Macbeth

 Born in 1564 in Stratford upon Avon, England  Son of a prominent merchant and mayor  In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway( she was 8 years his senior)  She gave birth to a daughter a year later, then twins in 1585

 He moved to London sometime in the late 1580’s  In 1584 he became a member of the Lord Chamberlain’s men  He later tapered off in his acting and began writing plays  He wrote 37 plays ( that we know of)

 He made most of his living from his share in the theatre company  Around 1610 his work tapered off  In 1616 he retired to Stratford upon Avon  We study Shakespeare because his work is timeless ”Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time”( timeless)  He wrote; comedies, tragedies, romances and histories

 Christopher Marlow was the most well known play write  The Plague was running rampant in England  The only entertainment, besides public hangings, were plays

 Women were not allowed to act in the theatre  The Globe theatre opened its doors on the Thames river of London, England in 1599  The globe could hold 3,000 patrons  The music room was located below the stage

 Groundlings paid one penny to see the play  Plays were performed during the day because there was no artificial lighting  The royalty sat above the stage so that everyone could see them

 Macbeth is known to have a curse because many odd and terrible events have occurred during the production More about these later

 Macbeth was considered a very different work from Shakespeare because it contained Witches and witchcraft.

 Macbeth is a play about  Love  Revenge  Power