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Shakespeare’s Macbeth and American Politics
This old story never really gets old.
Macbeth, first performed in 1606, is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. It is also one of the most popular of the dramatist’s plays for study in high school English classes.
If you never read it in high school, here is a synopsis: Macbeth, a general in the Scottish army of King Duncan, wins a decisive battle, thereby putting down a rebellion against the rightful king’s rule. Duncan, in gratitude for Macbeth’s bravery, decides to award him the title of Thane of Cawdor, the title of the traitor who initiated the rebellion.
Later that day, Macbeth, walking on a heath with his friend and fellow soldier Banquo, meets three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is destined to become Thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland. They tell Banquo that he will become the father of many kings. The witches disappear, and messengers arrive to tell Macbeth that he has been given the new title of Thane of Cawdor. He is stunned. How did the witches know about this? Does that mean he will somehow become king as well?
The rest of the play is a chronicle of how Macbeth, emboldened by the evil witches, violently seizes the throne of Scotland with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, and learns that having power is not as wonderful as it seems.
