What do we learn from Macbeth about the qualities required of a good king or leader?

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Jamie Mahoney                                                        Macbeth Coursework

What do we learn from Macbeth about the qualities required of a good king or leader?

Early on in Macbeth, we are shown the qualities that must be possessed to be a good king or leader through the reign of Duncan. He shows us the qualities of being an ideal king.   Duncan’s qualities make him a noble and righteous king.  He is judicious, honest and trusting of his subjects. He gains respect from his minions (his subjects and servants), which further creates a sense of peace and tranquillity in the land. Duncan is the natural king, as God bestows kingship upon him, whereas Macbeth takes the role by his own actions. In contrast to Duncan, Macbeth is described as a tyrant due to his own corrupt mind and his relentless ambition, affecting Scotland for the worse. Macbeth transforms Duncan’s prosperous country into a land “where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy” as murder became wholesale and people, fearful for their own lives, fear to question authority.

The threat of civil disorder was never far away during the sixteenth century, and as Elizabeth’s long reign drew to a close uneasiness about what the future might hold was increased by the uncertainty as to who would succeed her. None of Henry VIII’s children had produced a direct heir to the throne, making James VI of Scotland next in line. The peaceful; accession of James, as James I of England, put an end to these immediate anxieties, but Shakespeare certainly remembered them when he wrote Macbeth three years later.

King James was a very insecure man and this was mainly due to the fact that his parents had suffered awful fates. His father was murdered when James was only one year old and his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, had been executed for treason when he was only 21. This made him the eighth king in the witches’ prophecy,

                        “And yet an eighth appears, who bears a glass

                        Which shows me many more”

James was convinced that he had been chosen by God to be king and that anyone plotting against him was in league wit the devil. This was known as the Divine Right of Kings; the claim that monarchs were appointed by God and therefore were God’s representatives on Earth and could do no wrong. To harm the king therefore was to sin against God. James would have seen the murder of King Duncan as an offence against heaven itself, which would have brought down divine punishment of Macbeth. The heavy religious imagery used by Macduff after Duncan’s murder reinforces this allegiance with God and kings,

                        “Confusion now has made his masterpiece

                        Most sacrilegious murder hath broken ope

                        The Lord’s anointed temple”

His belief in the Divine Right of Kings was reinforced with his strong belief in the hierarchical nature of society. He saw himself, the King at the top, with his thanes immediately below him. These ranks continued on down to the lowest peasant who was little more than a slave.

Arguably Shakespeare’s adding of Banquo and his presentation of the witches would have flattered and yet intrigued James at the same time. Yet, Banquo was a fictional character. He was the mythical founder of the Stuart royal family. Holinshed had drawn up an elaborate family tree of the Stuart dynasty, which showed James descending from Banquo. Banquo’s portrayal as a honourable, faithful soldier would have pleased James, adding to his enjoyment.

        There was good reason to emphasise the importance of national unity and of an undisputed succession for the well being of the country. Macbeth was written in the aftermath of the discovery in November 1605 of the Gunpowder Plot – the attempt to blow up the King and both houses of Parliament by a group of Catholic gentlemen, made desperate by the fines and restrictions imposed on them for not belonging to the Protestant faith. A plot to murder the king was a highly topical subject, with the country still shaken by reports “Of dire combustion, and confused events” and the play must often have touched on the recent experience of its audience. Lady Macbeth’s advice,

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                                        “Look like the innocent flower,

                                But be the serpent under’t,”

Might have recalled the medal struck to commemorate the discovery of the plot, showing a serpent concealed beneath flowers, and Paul suggests that Duncan’s comment on the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor,

                                                “There’s no art

                        To find the mind’s construction in the face:

                        He was a gentleman on whom I built

                        An absolute trust,”

        The murder, or attempted murder, of a king was regarded with particular horror, as the supreme violation of the principles according to which God had created the universe. We are shown this by Macbeth’s ...

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