Eleventh century Scotland was a violent and troubled country. Feuding families and clans fought to control trade and territory. The castle was the powerbase for each warlord (Thane). Political murder and revenge killings were commonplace. Marauding Vikings and Norsemen raided constantly.

Macbeth was born in 1005, son of a great family that ruled Moray and Ross. Macbeths father was murdered by his own cousins. He then married Gruach, granddaughter to a high king of Scotland. They never had any children and there is no evidence of the influence that Lady Macbeth had over her husband.

Whilst the play is based loosely on fact, Shakespeare altered some of the events so that they fitted the play. For example, he invented Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and death, the banquet scene and Banquo's Ghost as well as most of the cauldron scene. Shakespeare also changed Duncan from an ineffectual king into an old and revered ruler and he also ignored Macbeth's ten years of good rule.

The first major event in the play is Act 1 Scene 1 where the witches talk about meeting Macbeth on the heath. The appearance of the witches early on in the play immediately establishes the influence

This becomes most evident during Macbeth and Banquo's conversation in Act 2 Scene 1, just before Macbeth is to murder Duncan. During this part of the scene, Banquo says

This suggests that the witches knew that Macbeth was taking that route back to Duncan's castle and that they would be waiting for him on the way. How would the witches know where to meet Macbeth if he hadn't told them unless they were supernatural?

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Approximate Word count = 2400
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)