Old Vic, the following things happened: Lilian Baylis, founder of the theatre, learned that her favorite dog had died; the next day, Lilian Baylis herself succumbed; the director of the play nearly died in a taxi accident; Olivier was nearly hit with a stage sandbag; the scenery didn’t fit the stage; the musical composer kept tearing up his compositions and Olivier accidentally wounded the various Macduffs during the battle scenes.
•  1954 – at another opening of the play, Lilian Baylis’ portrait fell off the wall and smashed into pieces
•  The Stratford Festival’s 1938 season, which opened with Macbeth, was filled with bad luck: an old man had both of his legs broken when he was hit by his own car in the parking lot; Lady Macbeth ran her car into a store window; and Macduff had to be replaced by an understudy for several days after falling off his horse.
•  During Orson Welles’ and John Houseman’s Voodoo Macbeth, five live black goats were sacrificed one night by a member of the cast who was a genuine witch doctor.

1564.            Born at Stratford-upon-Avon, about 100 miles from London. He is baptized on April 26.

1582.            Marriage to Anne Hathaway, 8 years his senior. They have 3 children: Susanna, Hamnet and Judith.

1585-1592.    "The Lost Years." No official records of Shakespeare exist, but several legends claim it was during this
          period that he was caught in a poaching incident. This incident evidently forced him to flee to London
          where his career took off.

1592-1593.    Theatres in London close due to the plague. Shakespeare appears to have written poetry and sonnets
          during this period

1594                Lord Chamberlain’s Men is formed. Shakespeare is a company actor as well as its full-time playwright. It
     becomes London’s premier acting company.
 
1594-1599.    A very productive period. Shakespeare wrote prolifically, prospered financially and made a real estate
          investment in his hometown of Stratford.

1599.            Made a principal shareholder in the Globe playhouse, the prestigious public playhouse in London.

1603.            Lord Chamberlain’s Men becomes the King’s Men, receiving royal patronage from England’s new King –
     James I (formerly James IV of Scotland)

1606.            Macbeth is written. Shakespeare paid tribute to James by setting the play in Scotland and including witches in
     his cast (James and most of England was superstitious about witches)
1607.            The King’s Men is granted permission to take over the indoor theatre, the Blackfriars. The tone of
     Shakespeare’s plays switches from the dark and sombre mood of his tragedies to a lighter mood of magic and
     romance.

1611-1616.    "The Final Years." Shakespeare collaborates with John Fletcher, the Globe’s new dramatist on several
          plays. Some sources believe he retired to his home in Stratford during this time.

1616                 His death from an illness, the nature of which is uncertain.
 
 

Shakespeare was a prolific writer, covering a wide array of genres (comedy, tragedy, romance, history). Below is the complete list of plays in chronological order.
 
 

Macbeth contains some of the best-known and most foreboding quotes in all of Shakespeare’s plays. See if you can match the quote with the character saying it. Go a step further and explain the context in which it was said.

Characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Witch 2, Murderer, Malcolm, Hecate, Macduff, Lady Macduff, Ross, Scottish Doctor, Duncan.

Quotes:
1. I have almost forgot the taste of fears
2. Something wicked this way comes
3. The night is long that never finds the day
4. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
5. What’s done is done
6. There the grown serpent lies
7. This is the very paining of your fear
8. Blood will have blood
9. Strange things I have in head, that will to hand
10. Security is mortals’ chiefest enemy
11. Our fears do make us traitors
12. We are but young in deed
13. Where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy
14. At one fell swoop
15. Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles
16. Throw physic to the dogs
17. Macbeth is ripe for shaking
18. Thou are the best o’ the cut-throats
19. I think, but dare not speak
20. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand
21. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
22. There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face
23. What you egg! Young fry of treachery!