William Shakespeare Influences

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In a time period where class was the most important aspect of social standards, William Shakespeare beat the odds and explored with his work. He tested the waters, even though he knew that he could be risking his life. If his plays offended royalty, it was a matter of being shunned from the community, or the worst case scenario; death. In his play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare utilized worldwide influences and wove them into his piece to produce his own spinoff of the story. It is evident that in the piece pride, betrayal, and fate are the prime thematic topics, but Shakespeare blurs the line between the illusion of a life full of fortunes, and the reality of the burdens that come with it. Inevitably, “Shakespeare took great liberties…show more content…
Since King James had a friendship with Shakespeare, it is possible that he could have been a major influence on the majority of the play. Indeed, “Shakespeare's career was in full force from Elizabeth's reign when James came to power” (Hact). With that in mind, “many also believe that it was composed for a performance before King James I, who had a deep interest in witchcraft” (Hact), which could be the reason as to why Shakespeare decided that incorporating witches in the play would elevate the play, and make it abstract from common Elizabethan playwrights. The Witches, or otherwise known as the Weird Sisters, are three women who practice black magic under the surveillance of the goddess of witchcraft, otherwise known as Hecate. The witches supply false hope to Macbeth, assuring him he would soon become the King of Scotland. Additionally, they tell him that Banquo’s descendants will eventually be kings. The three witches use their powers to manipulate Macbeth by interpreting his prophecies unclearly. As shown in Act 1 of Macbeth, Scene 4, line 52, Macbeth says “Let not light see my black and deep desires”. Both words “black” and “deep” advocate that the three witches influenced Macbeth’s decisions and drove him to have evil thoughts, influencing him to do evil things against his good will. Doing so blurred his outlook on his future. Remarkably his fate proved that he was not indeed fit to be the King of Scotland. In an article, it states “Among the traditions of Scotland was a belief in witches, including their ability to make prophecies and to affect the outcome of certain events” (Literature and It’s Times). Witchcraft, although dark and mysterious, was an abnormality that gave people a belief that their destination in life could possibly, and eventually be altered by restoring

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