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The witches role in macbeths downfall
The witches role in macbeths downfall
The theme of sleep in Macbeth
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The Divine Right Of Kings In Macbeth King James I said “The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth: for kings are not only God's Lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself they are called Gods”. During the 1600’s people believed in “The Divine Right Of Kings”, many people believed that kings are considered Gods and anything were to happen to them nature will be disrupted until the rightful owner is back on the throne. The Divine Right of Kings is shown throughout the play Macbeth. This is displayed through the destruction of Macbeth, how nature is disrupted, and how Malcom takes back his rightful throne which then leads to nature being restored. The greatest sin you could ever commit in the 1600’s …show more content…
were treason and murder, Macbeth had committed both these crimes against the king, Duncan in the play Macbeth. Macbeth is manipulated into killing Duncan and becoming king by the witches. Macbeth is tricked because The second witch said “All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor”,(Shakespeare,1.3.52) and then after the third witch replies with “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(Shakespeare,1.3.53). Right after Macbeth’s meeting with the witches he is crowned Thane Of Cawdor and now believes that he could be become king and his ambitions start to take over. Macbeth would of been a great king, but his evil intentions overcame him and is not considered a rightful king because of this. Macbeth then hatches out a plan to become king by inviting Duncan to his castle and murdering him there. Macbeth kills Duncan that night and take his throne. Chao is then called upon by the Gods because of this. This is an example of The Divine Right of Kings in Macbeth. Chao will always follow destruction as it is in Macbeth after he had taken over the throne.
In the Divine Right of Kings when the rightful king is not on its throne chaos will be dispelled until someone worthy is back on the throne. This is shown in Macbeth through the disruption of sleep, animals acting unnatural, and the weather being terrible in Scotland. Sleep is considered a natural order in Macbeth and if anything were to happen to it than it means nature is disrupted. Sleeping is when the mind is the clear and resting. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can not sleep due to the guilt they feel of the murdering Duncan. Macbeth says “Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,' the innocent sleep” (Shakespeare 2.2.32-33). Also near the end of the novel Lady Macbeth calls for a doctor because she is sleepwalking and recalling the memory of Duncan. Secondly, there is an old man that explains what has happened to nature since after Macbeth has taken the throne. The old man represents everyone else in the country and what they see. The old man tells Ross “On Tuesday last, A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.”(Shakespeare 2,4,15-17). A falcon is one of the most strongest birds in the world and got preyed and killed by a single owl. Owls only hunt insects and rats while falcons are the predators. They eat birds and any kind of meat they can find. This is a hint at the change of nature in Macbeth. …show more content…
Duncan’s horses also broke out of their stables and started to eat each other. These events are noticed by everybody and everyone knows something is wrong and unnatural. The most obvious change in nature is the weather. Before anyone is introduced to Macbeth there is already foul weather due to the witches and their evil intentions. Before the attack on Banquo, Banquo suggests that there will be rain tonight which means something bad and dark is going to happen, “ It will be rain tonight.” (Shakespeare 3,2,17). Rain and dark weather is a sign of evil presence and god being mad. There was also a solar eclipse that happen after Duncan had died and his throne being taken away from him. Shakespeare uses darkness to foreshadow events that will happen such as Banquo stating “The heavens are being stingy with their light” (Shakespeare 2,1,4) which means that there is barely any light and is very dark outside. Chao will continue to happen unless someone worthy of the throne is back on unlike the ratched king Macbeth. The only way of restoring chaos is to please the gods and put back someone worthy of the throne.
Someone like Macbeth can not be a good king as he is destructive. Since Duncan is considered the rightful king from the gods and had already chosen his successor which is, Malcolm. Then Malcolm is the one that will restore nature and stop the chaos caused by Macbeth. Malcolm and Macduff bring back a army to fight Macbeth with the help of the witches which they tricked Macbeth into thinking no one could stop him. The witches tell him “Be violent, bold, and firm. Laugh at the power of other men, because nobody born from a woman will ever harm Macbeth”(Shakespeare 4,1,81-83). This quote makes Macbeth drop his guard because everyone is from women born, except there is a twist with Macduff. As Malcolm and Macduff’s army begin to defeat Macbeth’s army they go inside the castle to kill Macbeth. Macduff has found Macbeth and is going to go kill him, but Macbeth remembers that no one women born can harm Macbeth so he tells Macduff “Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” This is when Macduff reveals that he wasn’t born naturally but he was born through C-section. This is when Macbeth starts to fear for his life and begins to fight Macduff. As natural order Macduff has killed Macbeth and Malcolm takes back his throne to please the gods. Order is now restored and nature is also
restored. In conclusion, the Divine Right of Kings is shown in Macbeth many times through sin, disorder, and restoration. Specifically through the destruction of Macbeth, nature being disrupted, and everything being restored after Malcolm has claimed back his throne. Shakespeare added this to his play because in his time people really did believe kings were on the same ranking as gods and if anything were to happen to them chaos would unwind. He also did this to please King James as he wrote the plan for him.
