Using Context (AO3):

No text exists in a vacuum. It is a product of everything happening around its production (the life of the author, the “trends” in literature at the time, social and historical factors, and more) as well as its reception (how audiences would receive it at the time, and now – and every year between). Because of this, examiners think you should be able to talk about context when you talk about the text. Remember: Con = with; Text = text. 

Because the focus is on the relationship between text and context, there is no point in mentioning anything in this study note unless you are linking it to the text. This is not a History exam! If you are talking about Lady Macbeth as a woman wrestling with femininity and power, then by all means bring in Queen Elizabeth I. If not, save that contextual knowledge for another essay. Avoid a “brain dump” of all the knowledge you have; be picky and precise.

Try and bring some contextual knowledge into each analytical paragraph, but you shouldn’t need more than a sentence or two to explain it. Use a signpost phrase like “In the 17th Century”, or even “Contextually speaking” to alert your examiner to the AO3 opportunity, and then link your analysis to the contextual insight with a phrase like, “It is perhaps unsurprising, considering”, or “This factor may be explained by”. 

1. The Political and Royal Context: Elizabeth I and James I

Elizabeth I and the Fear of Female Rule

Before Macbeth was written (around 1606), England had been ruled by Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), a powerful but unmarried monarch. Many people of the time believed that women were not suited to rule, a belief rooted in the patriarchal society and the Great Chain of Being (which placed men above women).

However, Elizabeth defied these expectations, famously asserting her strength in her Speech to the Troops at Tilbury (1588) when facing the threat of the Spanish Armada:

"I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too."

This speech showed that she saw herself as exceptional—strong enough to rule despite her gender—which she followed through on, trouncing the Spanish Armada. This military/violent capacity, despite the physical trappings of womanhood is mirrored in Lady Macbeth (see below). However, Elizabeth’s death in 1603 ended the Tudor dynasty and left England without an heir, leading to uncertainty and political anxiety.

James I: The New Scottish King

The English throne passed to James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. This was significant because:

• He was not English, which made some English nobles uneasy.

• He believed in the Divine Right of Kings, meaning he saw his rule as God-given and unquestionable.

• He claimed descent from the real-life Banquo from history, linking himself to a noble Scottish lineage.

By writing Macbeth, Shakespeare flattered his new king by presenting Banquo as an honourable and wise character, while Macbeth, the usurper, meets a tragic downfall. Conversely, wise GCSE students may also note that depicting a new king, who was Scottish, and who was neither democratically nor genetically elected, may be an insult to James I instead. In essence, if the play is an allegory, who is James?

2. The Supernatural and James I

James I was fascinated by witchcraft and even wrote a book on the subject: Daemonologie (1597). He believed that witches were real and actively working against him, which led to witch trials across Scotland and England—perhaps one of the greatest injustices faced by women in British history.

Shakespeare taps into this fear in Macbeth:

• The witches are evil and deceptive, manipulating Macbeth with half-truths.

• Their unnatural influence reflects the widespread belief that witches could alter fate.

• Macbeth’s downfall could be seen as a warning against listening to dark forces—something James I was keen to discourage.
  

3. The Divine Right of Kings and the Great Chain of Being

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in a time when hierarchy and order were considered sacred. Two key ideas were:

The Divine Right of Kings

James I strongly believed that kings were appointed by God, meaning rebellion was not just treason—it was a sin against God. He wrote extensively about this idea in another of his works, Basilokon Doron. In Macbeth, Duncan is a good and rightful king, whereas Macbeth is a usurper, disrupting the natural order by killing Duncan. His downfall restores the rightful king (Malcolm), reinforcing the message that overthrowing a king leads to disaster for the overthrowers—and that normal order is inevitable, because God decrees it so.

The Great Chain of Being

This was the idea that everything in the universe had a fixed place, set by God:

1. God

2. Angels

3. King

4. Nobles

5. Commoners

6. Animals

7. Plants

When Macbeth kills Duncan, he disrupts this order, and chaos follows:

• The weather becomes wild and stormy (reflecting disorder).

