The Real Macbeth: Did You Know???

Playwright David Greig takes inspiration from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Greig, a Scottish playwright, gives us the Scottish view of Scotland, whereas the English playwright William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a bloodthirsty tyrant and Scotland as a chaotic, lawless place. Shakespeare’s version of 11th century Scottish history isn’t the whole story.

DID YOU KNOW…

• …that the real Macbeth was actually a stable ruler? (He reigned for almost two decades, in a time when the throne normally changed hands every couple of years.)

• …that the real Macbeth gave alms to the poor? (He left Scotland for six months to make a pilgrimage to Rome, where he gave away huge sums of money.)

• …(Shakespeare Nerd Alert) that the real Macbeth was never the Thane of

Glamis or Thane of Cawdor, as he is in

Shakespeare’s play? (The Scottish castles of Glamis and Cawdor weren’t built until hundreds of years later.)

Danish battle axe, also used by the English in the time of Macbeth.