Macbeth - Kingship

• The false face must hide what the false heart doth know: 'Act 1 Scene 7'
• Appearance versus reality


  When someone appears in one way but the reality is very different
• Macbeth


  • He is duplicitous - he is two-faced with his intentions
  • He appears noble and valiant but is actually deceitful and malevolent (evil)
• Macbeth is trying to violate kingship and the only way he can do that is by being deceitful and duplicitous
• The repetition of 'false' emphasizes Macbeth's false and unnatural taking of the crown
• Macbeth does not have the nobility, morality or pious nature of a rightful king
• Motif of clothing


  Clothing is something physical and temporary, it can be easily removed, just like Macbeth's title as king
• Macbeth's title as king is not permanent due to the sinful extraction of it, he has not been divinely ordained
• The motif of clothing foreshadows how temporary Macbeth's title as king will be
• Lexis (word choice) like 'borrowed' emphasizes the temporary nature of Macbeth's power
• In Act 5, Angus says Macbeth's title hangs loose about him like a giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief, further extending the motif of clothing
• Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown: 'Act 3 Scene 1'
• Diction (word choice) of 'placed'


  Shows the kingship has been carefully crafted, not naturally given
• Fruitless crown


  Signifies Macbeth's tainted kingship and lack of true leadership and morality, as being king is typically synonymous with being 'fruitful' to the people
• Macbeth's conscience is riddled with the awareness of his violation of the foundational facts of life - the great chain of being and the divine right of kings
• Macbeth's awareness of his violation leads him to go on a tyrannical rampage, as he knows there is no saving him after committing the ultimate sin of regicide (killing the king)