The 17th century saw a complete change in the course of British history, particularly in the world of politics and foreign affairs. Early modern England underwent an adjustment of sorts, an adjustment known as the Union of the Crowns, which involves the merging of the English and Scottish monarchies under a single ruler, James VI of Scotland and I of England. This decisive and unifying event in the progression of the dynastic line of British monarchs created the current amalgamation of territories known today as the United Kingdom. The Union of the Crowns in 1603 coincides with the beginning of the Jacobean era of English and Scottish history, particularly around the time of the publication of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Written at the beginning of the reign of King James, Macbeth, Shakespeare's bloodiest and most emotionally intense tragedy, was greatly influenced by the political events that occurred in and around England. Shakespeare clearly alludes to his patron, King James, throughout the play's plot, reflecting both the actual connection Shakespeare had with his sovereign and his obvious need to pay homage to the royal court, particularly the aristocrats who financed his work. Macbeth, while not deeply intricate or complex, still resonates with modern Western literature and culture as well as Shakespeare's seventeenth-century English audience due to the timeless and intensely human nature of the play's main theme, the problems caused by an uninhibited ambition. Almost immediately after receiving a prophecy that he would become king from three "wyrd sisters" of destiny, Macbeth embarks on a path of destruction that begins with the murder of the current king, Duncan, and ends with the deaths of nearly everyone he are associated with it. with the new ki...... middle of paper ......th himself, in his zealous ambition, kills in vain, killing Duncan and effectively losing any chance of respect and trust from the nobility who suspect him as the culprit behind the murder. Macbeth, a man who was once horrified by his own sin, staring at the blood shed by the king on his hands, now realizes that he has "forgotten the taste of fears." The horrors of his crimes against his fellow man have become “familiar” amid the ambition, guilt and “excruciating thoughts” that are now part of his conscious mind. Ultimately, as humanity continues, each individual must be aware that if the means available to him or her to achieve an end result are immoral, corrupt, and perhaps violent, the individual will certainly not be able to realize the full potential of his or her work; and, in most cases, the individual will fall from grace as quickly as he achieved success.