Macbeth: Context

Shakespeare:

• William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
• Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright
• His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs
• Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two
• In focusing…