Unit 6
Macbeth
Context
For our Unit 6 we were assigned to perform the play of Macbeth. The first thing that we did was a read through of the script with the whole of the class. After doing the read through we were given the opportunity to request which role we wanted within the play. Personally, I requested to be director along with playing a small part because I wanted to further develop my skills as a director as I had tried it during a previous project and enjoyed it. I also had a vision in my mind of how I wanted it to look and wanted to express this. The teacher assigned our roles and split us into three groups, Blue, Black and Pink, with me being part of the Pink group. My roles in Macbeth where King Duncan and Young Seyward.
Research
William Shakespeare was born on 26th of April in 1564 even though this was not actually his birthday, but due to a lack of records it is unknown what his actual birthdate is. This however, was the date William Shakespeare was Christened on. The reason that there is no record of his birth is due to the fact that he came from a poor, average sized family for that time. His family lived in a small village called Stratford-upon-Avon which is located just outside of London. His father worked as a glover to provide for the family while his mother stayed at home to take care of her nine children as all women did in the 16th century. With William being the middle child, he never received as much attention from his parents, until the age of seven when he went to school for the first time and got kicked out of his English class because he corrected the teacher. William went on to marry Anne Hathaway, who was an actress, at the age of 18. She was the inspiration for a lot of his sonnets, plays and poems. They had three children together but due to unknown reasons, his son passed away at the age of 11. Although it is unknown when Shakespeare's first play was ever written, the first play to be performed was called The Taming Of The Shrew which was approximately between 1580 and 1590. After this Shakespeare's popularity and recognition grew like wildfire. This is evidenced by the fact that between 1590 and 1600 he wrote 18 plays. These include some of his most famous works as; Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Much Ado About Nothing. Whilst including his lesser known work, but still phenomenal pieces such as; The Comedies of Errors, Loves Labour's Lost and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
However, the play that we've been focussing on is Macbeth. This is one of Shakespeare's well known tragedies and is considered to be one of the finest works in English literature. The play was first performed in 1606. This release alone showed the genius of Shakespeare due to the fact that James VI was the monarch of England and had been crowned James I, king of Scotland. Shakespeare wrote the play after he had been asked to be the royal play writer. He never truly gave a response but the play Macbeth can be interpreted as him not wanting to give up control over the stories he could write and publish. Macbeth can also be seen as Shakespeare having a 'dig' at James VI as he was a very superstitious person. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth about the current situations in England like the witch trials, James VI being terrified of actual witchcraft and being the king of Scotland. Whilst addressing the current situation, he also made his plays an escape from the tragedies that were actually going on at the time.
The play of Macbeth takes place in the 11th century in a time when everyone tried to get a piece of Scotland. The ruling king of Scotland, Duncan, is fighting with England, Sweden, Norway and rebellions within Scotland. As well as having good captains such as Banquo, Malcolm and Macbeth, Duncan was a strategical genius and managed to win all wars and keep Scotland a free country.
