War is shown in the play as an opportunity to display both bravery and loyalty. (No mention is made, of course, of King Duncan’s other true-life enemy, Denmark, as James now had a Danish wife.) This confirms The Code’s conviction that the play was first written for a Scottish audience. The Norwegians are the enemy and anyone who opposes the Scottish King Duncan is automatically a ‘rebel’… The play is not only set in Scotland: events themselves are seen from a Scottish perspective. Shakespeare had written Henry V earlier in the year (1599) and Macbeth does for Scottish patriotism what Henry V had done for English patriotism. So, Shakespeare’s aim in writing Macbeth was to show King James that w ar was glorious, and that a n invasion of England would be morally correct… Timid and shy, he would scream if anyone drew a sword in his presence…. The main problem with the plan was James himself. Mountjoy is to join him there with half the English army which he will bring over from Ireland. King James is to ride to the border of England at the head of the Scottish army. Free England itself from the ‘tyrannous’ reign of Elizabeth Tudor. Free the Earl of Essex from house arrest, and.Ĥ. Destroy the power of The Fox and The Ape (Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Robert Cecil).ģ. Its purpose is to persuade King James VI of Scotland to invade England and seize the throne from Elizabeth. By doing so, James would…Ģ. The Gang of Four – the Earls of Southampton and Essex, Lady Penelope Rich and her lover, Lord Mountjoy – have commissioned Shakespeare to write The Tragedy of Macbeth. (It is best to read ‘Macbeth’ Decoded. Parts One, Two, Three and Four first).
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