Words like “dark” and “treacherous” and also tyrant are to name but a few. In Macbeth we see how the kingship is potential for good or evil. Macbeth is seen as a hero for some. “Brave Macbeth” to refere. “If good, why do I deal to that suggestion/ whose horrid image death and unfix my Hair/ and make my seated heart knock at my ribs/ against the use of nature? Present fear.”(1.3.147-155) As said in this quote, Macbeth has stated that he has no fear against whatever he will face showing good kingship because of the amount of power is in his hands. Macbeth is not the only one with great power. King Duncan performs two of the basic duties of a king: punishing the bad and rewarding the good.”My plenteous joys/ Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves/ in drops of sorrow- sons, kinsmen, thanes,/and you whose places are the nearest, know/ we will establish our estate upon.” (1.4.39-49) Duncan shows that not everything is easy and not everything is even to some by hand. Everyone must earn what they are given.Malcolm unlike Macbeth is able to tell appearance from reality in his superiority as
After Macbeth brutally murders King Duncan for power and the title of King of Scotland, the country is in complete mayhem. Although the son of Duncan, Malcolm, has fled to England in order to remain safe from Macbeth’s dark intentions, he continues to stay strong and portray many specific attributes necessary to be a good ruler. In Act IV Scene iii of William Shakespeare’s famous Macbeth, Malcolm proves himself fit to be a successful king of Scotland.
When Macbeth informs Macduff of the prophecy, which Macbeth thinks, will protect him and will allow him to maintain hold over Scotland, Macduff now makes it know that he was not born of woman. The third piece of fate is now complete; Macbeth can be killed. Macduff becomes assured that he can defeat Macbeth for he was not born of a woman. With this new knowledge Macduff knows that he must be the one to kill Macbeth and secure Malcolm’s right to the throne. Macduff does kill Macbeth, being the only one able to do so and secure peace and prosperity for Scotland.
Some people are just meant to be heroes. In this wonderful play by Shakespeare Macduff is a good choice and born to be a hero. Throughout Macbeth there are several examples of Macduffs heroism and bravery. Macduff is a loving, caring man of action, Thane of Fife and a Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth's kingship. When he leaves his loving family to flee to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth has Macduff's wife and children murdered. At the end of the play, Macduff (who was born through a caesarian section) kills Macbeth bringing prosperity back to Scotland, and proving the truth in the witches prophecy that "no man of woman born" can harm Macbeth and his true heroism.
At this point Macbeth has become a tyrant, so wrapped up in his delusions and power he 's nothing of his former self. When the English army arrive he is confident in the fact no man born of a woman can harm him. “Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” When Macduff reveals he was not born of a woman, Macbeth is snapped out of his delusions and realizes the evil he 's done.
The second apparition that Macbeth is shown, the bloody child, tells Macbeth that ".none of the woman born shall harm Macbeth"(Shakespeare 4.1.81-82).This apparition brings confidence into Macbeth by giving him this security that he basically should have no fear of men because he cannot be killed. Unfortunately, where the false part comes into play from the false security, is the man not born of a woman turns out to be Macduff, whose mother delivered him by what we now call a C-section. He was born out of a body. Thus, he was not born of a woman.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth.
