The Real Macbeth (Overview):
Sources 1 and 2 – www.biography.com, www.totallyhistory.com/Macbeth
- Mac Bethad mac Findláich, or Macbeth in English, was the king of the Scots whose rule was marked by efficient government and promotion to Christianity (biography.com).
- Macbeth was born in the ancient Scottish province of Celtic in 1005 (biography.com).
- Natively, he was Gaelic, and his name in Gaelic means “Son of Life” (biography.com).
- In August 1040, Macbeth killed the ruling king, Duncan I, in battle near Elgin, Morayshire, and became king (biography.com)
- He ruled for fourteen years and seems to have ruled equably, imposing laws and order and encouraging Christianity (biography.com).
- He is believed to have been a strong and respected warrior (totallyhistory.com).
- In 1046, Siward, earl of Northumbria, unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone Macbeth in favor of Malcolm (totallyhistory.com).
- Macbeth was killed in battle by Malcolm III, with assistance from the English (totallyhistory.com)
- It is said that Malcolm III beheaded him before taking his remains to Iona for burial (totallyhistory.com).
- Shakespeare’s Macbeth has very little resemblance to the real Scottish king.
- Not a lot of people know about the real Macbeth because he is best known as the murderer and usurper in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
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Before Macbeth Became King:
Source 3: octaneseating.com/macbeth-the-real-king-of-scotland
- Macbeth was born in Moray, Scotland, during a time of civil war.
- His father, known as Mormaer of Moray, died when he was fifteen years old.
- After his father’s death, Macbeth’s grandfather, King Malcolm of Scotland, took him in.
- Fourteen years after his father’s death, in 1034, Macbeth’s grandfather passed away, leaving his throne to another grandson, Duncan.
- “Duncan became deeply involved in Anglo-Norse affairs and was involved in many failed conflicts against England (octaneseating.com).”
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Interesting Facts:
Source 3 Cont: octaneseating.com/macbeth-the-real-king-of-scotland
- Macbeth’s real wife was not Lady Macbeth; her name was Gruoch.
- She was the widow of a man named Gillacomgain. Either Macbeth or his people killed him in the past.
- Gruoch’s marriage to Macbeth is theorized to have been motivated by politics. She married him as an attempt to create peace between the rival clans.
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History of Macbeth Play:
Source 4: resourcesmhs.vic.edu.au
- Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606 after James I had been King of England for three years.
- King James symbolized the Union of the Scottish and English crowns, a union to which Shakespeare refers in the play.
- Macbeth was first performed at Hampton Court Palace before James I and his guests in 1606.
- The storyline, like most of Shakespeare’s plays, was not original.
- Macbeth’s story was familiar to James; he had inherited the throne of Scotland through his ancestors, Banquo and Fleance.
- James had also been fascinated by witchcraft; Shakespeare might have been trying to win his approval by introducing the figures of the “three weird sisters” into the play.
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History of Macbeth Play Cont.:
Source 5: parklandsd.org/web/smith/files/2013/05/Historical-Context-of-Macbeth.pdf
- “Shakespeare drew the plot for Macbeth from historical sources—particularly Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577), the authoritative historical text of the period (parklandsd.org).”
- Holinshed included the story of Macbeth and Duncan, but Shakespeare did not use them in creating his drama. Instead, he decided to combine different versions of Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Chronicles included an account of King Malcolm, who reigned from 1005 to 1034. His throne first had been passed to Duncan I, who reigned from 1034-1040, and then to Macbeth, who reigned from 1040-57. Macbeth and Duncan were both Malcolm’s grandsons (parklandsd.org).
- “Shakespeare's version of Macbeth's relationship with his king comes from several places in Holinshed. The murder mostly derives from Holinshed's description of King Duff's death at the hands of Donwald: King Duff, like Duncan, is murdered by a nobleman he trusts. Donwald, like Shakespeare's Macbeth, acts with the support of an ambitious wife. Furthermore, in his account of the later history, Holinshed describes Duncan as an ineffective monarch who realized his own weakness enough to enlist the aid of Macbeth and Banquo to fight off Macdonwald's invasion from the Hebrides. Macbeth and Banquo defeated this invasion, as well as a subsequent invasion by Sweno of Norway. Other elements of Macbeth that can be traced to Holinshed's Chronicles include Macbeth's attempt to murder Banquo and Fleance and Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff (parklandsd.org).” PUT IN OWN WORDS IN PAPER.
