Macbeth and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Essay examples -- Comparison Co

Macbeth and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Shakespeare’s Macbeth was influenced by the gunpowder plot of 1605. The equivocation that was inspired by this event played an important role in the play. The general theme of Macbeth reflects the mood of society at the time that it was written. This relationship is a direct reflection of the mimetic theory. This paper will examine the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and the role of equivocation in the subsequent prosecutions during the time that Shakespeare was writing Macbeth, and show how Macbeth was influenced by the event. On the night of November 4, 1605, an important discovery was made in London: thirty-six barrels of highly explosive gunpowder, ready to blow a hole in the earth, were discovered directly below the House of Parliament in Westminster. Had the authorities not foiled this attempt, Parliament would have been destroyed, killing the members of Parliament as well as King James I of England (whose reign had only begun in 1603), and sending the English government into shambles. In modern day context, Garry Wills suggests that this event would be as if an atomic bomb was discovered under the United States Capitol Building during the heat of the Cold War: How to suggest the scale of it? For a parallel we might imagine America in the 1950s, and suppose that a communist cell – made up of Americans acting under foreign direction – has planted a nuclear device under the United States Capitol. It is timed to go off when the President is addressing both houses of Congress. All Executive Officers will be there, as well as all justices of the Supreme Court. The three branches of Government will be wiped out. Every Constitutional successor to the President will die with him.1 One of ... ...ent as of April 8, 2000) Boot, Jeremy. Guy Fawkes – Treason in 1605. Internet WWW page, at URL: <http://www.innotts.co.uk/~asperges/fawkes/> (version current as of March 5, 2000) Friedlander, Ed, M.D. Enjoying "Macbeth", by William Shakespeare. Internet WWW page, at URL: <http://www.pathguy.com/erf/macbeth.htm> (version current as of March 5, 2000) Vaidya, Suchit and Chris Harrison. Macbeth.com. Internet WWW page, at URL: <http://www.igs.net/~chrisharr/macbeth/index2.html> (version current as of March 5, 2000) Weller, Philip. Macbeth Navigator: Themes: Equivocation. Internet WWW page, at URL: <http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/Equiv.html> (version current as of March 5, 2000) Wuestenhagen, Greg. Guy Fawkes and his day. Internet WWW page, at URL: <http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~cbladey/guy/html/toc.html> (version current as of March 5, 2000)