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Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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The topic of this essay is William Shakespeare 's play Macbeth. First, the historical background of the play and its relation to King James I will briefly be investigated. Then the characteristics and the plot structure of Shakespeare 's tragedies will be discussed. Finally, some of these theories about tragedy will be applied in an analysis of the play. Macbeth was probably first performed in the Globe Theatre in London in 1606, and it was first printed in the First Folio in 1623. Macbeth is an historical play that takes place in medieval Scotland and it is partly based on historical facts. The real Macbeth was king of Scotland from 1040 to 1057 and he did kill his cousin King Duncan in order to become king himself, but Duncan was …show more content…

Shakespeare 's Macbeth is a tragedy and has common traits with his other tragedies. The following part of this essay will discuss the characteristics, and then the plot structure, of Shakespeare 's tragedies. The tragedy is typically the story of a hero or protagonist and it leads up to and includes the death of the hero. The story is "essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death." The suffering and calamity are of an extraordinary kind and they happen to an important person. They are also seen in contrast with great happiness and glory in the beginning of the story. The complete change of fortune for the hero, who had been happy and secure, appealed to the sympathy and pity of the audience, but it also appealed to the feeling of fear and made the audience feel that man was helpless when he stood before the power of Fortune or Fate, which lifted him up to success and happiness before it cast him down due to his pride. Shakespeare 's tragedies are always about very important people like princes or kings. The fate of the hero typically affects the welfare of the whole state or empire and the story of his fall points to the omnipotence of Fortune or Fate - in a way that a story of an ordinary person would not be able to. The calamites in Shakespeare 's tragedies do not simply happen but are the consequence of the actions of men. In tragedy we see characters reacting to certain conditions and their reactions lead to other actions and this chain of actions leads

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