Facts And Key Characters In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Did you know that Macbeth, a famous character in Shakespeare's play, once actually ruled the country of Scotland? Shakespeare based the play off of the true story of the Scottish king’s death which occurred 600 years before it was written. Many of the facts and key characters in MacBeth were accurate. Although, the main character’s traits and flaws were often misrepresented. Scholars throughout time have speculated on why Shakespeare chose to make the changes, and I believe he probably did this for a couple different reasons such as a need to make it more dramatic, but also to please the current King James who ruled Scotland during that time period.
The basic plotline of the true story remained the same in the play version. King Malcolm of Scotia invaded Scotland
and became the most powerful man in Scotland.
Malcolm named Duncan, his grandson, the king of Scotland when he died. This is where the play begins. Duncan was king at the beginning of the story and ruled Scotland. In real life Duncan ruled from 1034 to 1040 A.D. In 1040 A.D., MacBeth and his partner, Earl of Orkney, overthrew and killed King Duncan. MacBeth also killed King Duncan in the play with a dagger, but his partner was Banquo. After ruling for several years, MacBeth was eventually killed and Malcolm became king of Scotland.
There were a few differences in the basic unfolding of events that change the mood and theme. The differences begin when MacBeth plots the murder of King Duncan. In real life King Duncan was accounted to be a terrible and weak leader. MacBeth and his partner’s army overthrow King Duncan and his army and Duncan is eventually killed in battle as well. MacBeth attacked because he saw this weakness, and he was actually a descendant of Malcolm as well and saw his right to the throne. He then claimed the kingdom for himself and his wife, Grauch. In the play, Duncan was a well respected and great king. At the beginning, witches prophesize
that MacBeth would take the crown from Duncan and encouraged him to do so. MacBeth was jealous of him and he and Banquo plotted his death. At the last minute, MacBeth had a change of mind and was against the idea, but Lady MacBeth threatened to leave him if he didn’t go through with it. The play even went as far to have MacBeth kill Duncan in his own castle as his guest. Once MacBeth took over the crown in the play, he was tortured by the image of Duncan’s ghost and did not like being king. He also was portrayed as a murderer who killed many innocent people. In real life MacBeth ruled well for almost seventeen years and was documented as being a good and strong king. Then, Duncan’s son Malcolm, who was named after his grandfather and never quit wanting his father’s throne after Macbeth had claimed it. Malcolm and Earl Siward battled and defeated Macbeth and that is when he gave up some of the land back to Malcolm. Even though he gave up some of the land he still remained as a king. Macbeth was eventually killed a couple of years later during battle in Lumphanan and Malcolm became king as he wished. In contrast, Macbeth was killed by Macduff as an act of revenge for killing his family. Malcolm did want Macbeth dead in the play as in real life, but he was not as close to the actual killing as he was in the play.
All of these changes could have been included for many reasons, but the most likely are both for entertainment and political reasons. Shakespeare had a flare for creating intriguing characters and making audiences love and hate them. For example, MacBeth and Lady MacBeth became villains that everyone loved to hate. In real life, there were not clear villains. It was common at that time in Scotland for invasions and battles to take place and for the throne to change hands a lot. This does not seem as exciting as a queen that is a snake in the grass that preys on everyone around her and uses love as blackmail. Nor as exciting as a king who sees a ghost sitting in his throne, who murders everyone who comes near his castle because of his paranoia, and who talks to witches. All of the murders in Macbeth were personal, whereas in real life, many of the deaths were on the battlefield. This personal act makes a reader’s feelings stronger toward a character.
Additionally, at the time the play was written, King James was in power. It was known, that King James believed he was a descendant of Banquo. In real life, Banquo played a part in the death of King Duncan and was an accomplice of Macbeth. Shakespeare may have been fearful that if he made Banquo a villain in the story, King James would be upset. To gain the pleasure of King James, Shakespeare may have also added the witches because King James was infatuated with witchcraft to the point he wrote a book about it.