Study notes for BEGC-133 Block 1 Unit 1. Covers the Elizabethan world with Renaissance timeline diagram, the Copernican revolution and Reformation, Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada 1588, Humanist thought and its influence on Shakespeare, comparison of Machiavelli's The Prince (1513) and King James's Basilikon Doron (1599) with side-by-side diagram, drama in the Renaissance including bear-baiting yards and the Globe Theatre cross-section diagram, drama and censorship in Elizabethan England (Gosson, Stubbes, plague closures, 1642 closing of theatres), date of the play (1606, Jacobean, Gunpowder Plot 1605, Simon Forman 1611), sources of Macbeth including John Major, Buchanan, and Holinshed's Chronicles 1587 as primary source with sources funnel diagram, and all 7 unit-end questions with full answers. Free PDF download.
Before we read the play, we need to understand the world Shakespeare lived in. This unit is the "background story" — the time, the ideas, the theatre, and the old books that gave Shakespeare his plot. Once you know this, the play itself will make much more sense.
The word Renaissance means "re-birth" or "awakening". It was a time when people in Europe rediscovered the old writings of ancient Greece and Rome and got excited about them again. This movement began in Italy in the 1400s and slowly spread across Europe. By the 1500s — the time of Shakespeare — it had reached England.
The Renaissance changed the way people saw themselves. Earlier, people believed the Earth was the centre of the universe (this was Ptolemy's idea). Then the scientist Copernicus proved that the Earth actually goes around the Sun — the Earth was not the centre after all. This may sound like just a science fact, but it shook people deeply. If the Earth could be "moved" from the centre, then maybe the powerful groups in society could also be moved from their place. A new way of thinking had begun.
This was also a time of big religious change. King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, but the Catholic Church (and the Pope) would not allow it. So Henry broke away from the Pope's control. On the surface it looked like a divorce problem, but really it was about the king wanting full power for himself, not under the Pope. This led to the Reformation and the birth of the Protestant faith in England.
When Queen Elizabeth I came to power (1558), she had to manage angry Catholics and keep peace between religious groups. She did this through the Elizabethan Settlement — a kind of middle path. Her reign was mostly stable, and big events like the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 made her even stronger.
One of the biggest ideas of the Renaissance was humanism. Earlier, art and writing mostly focused on man's relationship with God. Humanism turned the focus to man himself — his life in this world, his relationships with other people, and his power to control his own future ("destiny").
Humanism gave human beings dignity. The idea that a person could shape his own life by his own choices became powerful. Shakespeare belonged to this world, so his plays are full of characters who make big choices and face the results. Macbeth is exactly this kind of character — a man who decides to grab his own future.
But Elizabeth's reign also had rebellions. Two famous ones:
In those days, a rebel was treated as evil. The Church taught that rebelling against the ruler was like committing every sin at once. The king or queen was seen as chosen by God, so going against them was going against God.
Two books from this period show two opposite ideas of what a ruler should be. Understanding them helps us understand Macbeth.
Machiavelli's The Prince (1513) was a shocking, practical guide to power. It described the usurper — someone who seizes the throne by force. Machiavelli said a ruler should do all the harsh things he must do quickly and at once, then win people over later. He also famously said that if a ruler cannot be both loved and feared, it is safer to be feared. This was a new, "modern" way of thinking about power — power as something you grab and protect, not a holy gift.
King James's Basilikon Doron (1599) (the title means "kingly gift" in Greek) said the opposite. A good king is answerable to God and rules for the good of his people. A tyrant thinks the people exist only to serve him. So the very question — what makes a "good" king? — was being argued about. The play Macbeth sits right in the middle of this debate.
Theatre in England grew a lot in the 1500s. Entertainment started with rough shows — acrobats, and cruel sports like bear-baiting (where dogs were set on a chained bear) and bull-baiting. People also gathered to watch public executions! Plays were first acted in the courtyards of inns ("inn-yards"), where the audience stood close around the actors. This closeness made the experience exciting and direct.
From 1576, permanent theatre buildings were built around London, but they kept the feel of those old inn-yards. Shakespeare's acting company was the Lord Chamberlain's Men, named after its patron Henry Carey, the Lord Chamberlain. Shakespeare was part-owner of the theatre. So theatre was not just art — it was also a business with tickets, investments and profits.
