The construction of femininity and masculinity in Shakespeare`s Macbeth

Although the sole authority for the text of this play is the first edition published in the 1623 volume of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, the play was most likely first performed at the Globe Theatre in 1606 to compliment and entertain King James I and his visitor, the King of Denmark (Brown 9). The script of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s only play set in Scotland, includes many stage directions such as directions for sound and lighting. This could perhaps indicate that the text of the play had been used as a prompt text before it was printed and included in the collection (Brown 10).

James was a fan of Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587) (Brown 13). Perhaps for this reason, Shakespeare also wanted to write a dark and gripping play for James I.

The Chronicles were condensed, shaped, and augmented specifically to create an exciting, entertaining and gripping plot. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play that deals with regicide and the horrible consequences that regicide has on both the murderer and the country. Although it is the “shortest and bloodiest” Shakespearean drama, it has been immensely successful and has attracted huge audiences from all over the world since its time (Phillips / Douthat 2). Shakespeare wrote this play to compliment the “self-proclaimed anti-militarist” King James I (Wells 117).

James I was a “genuine peacemaker” whose dearest ambition was for a united Europe (Wells 133). Still James was not ignorant to the fact that any military aristocracy needed control (Ibid.). At the beginning of his reign, James I was very popular as his policy of promoting “piety, peace and learning” gave hope after the final years of Elizabeth’s reign, which was marked by “the inbred factionalism of the court and the aggressively militant nationalism fostered by the war party” (Ibid.). According to James I a “wise ruler” should strive for peace and “justice tempered by mercy” (as he emphasizes in Basilicon Doron) (Wells 134). But how exactly did Shakespeare alter his original sources? According to Mabillard, Shakespeare’s alterations of his sources served three purposes: “the dramatic purpose of creating a more exciting story than is found in the sources; the thematic purpose of creating a more complex characterization of Macbeth; and the political purpose of catering to the beliefs of the reigning monarch, King James I” (Mabillard 1).