Macbeth

Macbeth was the first play Shakespeare wrote for a monarch other than Elizabeth I. Following Elizabeth's death, James VI of Scotland took the English throne, becoming James I of England. For Englishmen, there were many concerns with James assuming the throne; for example that he would be more tolerant towards Catholics because, although he himself was a Protestant, his mother was the devoutly Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots (who had been executed by Elizabeth), and because his wife, Anne of Denmark, was also rumored to be Catholic. This concern over religion caused much turmoil in England during James' reign. Shakespeare subtly incorporates this turmoil into Macbeth, while still praising the new King of England.