Assignment #2

We were asked to research one of Shakespeare's sources for the creation of Macbeth, and the one that our group was assigned was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, Part 5. This is our interpretation of the similarity and differences between Holinshed's history and Shakespeare's story, and why Shakespeare edited what he believed to be history.

Holinshed's Chronicles

Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, was based on the Chronicles of Scotland by Holinshed, there having been real people by the names of Duncan, Macbeth, and Banquo, all characters well known in this play.

In the chronicles, the story commences with Malcome, the old king, passing his throne onto Duncan, his grandson. He has another grandson, named Macbeth, and it is said that "if he had not been somewhat cruel of nature" he would have been a very suitable option for the throne.
Duncan was a very soft king, and had a very relaxed attitude toward punishing criminals, creating a stir in Scotland. One of the rebels against Duncan was named Macdownald, who is later defeated by Banquo and Macbeth.

Following this comes an invasion of the Norwegian king, Sweno, who is also defeated by Macbeth's army and subsequently chased back to their homeland.

It is at this time that a "strange and uncouth wonder" happens, namely, the meeting with three women "in strange and wild apparell" with Banquo and Macbeth as they go towards Fores. There, they make their statements: Macbeth, thane of Glammis, thane of Cawdor, and "that hereafter shall be king". As well, Banquo would not become king, but will be granted with a long line of kings of descent. Upon their vanishing, the two take this as somewhat of a joke, but Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes king. Malcome and Donalbain flee, Malcome to England and Donalbain to Ireland.

At first, Macbeth’s reign is very prosperous and peaceful, as he makes very good laws and statutes for the people and rules well. However, remembering that Banquo's sons would become kings, he attempts to kill Banquo and his son. Banquo is successfully killed, but his son lives and escapes to Wales.

From this point on, Macbeth's rule only spirals downward, in a tragic fashion.He becomes very distrusting of others, and begins to kill his nobles and loyal subjects, out of blood-thirst, out of a fear driven by paranoia, and out of greed.

Out of his distrust of Macduff, another one of his subjects, Macbeth seeks to kill him. However, at this time, a certain witch with "whom he [has] in great trust" tells him he will not be killed by a man born of any woman or until the wood of Birnane came to the castle. Through this, he believes that he will never need to fear for his life. He does, though, go to Macduff's castle, intending to kill him, but not finding him there, kills instead all others in the castle.
At this time, Macduff escapes to England to Malcome, who promises to help. Malcome, who has become one of King Edward’s favourite subjects, is promised an army of ten thousand to fight Macbeth.

Malcome, at Birnane wood, commands his army to each take a bough of some tree and then to advance, fulfilling the second part of the witch's prophecy.Seeing the numbers of Malcom and Macduff's troops, Macbeth wishes to flee, but is pursued by Macduff who then fights with Macbeth. Macbeth doesn't believe Macduff can win, however, Macduff tells him how he was "ripped out of [his mother's] wombe" and then kills him. This fulfills the first part of the prophecy.Macbeth dies after 17 years of reign, in the year 1057.

Overall, the general plot of Macbeth remains unchanged with the history as documented by Holinshed, although a few notable details are present. One is that in both, the appearance of the three witches and their prophecies still play a very important role. Another is the absence of Lady Macbeth. Since she doesn’t appear in the Chronicles, although she may, or may not have existed in her role, she would have been Shakespeare’s own creation, which is an important fact to note with women’s roles during that time period.

Since the role of women in the time when the chronicles were written was not very large or spoken about, Shakespeare created a female character to either change people's opinions, or to make a point of women's roles in society. The other reason that he might have done it is because he believes that it enhances the storyline for Macbeth to have a better half, and for part of his historic gall to be laid with her. Historically, the killing of Duncan and the others was Macbeth’s own wishes, and he wasn’t pushed to it, so it was quite interesting to see that Shakespeare edited this part of history. While Macbeth may have been justified in killing Duncan, since he did bring Scotland back under order, the others weren’t as justified perhaps, and Shakespeare might not have wanted the great Macbeth to take fault for this, so that is the role of Lady Macbeth.

Holinshed, Raphael. Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 5.
Shakespeare Navigators at clicknotes.com. Jan. 25, 2006
<http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/Holinshed/Holin265.html>