The Globe was the famous round, open-air theatre linked to Shakespeare. A similar playhouse, the Swan, could hold about 3,000 people. The poorest viewers (called groundlings) paid a penny and stood in the open "pit" right in front of the stage. Richer people sat in covered galleries around the sides. Because there were no electric lights, plays were performed in daylight.
Theatre was hugely popular — but the rulers did not fully trust it. Plays sometimes talked about kings, power and rebellion, which made the monarchy nervous. For example, Shakespeare's play Richard II (about a king being removed from the throne) worried Queen Elizabeth so much that she once said, "I am Richard II. Know ye not that?" The scene showing the king being deposed was even left out when the play was first printed, almost certainly for political safety.
So the government passed many laws to control plays. Theatres were built just outside the city, in areas called the "liberties", partly because they were seen as troublesome. Some strict critics attacked theatre completely:
Others defended theatre — like Thomas Lodge and Thomas Heywood, who saw plays as an "ornament of the city". There was also a practical reason to shut theatres: the plague. Crowded theatres spread disease, so they were the first places closed when too many people died. Finally, under strict Puritan pressure, theatres were shut down completely in 1642.
Theatre was loved by the people but feared by the rulers. It was popular, profitable — and a little bit dangerous, because it could make audiences think about power.
We do not know the exact date, but most scholars believe Macbeth was written around 1606. This was just after King James I (who was already King James VI of Scotland) became king of England in 1603 — the first Scottish king to rule England.
His rise faced opposition, including the famous Gunpowder Plot (1605), a failed Catholic plan to blow up Parliament and the king. Macbeth captures the tension and fear of these "Jacobean" years (the time of King James). A few clues help date the play:
Shakespeare did not invent the Macbeth story from nothing. He took it from old history books and re-shaped it for the stage.
The real historical Macbeth was the 85th king of Scotland and ruled from 1040 to 1057. He killed King Duncan and was later replaced by Duncan's son, Malcolm III. Different old books told his story differently:
Interestingly, in the history books Macbeth ruled for about seventeen years, and the first ten were actually peaceful and just. Shakespeare cut all that out — in the play, Macbeth's rule is short and bloody from the start. Shakespeare changed the facts to make a tighter, more dramatic tragedy that spoke to the worries of King James's England — about who has the right to the throne, and what happens when someone seizes it by murder.
| Word | Simple meaning |
|---|---|
| Renaissance | A "re-birth" or awakening; the period (from the 1400s in Italy) when people rediscovered ancient Greek and Roman learning. |
| Humanism | A Renaissance idea that puts the human being — his dignity, choices and worldly life — at the centre. |
| Reformation | The religious break from the Catholic Church that created the Protestant faith in England. |
| Protestant | A form of Christianity by people who rejected the Pope's supreme authority. |
| Ptolemy | An astronomer (150 AD) who said the Earth is the centre of the universe (this was later proved wrong). |
| Copernicus | The scientist who proved the Earth and planets move around the Sun. |
| Elizabethan Settlement | Queen Elizabeth's middle-path solution to keep peace between Catholics and Protestants. |
| Spanish Armada | The fleet of ships that tried to invade England in 1588 and was defeated. |
| Baiting | To provoke an animal (e.g., setting dogs on a chained bear) — a cruel popular sport. |
| Usurper | A person who seizes power or the throne by force, without the right to it. |
| Machiavellian | Following Machiavelli's ideas — using cunning and cruelty to gain and keep power. |
All the questions from this unit, answered in clear and simple language for your exam.
The Renaissance (meaning "re-birth") was a movement that began in Italy in the 1400s and reached England by the 1500s. It was a re-discovery of ancient Greek and Roman learning, and it changed how people saw the world. Two important shifts happened. First, in science, Copernicus proved the Earth is not the centre of the universe — it moves around the Sun. This made people question old certainties, including the fixed "places" of powerful groups in society. Second, in religion and money, the Church's authority was challenged (the Reformation) and traders and merchants began to gain wealth and power.
