Macbeth

The Real Macbeth * Where did this story originate from' By the 1500s, Macbeth had been transformed into Duncan's violent warrior-general, and the benevolent Gruach had become an "ambitious and unscrupulous woman" who encouraged her husband to betray the king. It was this version of events that Raphael Holinshed recorded in his 1577 Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, the book Shakespeare used when he sat down to pen his immortal drama. * Story of Macbeth: * Born in 1005 at Alba, Scotland and died in 1057 at Lumphanan-in-Mar, Scotland * Reigned from 1040 to 1057 * Macbeth was elected Mormaer of Moray after that death of his cousin * He married Gillecomgain’s widow and adopted his son, Lulach * Malcolm ll died which resulted in Duncan MacCrinan to be King * Macbeth sided with the enemy and took advantage of the opportunity to attack Duncan and in result, Duncan was killed during the sea battle against Thorfinn * Macbeth and then became in power for 17 years and preserved his country with no issues * Around 1052, Duncan’s son Malcolm MacDuncan started making claims on the Scottish throne, after two years of planning he partnered with Siward (Earl of Northumbria) to invade Scotland * 1054: Battle between Macbeth and Malcolm Mac Duncan took place on the plains of Gowrie, west of Dundee * Macbeth was defeated and Malcolm Mac Duncan became the King * 1057: Macbeth was eventually killed at the battle of Lumphanan and was buried on the Isle of Lona * Macbeth’s son Lulach became the High King, but he only ruled for seven months until one of Malcom’s men killed him * Malcolm Mac Duncan ruled Scotland and then his son, Malcand after the death of his brother * Shakespeare derived Macbeth from a popular book at his time, Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed * Shakespeare modified the real, historical version of Macbeth to his own for his play * Each characters life story : * Shakespeare's Macbeth was Thane of Cawdor. The real MacBeth, however, was a mormaer (an early Scottish equivalent of an earl). * Duncan I. The real Duncan was also very unlike the Shakespearean portayal. He was a young, impetuous king and not the wise old man of the play. He was not killed in bed but in battle against MacBeth's men of Moray * Malcolm mac Duncan. Malcolm was the eldest son of Duncan I. He fought MacBeth for the throne with the aid of Earl Siward, defeating him at Lumphanan and finally winning control of the throne the following year, 1058. * Macbeths reign 17 years. MacBeth is considered to have been the second last of the kings of the House of Alpin (Malcolm III is considered the first of the House of Canmore). MacBeth's reign was one of the longest of any of the early Scottish kings. * MacBeth's stepson, Lulach (known as Lulach the Simple), succeeded him in 1057. In 1058 Lulach was killed in an ambush and Malcolm Canmore became Malcolm III. MacBeth is not known to have had any children of his own Questions: 1. How did Macbeth come into power of his country' 2. What age was Macbeth when he became king of Scotland' 3. Why did Macbeth side with the enemy' 4. What are the similarities and differences between real Macbeth and the Shakespeare's version' 5. When and where did this occur' 6. What did Shakespeare use to write his play'