'Discuss the view that the witches are solely responsible for Macbeth's descent into evil'.

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English Coursework Macbeth

Gopal Makwana 11MC 16/05/07

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire on the on April 26 1564. He was eldest son in a family of eight children only two older sisters were older then him. Shakespeare was very well educated in a grammar school and as he was the eldest son he would have taken over his fathers business as this was the tradition of the time but instead he broke the tradition and became a school headmaster. He then moved to the British Capital City of London.

William Shakespeare Shakespeare's professional life in London was marked by a number of financially advantageous arrangements that permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain's Men, later called the King's Men, and its two theatres, the Globe Theatre and the Blackfriars. His plays were given special presentation at the courts of Elizabeth I and James I more frequently than those of any other contemporary dramatists were. It is known that he risked losing royal favour only once, in 1599, when his company performed "the play of the deposing and killing of King Richard II" at the request of a group of conspirators against Elizabeth. They were led by Elizabeth's unsuccessful court favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and by the Earl of Southampton. In the subsequent inquiry, Shakespeare's company was absolved of complicity in the conspiracy.

After about 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and it seems that he spent more time in Stratford. There he had established his family in an imposing house called New Place, and had become a leading local citizen. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Shakespeare was not very famous when he lived but has become very famous after his death. His work has been appreciated more and for the millennium celebrations he was voted 'Man of the Millennium' for Britain.

The society was very different in the middle ages when Shakespeare produced his plays. The patriarchal society gave women little rights. The women were classed as second class citizens, as they had no work, no independence and belonged to their father or later in life to their husband. This gave the women no rights in the Middle Ages and the males had all the power and most women did not get educated as all the families' money was on concentrating on the eldest son. Her family decided the marriage of the women and a dowry was in place and the women they became the husbands' property.

The theatres were also very different. They were massive open-air auditoriums that were unhygienic as there was a great turnout because the people enjoyed the plays to a great extent. The people sat on the floors, as there were no seats expect for the high upper class and it was not uncommon for the audience to show their feelings if the play did not met their standards. They threw rotten vegetables and shouted the actors off the stage. The girls roles were played by boys and there was no scenery and props used. The actor's script indicated the screen place. The money was mainly spent on costumes for the actors which gave the play the life. People enjoyed the plays because they could be used to criticise people in power, and also the audience enjoyed the words and word games that the writers of the play used.

One of Shakespeare's most famous plays is the story of Macbeth. The story is based upon a true story that occurred in Scotland in 1066. The question I am going to try and answer is 'Discuss the view that the witches are solely responsible for Macbeth's descent into evil'.
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From the very start of the play the witches are introduced in Act 1 Scene 1. This is to get the audiences attention has they are fascinated by the witches and so they will be kept interested throughout the play. The witches were seen as very evil beings in the middle ages and the thought of them in the play made every part they are in a climax.

The witches in the play use this by arranging evil deeds from the very start to show that will reappear later on in the play.

'When shall we ...

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