Out of this came humanism — the belief that the human being should be at the centre of attention. Instead of focusing only on man's relationship with God, humanism studied man in his own world, his relationships, and his power to control his own destiny. This gave human beings a new sense of dignity. Shakespeare belonged to this world, which is why his plays show strong individuals making big choices. Macbeth is a perfect example — a man who tries to grab and shape his own future, and faces the terrible results.
In the 1500s, drama in England grew from rough entertainment into a serious, popular art. Early entertainment included acrobats and cruel animal sports like bear-baiting and bull-baiting; people even watched public executions. Plays were first performed in the courtyards of inns, where the audience stood close around the stage, making it lively and direct.
From 1576, permanent open-air, round theatres were built around London, keeping the inn-yard feel. The famous Globe is linked to Shakespeare, and theatres like the Swan could hold around 3,000 people. The poorest viewers (groundlings) stood in the open pit for a penny; richer people sat in covered galleries. Plays ran in daylight. Shakespeare's company was the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and he was even part-owner of the theatre. So theatre mixed all social classes and was also a real business — with tickets, investment and profit.
Censorship means the government controlling what could be shown. Theatre was loved by ordinary people, but it worried the rulers because plays sometimes touched on kings, power and rebellion. For example, the popularity of Richard II (where a king is removed) disturbed Queen Elizabeth — she even said "I am Richard II." The deposition scene was left out when the play was first printed, for political safety.
So many laws and orders were passed to control plays, and theatres were placed just outside the city in areas called the "liberties". Strong critics like Stephen Gosson and Philip Stubbes attacked theatre as immoral; John Rainolds objected to men playing women's roles. Others, like Thomas Lodge and Thomas Heywood, defended it. Theatres were also shut during outbreaks of plague. Finally, under Puritan pressure, theatres were closed completely in 1642. In short, theatre lived in constant tension with authority.
There is no exact record of when Macbeth was written, but most scholars place it around 1606, with possible dates between 1599 and 1606. Several clues help:
The date matters because the play fits the mood of the Jacobean period — just after King James I (a Scottish king) took the English throne in 1603, and around the time of the Gunpowder Plot (1605). The play's Scottish setting, the witches, and the question of who has the right to be king all matched King James's own interests, suggesting Shakespeare may have even planned a performance at court.
Shakespeare based the play on old history books, not on his own invention. The main sources were:
Shakespeare mixed and changed this material. For example, the history books say Macbeth ruled for about seventeen years (ten of them peaceful), but Shakespeare made his rule short and bloody to create a tighter tragedy that spoke to the political fears of his own time.
Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1587) is accepted as the primary (main) source of the play. It was itself based on earlier histories (by Hector Boece, translated by John Bellenden). The Chronicles gave Shakespeare most of his key material: the meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three "weird sisters", who hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and future King; the figure of an ambitious Lady Macbeth who pushes her husband to kill the king; and the idea that Banquo's descendants would become kings.
However, Shakespeare did not copy it exactly. In Holinshed, Duncan is a weak king and Macbeth rules justly for ten years before turning cruel. Shakespeare removed this peaceful period and made Duncan a noble, gracious king, so that Macbeth's crime looks darker. This shows Shakespeare used his source as a starting point but re-shaped it for powerful drama.
Machiavelli's The Prince describes the usurper — a man who seizes the throne by force and then uses any means to keep it. Macbeth fits this idea closely. He is not the rightful heir; the crown should pass to Duncan's son Malcolm. Yet, driven by the witches' words and his own "vaulting ambition", Macbeth murders the king to take power for himself. This is the classic Machiavellian move — grabbing power rather than inheriting it.
After seizing the crown, Macbeth follows the Machiavellian logic further: to stay in power he keeps on killing — Banquo, and Macduff's family — trying to remove every threat. Machiavelli said a ruler should be willing to use cruelty and be feared. Macbeth becomes exactly that: a feared "tyrant". But the play also shows the cost of this strategy. Macbeth gains the crown but loses his peace of mind, his sleep, his wife, and finally his life. So Shakespeare presents the Machiavellian usurper, but also questions whether such ruthless power can ever truly succeed or bring happiness.
End of Unit 1 · Continue with Unit 2: Macbeth — Part I (Acts I & II)
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