• Duncan’s horses eat each other (nature reflects human corruption).

• Macbeth loses his sanity, showing his unnatural crime has consequences.

The play ultimately restores order with Malcolm’s return, reinforcing the importance of stability under a rightful king. Again, wise GCSE students may wish to query whether the rightful king in the play is a nod to James I, or indeed a challenge to him (note that Malcolm flees to England and it is with English military power that he overthrows Macbeth). Shakespeare’s company’s patronage by the king (see below, next section) ought to suggest that loyalty and flattery would be the case, but one can never be sure!

4. Shakespeare’s Life and Career

Shakespeare’s Patronage by James I

Shakespeare was a favourite playwright of James I, and his acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, was renamed the King’s Men in honour of royal patronage. By doing so, Shakespeare and his actors gained financial stability, some artistic freedom, and elite audiences (indeed, it is very likely that the first audience of Macbeth was King James I himself, and his court). Writing Macbeth was a way of pleasing the new king by:

• Celebrating his Scottish heritage.

• Reinforcing the importance of loyalty to the king.

• Warning against rebellion and ambition.

Shakespeare’s Interest in Tragedy

Macbeth is a tragedy, a genre Shakespeare excelled in. Tragedy had a long history in literature, with origins in Ancient Greece and Rome. An ancient Greek, Aristotle, wrote Poetics, which spells out what tragedies should include (tragic heroes, fatal flaws, etc.), based on the work of fellow Greeks such as Sophocles; and an Ancient Roman, Seneca, influenced Shakespeare by taking tragedy in a much bloodier direction when his plays were rediscovered in Shakespeare’s era. Not a tragedy, but a relevant influence, Mirrors for Magistrates (1559) was a collection of poems that detailed noblemen’s failures, in the hope of instructing better leaders. Shakespeare took all of these influences to heart when composing his own tragedies.

A Shakespearean tragedy typically involves:

• A tragic hero of noble birth or status, who has a fatal flaw (hamartia). Macbeth’s is ambition.

• A reversal of fortune (peripeteia)—his rise to power quickly turns to downfall.

• A realisation of this disaster (anagnorisis)—when he realises he is done for.

• Catharsis, where the audience feels pity and fear as they watch his fate unfold.

By following these conventions, Shakespeare ensures that Macbeth is both a personal story and a grand, cautionary tale.

5. Lady Macbeth and Subverting Gender Roles

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most complex female characters. She challenges traditional femininity, particularly when she calls on dark forces to:

"Unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty" [1.5].

She believes she must reject her womanhood to commit murder, for physical violence is in her eyes the realm of men. However, as the play progresses, she descends into madness, suggesting that stepping outside traditional gender roles leads to disaster.

Masculinity and Violence

Throughout the play, characters equate manliness with aggression. Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth’s masculinity to pressure him into killing Duncan, saying:

"When you durst do it, then you were a man" [1.7].

However, the play ultimately challenges this idea—Macduff, who grieves for his family, is still portrayed as the true hero.

6. The Role of Fate vs. Free Will

The witches’ prophecies make it seem like Macbeth is destined to be king. However, he still chooses to act on them. This raises questions about:

• Predestination—are the witches simply revealing the future?

• Personal responsibility—does Macbeth bring about his own downfall?

Shakespeare leaves this open to interpretation, making the play even more intriguing.

This debate was not simply an invention of Shakespeare in this play and others, but an ongoing and fiercely contested one in the society of the time. In the wake of the Reformation, the concept of Calvinism (the teachings of John Calvin, including the idea that all human outcomes were predetermined by God and could not be changed) was being challenged and replaced with the idea that humans have free will and responsibility. Whilst many theologians of the time were trying to find a middle ground, James I leaned more towards Calvinist ideas—especially for kings. 

Shakespeare’s engagement with the concept in the play is fascinating, but unresolved!