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Shakespeare wrote Macbeth at the beginning of the  seventeenthsixteenththirteentheighteenth century. The play is predominantly set in  EnglandScotlandNorwayDenmark, with one scene, when Macduff visits Malcolm, set in  WalesDenmarkEnglandIreland.

At the time Macbeth was written,  Edward IRichard IIIJames IElizabeth I was on the throne. Because of censorship laws at the time, it was important for Shakespeare to  murderinsultincludeflatter the monarch. He included  witchcraftbloodshedEnglandmurder because the King had a particular interest in it. He also included  BanquoLennoxDonalbainMacbeth, said to be an ancestor of the King, and made him a good character.

At the time, people believed in the divine right of  kingsqueensGodmonarchy. When Macbeth kills Duncan, he commits  genocideautocidexenocideregicide. By usurping the throne from  MalcolmLennoxMacduffRoss, he upsets the natural order, shown by Shakespeare in the violent and unusual  weathersoundsconversationsmetaphors following the murder. Macbeth is a bad king because  he wasn't meant to be the kinghe murders peoplehe has no childrenhe murders Banquo. Shakespeare couldn't make Macbeth a good king as he needed to show that upsetting the divine right of kings wasn't a good idea. In part, the divine right of kings  endangeredunfortifiedprotectedexposed a monarch from people trying to take the throne away from them. Macbeth being a bad king, and ultimately being killed, served as   a coersionan opinionan inducementa warning to people who might be thinking about usurping the throne.