Kingship

• King James I, who ruled England when Macbeth was first performed believed in the Divine Right of Kings. 

  This says that God decides who the king is, and that only God has the power to end a King’s rule through natural death.
• If someone murders a king, they challenge the natural order. This has bad repercussions, like the strange weather.
• If someone murders a king, they challenge the natural order.
• Personification

  In Act 2, Scene 3, Lennox tells Macbeth that the previous night – the night of King Duncan’s murder – "the earth / Was feverous and did shake". People are predicting that bad things will happen. 

  This personification shows that Earth itself is sick with the events happening in the world of men. The murder hasn’t even been talked about at this point.
• In Act 2, Scene 4, an old man and Ross talk about the strange happenings in nature on the night that Macbeth murdered King Duncan. 

  They talk about how Duncan’s horses, which were usually "beauteous and swift", also went wild, as though they would "make war with mankind".
• What technique is used in this quotation?"The earth / Was feverous and did shake".

  Personification
• Kingship

  The Divine Right of Kings says that the person on the throne has been chosen by God. For this reason, the king is part of the natural order of things.
• The effect of Duncan’s death

  • The unnatural changes also happen in the world of men when someone murders the king. 
  • James I believed in the Divine Right of Kings. This says that God decides who the king is, and that only God has the power to end a King’s rule through natural death. 
  • If someone murders a king, they challenge the natural order. This has bad repercussions (effects), like the strange weather.
• Duncan’s horses

  • In Act 2, Scene 4, an old man and Ross talk about the strange happenings in nature on the night that Macbeth murdered King Duncan. 
  • They talk about how Duncan’s horses, which were usually ‘beauteous and swift’, also went wild, as though they would ‘make war with mankind’.
• What is the Devine Right of Kings?

  The Divine Right of Kings says that the person on the throne has been chosen by God. For this reason, the king is part of the natural order of things.
• According to the old man, which animals go wild and end up eating each other?

  Horses
• How do Lady Macbeth and Macbeth go against the natural order?

  • Macbeth — Macbeth shares all his business with his wife (at first)
  • Lady Macbeth — Lady Macbeth dominates the conversation in Act 1, Scene 5
• Kingship

  The state or position of being King, associated with attributes such as Power, Authority and wealth, but also a sense of unity. A king is a figurehead meant to provide guidance and Justice to the society they rule over.
• Divine right of kings

  In the Middle Ages, Kings were believed to have been chosen to rule by God, giving them absolute power over the people
• Great chain of being

  A social order for the world which placed the king ruling as God's representative over other humans and all of nature
• Duncan, the king whom McBeth later murders


  • He is presented as a kind, benevolent and just ruler who rewards loyalty
  • He administers Justice by executing the traitorous Thane of Cawdor
  • He acts responsibly in naming his son Malcolm as heir, ensuring a clear and stable kingship for Scotland
• Weaknesses in Duncan's leadership


  • He claims he had placed an absolute trust in the previous Thane of Cawdor who betrayed him, suggesting poor judgment
  • His failure to attend the battle where McBeth led the troops to victory could be interpreted as a sign of poor leadership or an over-reliance on his Thanes
• McBeth's tyrannical rule over Scotland


  • He does not rule with love and generosity as Duncan did, but instead becomes consumed by fear and paranoia
  • He orders the murder of Banquo, his former friend and ally, and the family of Macduff
  • Malcolm summarizes McBeth's impact on Scotland through personification: "It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds"
• The weird sisters' prophecies to McBeth and Banquo


  They foreshadow McBeth's Ascension to the throne and predict that Banquo's son will be kings, stoking McBeth's paranoia and leading to Banquo's untimely death
• Duncan's reward of McBeth and Banquo for their service


  Duncan grants McBeth the title of Thane of Cawdor, characterizing him as a generous and benevolent king who rewards loyalty and service
• Duncan's metaphor of tending to McBeth like a gardener tending his plants


  It symbolizes health and goodness, and shows Duncan as a true king who rewards his subjects by helping them to reach their potential
• McBeth's murder of Duncan


  It disturbs the natural world, with the old man describing a falcon being unnaturally killed by a weaker mousing owl, paralleling Duncan's death at the hands of his servant McBeth
• Macbeth’s description of seeing Duncan's body

  He uses metaphors of silver and gold, symbolic of wealth and purity, to cover his guilt, but the audience is aware of his true actions
• Macbeth’s indignation that his kingship is metaphorically desolate

  He rages that the crown and scepter he has been given are "barren" and "fruitless", in contrast to Duncan who honored those who served him
• Macbeth’s cruelty and villainy towards Macduff's family

  He orders them to be "seized upon" and "given to the edge of the sword", showing no end to the lengths he will go to remain as king
• Malcolm, who takes the final lines on the stage

  • He is presented as a true king who, like Duncan, rewards loyalty and service, but also as a change-maker, bestowing the title of Earl on his subjects, a first for Scotland
  • This reinforces the power of King James I's monarchy, who was responsible for bringing together England and Scotland