Macbeth is best remembered for his obsession with witches. But the 11th century Scottish original was a different man entirely.
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun.
Where the place?
Upon the heath.
There to meet with Macbeth.
William Shakespeare's unforgettably chilling tragedy "Macbeth" is meant to be an historical play, based on the life of an 11th century Scottish king who died shortly before the Norman Conquest of England. But it differs from his plays of more recent kings (like Henry V) and from history.
Macbeth (c.1005-1057) was a real king of Scotland. Shakespeare's source, Holinshed, portrays him as a tough, but cruel, soldier who began as a good king but later became a tyrant. Shakespeare uses an unrelated story from Holinshed about a man named Donwald to bring in the plot of Lady Macbeth involving her husband in the murder of their king and guest (Duncan). Shakespeare's Macbeth is both more noble and more base than Holinshed's version. Holinshed's Macbeth kills Duncan in battle over legitimate grievances. Shakespeare's Macbeth is gentle and kind-that doesn't stop him from breaking pretty much every law known to European culture both medieval and modern in his blind quest for power.
History's Macbeth was not a tyrant. He was already a seasoned warrior when he became king in 1040, after a quarrel with his king, Duncan. Shakespeare portrays Duncan as old, gentle and well-respected. But the historical Duncan was young. He was also weak and unpopular. Macbeth defeated and killed him in battle in 1040.
For the next 17 years, Macbeth ruled as a popular and mainly uncontested monarch. This may have been partly due to a direct relationship to the throne, though this theory remains controversial. He even made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050. However, Duncan's sons, had grown up in exile and they wanted both revenge and the throne. In 1057, one of them, Malcolm, defeated the aging Macbeth in single combat within a circle of standing stones and became Malcolm III. Unlike his Shakespearian counterpart, Macbeth did have a son, but the young man died soon after his father.
Macbeth's bad press is undeserved. But he is a classic medieval example of Jesus' saying, "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword."