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Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
Source 6: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Elements of Literature, Essentials of British and World Literature, Sixth Course. Ed. Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2010. 405-492. Print.
- In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth was not a hero and good king (as the real Macbeth was portrayed); he was a murderer.
- Something similar between historical Macbeth and Shakespeare’s Macbeth is that both were thirsty for power and wanted to become the next king, but historical Macbeth didn’t constantly murder people like fictional Macbeth.
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Shakespeare’s Macbeth Cont.:
Sources 7 and 8: nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_138.html, www.teenik.com/nonfiction/academic/article/428217/The-Historical-Inaccuracies-of-Shakespeares-Macbeth/
- An example of Macbeth's thirst for power in Shakespeare’s portrayal of Macbeth is when he meets with the three witches again in Act 4, Scene 1, and sees the apparitions.
- During the meeting, he says, “Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, that I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, and sleep in spite of thunder (Shakespeare Textbook Page #),” which translates to “Then I don’t need to kill Macduff. I have no reason to fear him. But even so, I’ll make doubly sure. I’ll guarantee my own fate by having you killed, Macduff. That way I can conquer my own fear and sleep easily at night (nfs.sparknotes.com).” Obviously, it is shown that he is power hungry, and he thinks that if he kills more people, then he will become the ultimate ruler of Scotland.
- This, though, is a huge inaccuracy to the real Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth was not liked by the citizens at all. The real Macbeth, though, is a different story. The real Macbeth was mostly very well-liked by the citizens and actually ruled above average. He ruled for seventeen years, while most kings at the time ruled for ten. Shakespeare’s Macbeth, though, ruled for a few months until his death in the end (teenik.com)
- Another thing that is pretty different between Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the real Macbeth is his relationship with Lady Macbeth. The real Macbeth was said to have had a strong, loving relationship with the real Lady Macbeth, who went by the name Grouch (teenik.com).
- This relationship, though, is portrayed differently in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Throughout it, especially during Scene 5 in Act 5, a close look-up on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship is shown, and it is safe to conclude that Macbeth most likely never really loved Lady Macbeth in the first place.
- In Act 5, Scene 5, when Seyton runs to Macbeth and tells him Lady Macbeth is dead, he responds with this, his famous “Tomorrow” monologue: “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (Shakespeare Textbook Page #),” which translates to, “She would have died later anyway. That news was bound to come someday. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. The days creep slowly along until the end of time. And every day that’s already happened has taken fools that much closer to their deaths. Out, out, brief candle. Life is nothing more than an illusion. It’s like a poor actor who struts and worries for his hour on the stage and then is never heard from again. Life is a story told by an idiot, full of noise and emotional disturbance but devoid of meaning (nfs.sparknotes.com).”
- The truth was revealed when Macbeth spoke this monologue. He explained to the audience that he was ready for Lady Macbeth to die, and that now that one more person was out of his way, he could move forward with his desire to remain King of Scotland.
- Even though he had this in mind, it also sounded like, in the monologue, he knew he was going to be the next one to die. (GET INTO MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS)
- Macbeth didn’t at all sound disappointed when he heard the news of Lady Macbeth’s death, which may lead to people wondering if he really loved her, and if he did, did she love him back? The entire play portrayed their relationship as a little choppy. This wasn’t the case at all, though, with the real Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
- The biggest inaccuracy, though, with fictional Macbeth and historical Macbeth is his death. In the play, Macduff murders Macbeth. This is because he is enraged when he learns that Macbeth murdered his family. Historically, though, it was Duncan’s son, Malcolm III (Malcolm Canmore), who murdered him with a little help from the English. He did this with the hope that he would be able to take Macbeth’s throne, but unfortunately, his plan was ruined. The king’s followers placed Macbeth’s stepson, Lulach, on the throne instead. Sadly for him, though, he only remained on the throne for a few months because Malcolm eventually murdered him as well (teenik.com).
- Comparing historical Macbeth with fictional Macbeth leads to the conclusion that the real Malcolm was the one Shakespeare portrayed as fictional Macbeth. Malcolm was the murderer, not Macbeth. He was the one who was seduced by his own ambitions—Macbeth wasn’t.
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Conclusion:
- Shakespeare made many changes to his drama Macbeth, but most were very dramatic and didn’t distort the historical truth (teenik.com).
- The most important thing is that both historical Macbeth and the play Macbeth have impacted history in many ways, very positively.
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