Plot and Creation: Macbeth

The Source

The Play Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Written in 1606, toward the end of his career, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays. While the tragedy is set in medieval Scotland, Shakespeare was particularly attuned to contemporary political events when crafting it. First, Macbeth pays homage to James I of England, who formally undertook sponsorship of Shakespeare’s playing company—previously Lord Chamberlain’s Men, then the King’s Men—when he assumed the throne in 1603. James was believed to be a descendant of Banquo, a figure mentioned in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577). In writing Macbeth, Shakespeare downplayed the historical Banquo’s role in the murder of King Duncan to portray James’s lineage more generously. Second, Macbeth was written in the aftermath of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, when a group of Jesuits, believing James intolerant of Catholics, conspired to blow up Parliament while the king and his daughter were inside. And third, Shakespeare was familiar with James’s personal interest in witchcraft, the king having published a treatise on the subject and likely interrogated accused witches himself.

Verdi encountered Macbeth in an Italian prose translation by Carlo Rusconi first published in 1838. The composer created a detailed outline of the libretto, which he then gave to Francesco Maria Piave—who had previously crafted libretti for Verdi’s operas Ernani (1844), I Due Foscari (1844), and Attila (1846)—to versify. Verdi was unhappy with Piave’s work, however, and recruited poet and translator Andrea Maffei to refine the text (particularly the Witches’ Chorus and Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene). The opera closely follows Shakespeare’s work, though several scenes and characters are removed altogether for concision. Verdi did, however, make some significant changes in his adaptation. In Verdi’s version, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder Banquo. Meanwhile, her Act II aria from the 1865 revision of the opera, “La luce langue,” has no direct parallel in Shakespeare’s play. Neither does the Act IV chorus of the Scottish refugees, a patriotic nod to the Italian unification movement already underway at the time of the opera’s composition. Verdi also expanded the role of the witches from three performers to three separate choruses of at least six singers.

The Story

ACT I

Scotland

Macbeth and Banquo, leaders of the Scottish army, meet a group of witches who prophesy the future. They address Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland and tell Banquo that he will be the father of kings. The two men try to learn more, but the Witches vanish. Messengers arrive with news that Duncan, the current king of Scotland, has made Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. The first part of the Witches’ prediction has come true.  

In Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband telling her of the events that have just transpired. She resolves to follow her ambitions. A servant announces that Duncan will soon arrive at the castle, and when Macbeth enters, she tells him that they must kill the king. Duncan arrives. Macbeth has a vision of a dagger, then leaves to commit the murder. On his return, he tells his wife how the act has frightened him, and she tells him that he needs more courage. They both leave as Banquo enters with Macduff, a nobleman, who discovers the murder. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth pretend to be horrified and join the others in condemning the murder.

ACT II

Macbeth has become king. Duncan’s son, Malcolm, is suspected of having killed his father and has fled to England. Worried about the prophecy that Banquo’s children will rule, Macbeth and his wife now plan to kill him and his son, Fleance, as well. As Macbeth leaves to prepare the double murder, Lady Macbeth hopes that it will finally make the throne secure. Outside the castle, assassins wait for Banquo, who appears with his son, warning him of strange forebodings. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes.

Lady Macbeth welcomes the court to the banquet hall and sings a drinking song while Macbeth receives news that Banquo is dead and his son has escaped. About to take Banquo’s seat at the table, Macbeth has a terrifying vision of the dead man accusing him. His wife is unable to calm her unsettled husband, and the courtiers wonder about the king’s strange behavior. Macduff vows to leave the country, which is now ruled by criminals.

ACT III

The Witches gather again, and Macbeth visits them, demanding more prophecies. Apparitions warn him to beware of Macduff and assure him that “no man of woman born” can harm him, and that he will be invincible until Birnam Wood marches on his castle. In another vision, he sees a procession of future kings, followed by Banquo. Horrified, Macbeth collapses. The witches disappear and his wife finds him. They resolve to kill Macduff and his family.

ACT IV

On the Scottish border, Macduff has joined the refugees. His wife and children have been killed. Malcolm appears with English soldiers and leads them to invade Scotland.

Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, haunted by the horrors of what she and her husband have done.

Macbeth awaits the arrival of his enemies and realizes that he will never live to a peaceful old age. Messengers bring news that Lady Macbeth has died, and that Birnam Wood appears to be moving. English soldiers appear, camouflaged by tree branches. Macduff confronts Macbeth and tells him that he was not born naturally but had a Caesarean birth. He kills Macbeth and proclaims Malcolm king of Scotland.

Timeline

The Creation of Macbeth

1813
Giuseppe Verdi is born on October 9 in a small village near Busseto, a market town in the province of Parma. His father and mother are both tradespeople—an innkeeper and an innkeeper’s daughter, respectively.

