Ah, Shakespeare and his fancy words! When he talks about a "shoal of time" in Macbeth, he's basically saying time is a big ol' group of fish swimming together, symbolizing how our lives are just a small part of a much larger, chaotic universe. So, in simpler terms, he's reminding us that time waits for no one and we're all just tiny fishies swimming in the grand ol' ocean of life.
Sunday Evening down at the pub
The main reason Shakespeare's plays are difficult for modern readers to understand is that they are mostly written in poetry and quite dense and difficult poetry at that. Shakespeare also often writes in long and complicated sentences which are tricky to unravel. Although a lot of people focus on unusual words in Shakespeare's vocabulary, these are not the most significant reasons why his plays are hard to understand. For example, Macbeth says "But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we'd jump the life to come." Every word is a perfectly ordinary modern word which Shakespeare uses with its modern meaning. There isn't even the odd syntax he sometimes uses to improve the rhythm of his lines. And yet this is a difficult line to understand. Why does Shakespeare have Macbeth compare time to a river, and the present to a bank or shoal? Why jump the future?
Macbeth is based on a real Scottish King. Shakespeare got the idea for his play Macbeth from reading a book called Holinshed's Chronicles, which contains the plot pretty much as Shakespeare wrote it. Shakespeare did not change it to try and flatter King James, who was the King at the time this play was performed. The story was like that in Holinshed, because Holinshed's sources had changed it to flatter King James's ancestors.
Strange and unnatural events
Everyone was his audience. But he did get requests from the nobles, aristocrats, and kings of that time. Shakespeare actually wrote Macbeth for King James VI of Scotland.
Sunday Evening down at the pub
The main reason Shakespeare's plays are difficult for modern readers to understand is that they are mostly written in poetry and quite dense and difficult poetry at that. Shakespeare also often writes in long and complicated sentences which are tricky to unravel. Although a lot of people focus on unusual words in Shakespeare's vocabulary, these are not the most significant reasons why his plays are hard to understand. For example, Macbeth says "But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we'd jump the life to come." Every word is a perfectly ordinary modern word which Shakespeare uses with its modern meaning. There isn't even the odd syntax he sometimes uses to improve the rhythm of his lines. And yet this is a difficult line to understand. Why does Shakespeare have Macbeth compare time to a river, and the present to a bank or shoal? Why jump the future?
The ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth one time during the banquet scene in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth."
One major effect in England during Shakespeare's time was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, where a group of Catholics attempted to assassinate King James I and members of Parliament. This event may have influenced the themes of power, ambition, and political betrayal in Shakespeare's "Macbeth."
It has been widely know that William Shakespeare was the author of Macbeth. In recent times there has been some discussion as to whether Shakespeare is actually the author of all the works that have been credited to him in the past.At this time we still believe William Shakespeare was the author.
No. In Shakespeare's day "player" meant an actor.
Macbeth is based on a real Scottish King. Shakespeare got the idea for his play Macbeth from reading a book called Holinshed's Chronicles, which contains the plot pretty much as Shakespeare wrote it. Shakespeare did not change it to try and flatter King James, who was the King at the time this play was performed. The story was like that in Holinshed, because Holinshed's sources had changed it to flatter King James's ancestors.
"Macbeth" is a play written by William Shakespeare, not a novel. As such, it was not published by a traditional publisher in the same way that novels are. It was most likely first performed on stage rather than published as a book during Shakespeare's time.
Strange and unnatural events
Strange or unnatural events
People nowadays have a stereotype of women in Shakespeare's time as being weak and submissive, which Lady Macbeth is assuredly not. However, so many of Shakespeare's female characters do not conform to this stereotype, that it suggests that the stereotype was not held necessarily by Shakespeare or his contemporaries.
Everyone was his audience. But he did get requests from the nobles, aristocrats, and kings of that time. Shakespeare actually wrote Macbeth for King James VI of Scotland.