In nature is tyranny

‘’In nature is tyranny’’
Is a man born a tyrant or is a man shaped one by the events during his life?

According to Malcolm ‘‘king becoming graces’’ are ‘’justice, verity, temperance, stableness, bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage, fortitude.’’
A person who has none of those, would therefore not be a good king, a tyrant even.
When comparing Macbeth to those graces, one must come to the conclusion that Macbeth has almost one of them and certainly not in the way Malcolm must have meant.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous warrior through the eyes of the wounded captain, as he says ’brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name’’ .
It can therefore be said that Macbeth does have courage on the battlefield. However, that does not help him with political intrigue. Courage could also refer to outside the battlefield, for example decision-making. There he lacks the courage meant by Malcolm.

The view of Macbeth as brave warrior changes, when Macbeth hears the prophecy of the witches. It is made clear that Macbeth is above all an ambitious man, completely consumed by those ambitions, particularly to power and advancement.
The same scene also shows his tendency to doubting himself, making him look like a man with a weak character.
The idea of becoming king of Scotland brings him great joy, but also causes him great worry and doubt about how to go at it.
He eventually is manipulated into committing the crime by his wife, Lady Macbeth, who talks about his manhood and accuses him of lacking manliness. That Macbeth could be manipulated into committing murder by such accusations further establishes his weak character.
After the crime, Macbeth is indeed crowned king, allowing hi...

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...nnot be legitimized by his loyalty to Scotland, it is only a political rule. He therefore also lacks the ‘‘king becoming graces’’ of devotion.

Analysing Macbeth’s virtues, or lack thereof, and vices, one must come to the conclusion that Macbeth always had a tyrannical nature.
His weak character and self-doubt, combined with his strong and driving ambition has driven him to become a tyrannical king.
The occurrences of the play may have helped him to further develop his tyrannical character and become a real tyrant, but it was always in his nature.
Macbeth possesses almost none of the ‘‘king becoming graces’’ , except for courage, but as his kind of courage is better suited to the battlefield, he cannot deal with political intrigue very well, driving him to tyranny as well.
Tyranny is in the nature of Macbeth, not in the events in his life.

Works Cited

Macbeth