400 years ago when Macbeth was written people believed in different things. For example witches were blamed for many of the problems. Witches were seen as real people who had magical powers and could do almost anything; however, now no one believes withes exist. In Macbeth the witches appear at the very start of the play and accompanying them was thunder and lightning. In the Jacobean period people believed that weather could be conjured by witches, or that it could be signs. E.g. bad weather was a bad omen and good weather promised good things, now we know that weather is caused by scientific reasons such as air pressure. So even the fact that the witches were conjuring a storm had a different relevance then, than to today. It promised that bad things were going to happen, as a result of this scene. They would also believe that the witches had the power to do that, contrasting today’s audience which would see it as made up. Not only would they believe that but they would also believe that the witches had seen the future, which we now know is impossible. Another thing that would be viewed differently is Lady Macbeth sleepwalking. In Jacobean times, people did not understand that anyone can sleepwalk for whatever reason and thought anyone who did was mad meaning they thought Lady Macbeth was mad and stressed because she had encourage her husband at the beginning, and was now riddled with guilt. Today however, we know that sleep walking is common among many people and therefore believe Lady Macbeth could have been feeling fine and she was sleepwalking for no reason what so ever, due to the fact that we no longer link sleepwalking with madness.
However Macbeth is still relevant today
