Modern&Elizabethan Audiences

Modern audiences are generally intrigued most in the relationship between Macbeth and his wife before and after the murder. The shifts in power and control between the two characters is compelling.

For an Elizabethan audience, the drama would be around the fact that Macbeth has committed a major crime against God in disrupting the Divine Right of Kings; this is the God-ordained plan of the course of the monarchy. Kings and queens at this time were believed to be chosen by God, so Macbeth and his wife were intefering with God's plan. The audience would be intrigued as to their punishment.