1832
The young Verdi, a promising musician despite a patchy musical education, sits the entrance examination for the Milan Conservatoire; to everyone’s surprise, he is rejected. Undeterred, he decides to study privately in Milan.

1839
Verdi’s first opera, Oberto, scores a modest success in Milan. But success is bittersweet: Verdi’s infant son Icilio had died just weeks before. A few months later, while working on his second opera, Verdi’s first wife, Margherita Barezzi, falls ill and dies. The bereft composer is forced to continue working on his next opera, but it flops miserably.

1842
Verdi finally scores a triumphant success with his biblical opera Nabucco, which premieres at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Among the cast is soprano Giuseppina Strepponi, who eventually becomes the composer’s second wife. Verdi works tirelessly over the next decade, writing at least one opera per year—a period he will later call his “anni di galera,” or “galley years.”

1847
Macbeth receives its premiere in Florence.

1848
Verdi travels to Milan, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and witnesses the aftermath of the “Five Days” uprising that helped launch the first Italian war of independence.

1853
Two of Verdi’s most enduringly popular operas, Il Trovatore and La Traviata, premiere within two months of one another. By this point, Verdi is widely acknowledged to be the leading Italian composer of his time, and he is courted by opera houses across Italy and Europe.

1859
The slogan “Viva VERDI” (an acronym for “Vittorio Emanuele, Re D’Italia”) begins appearing in the streets of Naples, and Verdi’s name becomes inextricably linked to the Risorgimento, or Italian unification movement. Victor Emmanuel II would later become the first king of the unified Italian nation-state.

1861
At the culmination of the decades-long Risorgimento, the independent states on the Italian peninsula are unified into a single Kingdom of Italy. Rome, however, remains under papal control for another decade.

1865
Verdi revises Macbeth for a performance at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. In addition to including the extended ballet sequence required by Parisian opera houses, he adds Lady Macbeth’s Act II aria “La luce langue,” resets the Act IV chorus of the Scottish refugees to new music, moves Macbeth’s death offstage, and replaces Macbeth’s death aria with a stirring choral finale in which the Scottish people give thanks for the liberation of their “homeland” from the “usurper.”

1871
After three wars and more than 50 years of political turmoil, Rome is made the official capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and unification is fully achieved.

1879
Almost a decade after his last operatic project, Verdi is coaxed out of retirement and begins composing an opera based on Shakespeare’s Othello.

1887
Otello, Verdi’s first new opera in more than 15 years, premieres at La Scala.

1893
Verdi, now 80 years old, astonishes the world once more with another Shakespearean opera, Falstaff.

1901
Verdi dies in Milan on January 27 following a stroke.

Timeline

The Life and Work of William Shakespeare

1564
William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

1567
Mary, Queen of Scots is imprisoned. Her son is crowned James VI of Scotland at just 13 months old.

1577
Raphael Holinshed publishes his Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, an account of British history linking the figure of Banquo—though likely fictionalized—to the future James I of England, to whom Macbeth was written in tribute.

1582
Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway.

1589–94
Shakespeare begins his career as an actor, working with playing companies like Lord Strange’s Men and the Lord Admiral’s Men.

1590
James VI of Scotland marries Anne of Denmark, whose journey to Scotland is repeatedly beset by storms, stranding her in Norway. The storms are blamed on witchcraft, and a trial in Copenhagen leads to the execution of the accused women. Additional witch trials ensue in Scotland.

1592
Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy is performed.

1592–93
Shakespeare writes Richard III, Venus and Adonis, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, and The Taming of the Shrew.

1594–96
Shakespeare writes The Rape of Lucrece, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard II, and Romeo and Juliet.

1595
Now living in London, Shakespeare is a “sharer” for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, another company he had jointly founded the year prior.

1596
Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, dies. He writes King John, The Merchant of Venice, and Henry IV, Part 1.

1597
James VI publishes Daemonologie, a treatise on witchcraft.

1598
Shakespeare writes Henry IV, Part 2 and Much Ado About Nothing.

1599
The Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare is a shareholder, opens in London. He writes Henry V, Julius Caesar, and As You Like It.

1600–2
Shakespeare writes Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Troilus and Cressida.

1603
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men become the King’s Men when James I (formerly James VI of Scotland) assumes the thrones of England and Ireland and becomes the company’s patron.

1604–8
Shakespeare writes Measure for Measure, Othello, All’s Well That Ends Well, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, and Coriolanus.

1609
An unauthorized edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets is published. He writes Cymbeline.

1610–11
Shakespeare writes The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.

1613
The Globe Theatre burns down during a performance of Henry VIII, a play Shakespeare had co-written with John Fletcher, who succeeded Shakespeare as the house playwright of the King’s Men.

1614
The Globe Theatre reopens.

1616
Shakespeare dies.

1623
Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, known as the First Folio, is published by members of the King’s Men.