ABSTRACT
In early modern England, people took their dreams seriously. Studying concepts about dreams allows us to understand the collective psyche of early modern English women and men, particularly in terms of political and cultural anxieties. Early modern doctors, theologians, and theorists explained dreams in a variety of ways. Vulson noted that the rules about dreaming were not general, “and cannot satisfy all persons one way; but sometimes according to times and persons, they admit of various interpretations”. One of the most striking intersections between individual dreams and the political landscape was in the realm of legitimate dynastic succession, a persistent concern in the early modern period, which was often presented in Shakespeare’s plays. In Shakespeare’s play, as in the source Holinshed and William Stewart’s translation of Hector Boece’s history, the witches confront Macbeth and Banquo in world-time, not dream-time, to make the predictions of their varied futures.
