Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Shakespeare’s inspiration of adapting a historical event to the character Macbeth is what leads Shakespeare’s play to success. The connection between both the historical version and a play version is known to be extraordinary. The imagination to take one character and twist his history is fascinating in every aspect leading readers to know more about the play. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the tragedy Macbeth compares and contrasts to the historical biography of Macbeth as the king of Scotland.

Shakespeare’s play version of how Macbeth came to power contrasts from the historical record. In the play version Macbeth attains the goal and is given an honor from king Duncan himself. Right after this unforgettable event the three witches prophesize the upcoming reign of Macbeth, “hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (I.iii.50). Lady Macbeth approaches Macbeth and tells Macbeth the idea to “awaken Duncan and disturb his sleep,” because in order to take over the throne they would need to kill Duncan (I.vii. 60-37). Lady Macbeth’s main motivation is the desire of achieving power and wealth. The idea of murdering Duncan and later on succeeding gave Macbeth the throne as king of Scotland. In the other hand, in the historical version Macbeth “killed Duncan in battle and seized the throne.” This contrasts greatly from the play version because Macbeth did not have to be disloyal in order to take over the thrown. However this was not new to Macbeth since “Macbeth’s father Findlaech was also ruler… of Moray, at the northern tip of Scotland,” because of this honorable cause Macbeth was known to have high standards and the people expected more from Macbeth. Shakespeare exhibits a poor side of Macbeth which shows the capability of attaining Macbeth’s desire even through murder, while in the historical version Macbeth is nothing but an example of hard work paying off.

Shakespeare’s play version of Macbeth’s reign contrasts from the historical version. During Macbeth’s reign in the play version, Macbeth spent most of his time going after people who doubted Macbeth and suspected that Macbeth was the one to kill DuncAN. Duncan’s murder was known to be the “most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope” (II.iii.68) meaning that it had more involvement in the process because once Macbeth started his work he could not leave it without completion. This was known to be a very “bloody execution” (I.ii.18) that took place in the first couple of years of Macbeth’s reign. Unlike the play version, in the historical version “Macbeth represented northern elements in the population who were opposed to the ties with the Saxons advocated by Duncan,” meaning that Macbeth was always on the people’s side rather than leave things as they were. Macbeth was a very wise ruler that many of the people admired. Unfortunately, during his reign “Macbeth killed Gillacomgain, he took his widow Grouch for