When Was Macbeth Published?
Macbeth was first published in 1623, in the First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare’s plays published seven years after his death. This is different from its writing date: Shakespeare probably wrote the play around 1606. The earliest surviving eyewitness account of a performance dates from 1611.
Macbeth within 1550–1650
Macbeth was probably written around 1606; the earliest surviving eyewitness performance account dates from 1611. Shakespeare died in 1616, and the play first appeared in print in 1623. The timeline uses 1550 and 1650 as boundaries, not events: it shows the supplied book-history dates rather than a general history of Scotland and England.
When was Macbeth published?
Macbeth first appeared in print in 1623, as part of the collection now known as the First Folio. This volume brought together 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, including comedies, histories and tragedies. Shakespeare’s fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell helped prepare the collection.
The publication was posthumous: Shakespeare had died in 1616, seven years earlier. There is no known earlier printed edition of Macbeth. Unlike plays such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, it did not appear in a surviving separate quarto edition before the First Folio. A quarto was a smaller book format commonly used to publish individual plays.
The First Folio is therefore the earliest surviving printed source for Macbeth, and modern editions depend on it. Editors may modernise spelling and punctuation and make decisions about difficult readings, but 1623 remains the date of first publication, not the date Shakespeare wrote the play.
Writing and performance dates
Three different dates matter when discussing Macbeth: when it was written, when it was performed and when it was published. They answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.
- Around 1606: the generally accepted approximate date of composition. No surviving manuscript establishes an exact writing date.
- 1611: the year of the earliest surviving eyewitness account of a performance. Simon Forman recorded seeing Macbeth at the Globe Theatre.
- 1623: the year the play first appeared in print, in the First Folio.
Forman’s account does not establish that the first performance took place in 1611. It establishes that the play was being performed by then. Earlier performances are likely, but their precise dates cannot be stated with the same confidence.
For an essay, a reliable opening is: ‘Shakespeare probably wrote Macbeth around 1606; it was first published in 1623.’ This keeps an approximate composition date separate from a firm publication date.
Why the Jacobean context matters
Although Macbeth was first published in 1623, its likely composition around 1606 places it early in the reign of James I of England, who was also James VI of Scotland. James became king of England in 1603, so the play is Jacobean, rather than Elizabethan.
This context helps explain the significance of its Scottish setting, threatened kingship and supernatural temptations. James had a strong interest in witchcraft, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 had recently exposed an attempt to kill the king. These connections make useful context, but they do not prove that every scene responds to a particular event.
Keep the analysis anchored in the drama. In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth recognises his obligations to Duncan as both subject and host, yet chooses murder. That decision makes the threat to kingship a moral problem as well as a political one. Context strengthens this reading; it should not replace discussion of Macbeth’s choices.
Questions
Was Macbeth published during Shakespeare’s lifetime?
No. Shakespeare died in 1616, and Macbeth was first published in 1623. It had already been performed during his lifetime: Simon Forman’s account records a performance at the Globe in 1611. Publication and theatrical performance followed different timelines.
Is Macbeth Elizabethan or Jacobean?
Macbeth is generally classified as Jacobean because Shakespeare probably wrote it around 1606, during James I’s reign. Elizabeth I died in 1603. Although Shakespeare’s career spanned both reigns, calling Macbeth Elizabethan gives the wrong impression of its likely composition date.
When is Macbeth set?
Macbeth is set mainly in eleventh-century Scotland, not in Shakespeare’s own time. Its central figures draw on medieval Scottish history, but Shakespeare reshapes that material for dramatic purposes. Distinguish the historical setting from the likely writing date, around 1606, and publication in 1623.
What was the First Folio?
The First Folio was the 1623 collected edition of 36 Shakespeare plays, prepared with the involvement of his fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell. It preserved the first printed versions of several plays, including Macbeth. ‘Folio’ describes the book’s large format.