macbeth

• Abuse of Power and Kingship


  Theme in Macbeth exploring what makes a good king
• With the unexpected ascension of James I to the throne, the question of what makes a good king was a popular topic in England
• The country was very much divided about how it should be run, with ongoing religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics
• In Macbeth, Shakespeare compares different characters and their approaches to their reigns, demonstrating which qualities he felt were the most important in a good monarch
• Kingship and power


  Intrinsically linked within the play, with the possibility of ascending the throne being the driving force behind the motivations of many characters
• Shakespeare contrasts the way the characters behave towards this possibility of power, and also how characters act once they gain power
• Duncan


  • Possesses all the qualities of a great king: noble, nurturing, responsible, and a strong leader
  • His successful reign emphasises how disastrous Macbeth is as a king
• Benevolent ruler


  Duncan is shown to be a just and kind ruler, willing to reward all those who do good
• Duncan: '"Signs of nobleness like stars shall shine / On all deservers"'
• Duncan's quote


  Implies virtue and nobility are visible traits in a person, distinguishing them from others, and aligns "deservers" with God
• Duncan: '"I have begun to plant thee and will labour / To make thee full of growing"'
• Duncan's quote


  Presents Duncan as nurturing and considerate, dedicated to self-improvement and the success of others
• Macbeth: '"Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off"'
• Macbeth's quote


  Acknowledges that Duncan is a good king
• Duncan


  • Governs fairly, rewarding those who do good and punishing traitors
  • Provides the country with an heir, ensuring political stability and security
• Duncan is too trusting and dependent on others, with a poor judge of character
• Macbeth is another one of Duncan's trusted Thanes, and the betrayal repeats itself
• Duncan's quote


  "There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face"
• Duncan's quote


  Implies it is impossible to see through someone's deception, and that the evil and treachery of others makes it impossible for a king to be wholly good
• Macbeth


  • At the start of the play has the ideal qualities of a noble king, but as he becomes closer to the throne he becomes more corrupt
  • By the time he kills Duncan and takes the throne, his transformation is complete and he is the least successful king in the play
• Macbeth's ascension to the throne is unrighteous, as he gets there on the back of murder, lies, and betrayal
• Macbeth's leadership


  Callous, with his country having no love or heart which is representative of his own callous nature
• Macbeth resents the Witches for 'making' him king without successors, and resents Banquo because his sons will be kings
• Duncan's death


  Brings about a sort of apocalyptic chaos, reflecting how atrocious and distressing his murder is
• Lennox: '"The night has been unruly [...] Lamentings heard i'th'air, strange screams of death / And prophesying with accents terrible / Of dire combustion and confused events, / New hatched to th'woeful time. The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night. Some say, the earth / Was feverous and did shake"'
• Lennox's quote


  Reflects how Duncan's murder has gone against nature, and may symbolise God's anger and wrath at being defied by Macbeth
• Ross: '"By th'clock 'tis day / And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp. / Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, / That darkness does the face of earth entomb / When living light should kiss it?"'
• Ross's quote


  Suggests Duncan's death has had a permanent impact on the natural order, with darkness enveloping the land
• cc: 'events, / New hatched to th'woeful time. The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong / night. Some say, the earth / Was feverous and did shake,'
• Lexis from the semantic field of chaos and destruction


  • dire combustion, clamoured, shake
• Duncan's murder


  Gone against nature
• Duncan's murder


  Symbolises God's anger and wrath at being defied by Macbeth
• Feverous


  Connotes disease
• Macbeth's deed


  Brought sickness to the land
• References to the murder and the Witches


  • Lamentings, strange screams of death, prophesying
• Duncan's death


  Has had a permanent effect on the weather and the daylight
• Dark night


  Symbolises the wickedness that now dominates the world
• Time


  Has stopped
• Semantic field of death and murder

  • strangles, entomb, living
• Duncan's death


  Impacted the whole world, so that everything is murderous or tainted by decay