To understand Macbeth, one must understand the fear of an era. London, 1606. Months earlier, England had escaped for hours a plot to blow up Parliament with the king and court inside. Shakespeare wrote his tragedy on this exposed nerve.
The attack that shook England
The Gunpowder Plot of November 1605 was the attempt to blow up the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament. The face that the world kept is that of Guy Fawkes, caught with the barrels. The mask that would return centuries later in "V for Vendetta" was born that November. Regicide stopped being a theater hypothesis and became a national trauma.
Shakespeare knew who he was writing for
On the throne was James I, a Scottish king obsessed with two things: the legitimacy of his own blood and witchcraft, to the point of having written a treatise on demons, the Daemonologie. That's why the play is Scottish. That's why there are witches. And that's why Banquo, legendary ancestor of James's dynasty, is the man who hears the same prophecy and doesn't kill anyone: a ciphered praise for the king in the audience.
Shakespeare took the vocabulary of the court and put it in the mouth of hell.
The doctrine of equivocation
There is still a finer thread. In the trials of the conspirators, the doctrine of "equivocation" was discussed, the art of telling half-truths under oath. The public of 1606 knew the word well. Shakespeare transfers it to witches, who don't lie: they tell truths designed to deceive. "No man born of woman" can harm Macbeth, they say, knowing that Macduff came from a cesarean section. Mistake is the crux of tragedy.
When faith and power clash
The Gunpowder Plot is a chapter of something bigger: the long history in which faith and power face each other in Europe, with persecution, conflicts and the birth of a new political order. It is exactly this background that we study in depth in our Church History course, based on the monumental work of Daniel Rops, from the first century to our days.
Course
History of the Church, by Daniel Rops
From the primitive Church to the modern era, the story in which faith and power face each other, chapter by chapter, with in-depth reading by Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Bitencourt.
Discover the courseFrequently asked questions
What is the relationship between Macbeth and the Gunpowder Plot?
Macbeth was written around 1606, months after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an attempt to blow up the English Parliament with the king inside. The fear of regicide and treason was fresh, and Shakespeare built his tragedy on that nerve.
Why does Macbeth have witches and is a Scottish play?
Because Shakespeare was writing to King James I, Scottish and obsessed with his lineage and witchcraft, to the point of writing a treatise on demons, the Daemonologie. That's why the play is Scottish, has witches and celebrates Banquo, the king's legendary ancestor.
What is the doctrine of equivocation in Macbeth?
Equivocation is the art of speaking half-truths, discussed in the trials of the Gunpowder conspirators. Shakespeare takes the court's term into the mouths of the witches, who tell truths designed to deceive Macbeth.
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