How important is the Elizabethan concept of Natural Order to our appreciation of Macbeth?

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A. Colin- Jones                English Coursework

How important is the Elizabethan concept of Natural Order to our appreciation of Macbeth?

In Macbeth, Duncan is always referred to as a “king,” while Macbeth soon becomes known as the “tyrant.” How has the “brave” Macbeth, bloodstained and heroic in victory turned into the disease of Scotland? The crux of the issue lies in the Elizabethan concept of the Natural Order. God created man and the whole of the universe in seven days, as stated in Old Testament. Within this world God had created there was another world in which certain principles of nature applied.

This is the order in which stones, plants, animals, men up to saints and arch angels were structured according to certain hierarchical principles. The world as we know it was seen as a vast pyramid in which everything had its proper and rightful level. It was expected that one’s place in this pyramid of nature would be respected; when one violated the order of nature, evil would result. An attempt to climb a level would be perceived as challenging the Natural Order and ultimately challenging God himself. Those who aspired to rise unlawfully above their proper station could debase themselves. Like to Adam and Eve and Lucifer, who also challenged God’s Natural Order, Macbeth, too, through his own ‘vaulting ambition’ made the same mistake. This violation of nature and of God’s command amounted to the same end result: man, through aspiring too high tumbled off his place in the pyramid and became like an animal.

The penalties of Macbeth’s murderous dealings soon begin to take shape as God plans the fight back against Macbeth’s actions. To the an audience, Shakespeare makes it clear that Macbeth is dressed ‘in borrowed robes” and “his title hangs “loose like a dwarfish thief”. It is clear that Macbeth no longer feels comfortable at the top of the pyramid. He has unnaturally gained the position as the fact that Duncan’s crown and robes don’t fit him suggests. As a result, a series of unnatural events follow Macbeth’s wrongful climb to the top.

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When we first hear of Macbeth in a captain’s account of his battle field valor, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior. However, once we see Macbeth confront the three witches, we can see that, despite Macbeth’s doubtless courage, he is consumed by an irrepressible ambition.  Throughout ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare masterfully uses Macbeth to illustrate the effects of guilt and overwhelming ambition on a man who lacks strength of character. We never classify Macbeth as an irretrievably evil man, but his weak character separates Macbeth from all Shakespeare’s true villains such as: Iago in Othello, Richard III in ...

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