Furthermore, we also learn about Lady Macduff’s and her kids’ death. To prove this, Macbeth says in Act 4, scene 1 that he wants to kill Macduff and his family for joining Malcolm, the protagonist adds “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword / His wife, babes, and all unfortunate swords / That trace him in his line.” Although many might argue that Macbeth was forced to kill Duncan, which caused him to kill everyone else, the protagonist could of have refused to follow his wife’s orders and refrain from the power he wants. From the quotations used, we can now tell that Macbeth is a monster due to the murders he
Traditional Elizabethan ideologies were based on the great "Chain of Being". The people believed in an absolutely ordered universe were ranked in order of their superiority. This order corresponded with all religious beliefs and the political system. General beings were ranked in the order of: God, angels, king, man, animals, plants, inorganic material and finally chaos. When Macbeth murders Duncan, he violates this order. The king was seen to be God's representative on earth and if any rebel was to attack the king, he was seen as rebelling against or attacking God. There was a belief that God passed special powers on to all kings, as seen in Act four Scene three "he cures... the healing benediction... he hath a heavenly gift of prophecy" (lines 168-173). Macbeth does not have this divinity, as he is not the rightful king. This is one of the reasons that Scotland turns to chaos.
In the early modern period, the political system put in Europe was “absolute power” (Lecturer Morris). According to the OED, “absolute power is a monarch invested in absolute”. In this period, it was believed that it was necessary that only one person designated by God could hold absolute power. Usually this prophecy would be passed down in the royal family, from father to son (Carrol 246). Occasionally, if viewed as worthy of the opportunity, a person, usually a warrior who has served well in war, could rise to the occasion, and can be named king (Lecturer Morris). “The sons do not succeed the fathers, before the people first have as it were anew established them by their new approbation: neither were they acknowledged in quality, as inheriting
The first meeting with the three witches (1.3) already laid out Macbeth’s moral as a negative kind. His decision to associate with the witches, who are known as the agents of Satan, implies that his mindset and his morals are not in the right place and that he has bad intentions. Then, after he becomes a king, he is not a virtuous one; he becomes known as a tyrant that kills everyone who opposes and that does not take good care of his kingdom. This is evident when Malcolm describes Scotland: “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke. It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds” (4.3). The personification of Scotland depicts the suffering of the citizens of Scotland and emphasizes the bad reign of Macbeth as detrimental to Scotland’s people. Contrastly, Macduff’s perspective of morals are righteous and he elicits positive reactions from the characters around him. He is able to distinguish evil from good: “This avarice sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been the sword our slain kings” (4.3). Macduff recognizes that lust for power has resulted in the fall of the rightful king, and his expression of such idea shows that he truly believes in crowning the rightful heir rather than trying to take the crown himself. He is characterized as a person with “good truth and honor”(4.3) by Malcolm and, most
A tyrant is someone who does not take equity into account. His decisions are primarily based on self-satisfaction, rather than the wellbeing of others. The protagonist Macbeth, whom Shakespeare describes as a ‘valiant cousin’, has different phases of respectability, all molded by his inevitability of fate. As an audience, we interpret and form an opinion through Shakespeare’s use of psychological audience manipulation. Throughout the beginning of the play we are lead to believe he is a ‘noble warrior’, a loyal man to his administrator who represents that of the divine, Duncan.
At this point, Shakespeare has provided sufficient evidence to prove that Macbeth is mentally troubled. His death and his mental deterioration are inevitable. He is haunted by the deeds he has done and the witches’ prophecies. Macbeth claims that life is utterly meaningless when he says, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.” (5.5 27-31). He no longer has the will to live with knowledge of what he has done. The witches, however, have revealed that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born.” Upon hearing this, Macbeth believes himself to be invincible. During the battle of Dunsinane, he fights recklessly against his foes, under the impression that none can harm him. Macduff then enters the scene. He reveals that he was not of woman born but “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped” and therefore has the ability to kill Macbeth (5.8 19-20). Afraid for his life, Macbeth remains persistent and declares that he will not surrender. In the end, Macbeth is slain and Malcolm becomes King of Scotland. Ultimately, Macbeth’s mental deterioration led to his downfall and imminent death. Before Macduff slew him, Macbeth was almost wishing for death. He was overwhelmed with guilt, regret, ambition, power, paranoia, and the blood on his hands.
... truly seen as a character when he discovers the just previously murdered Duncan. He shows utter shock at the sight of the deceased Duncan and is first to question Macbeth about the suspicious act, including the death of the servants. Macduff provides Macbeth with paranoia that is evident through the rest of the play and Macduff continues to show his loyalty to Duncan even after the murder by making it his goal to ensure the rightful king is crowned. Macbeth is told by the witches to beware of Macduff, but also that he may not be harmed by anyone “born of woman”. Macduff is therefore destined to slay Macbeth and end the conflict that Macbeth has created with his ambition as his was “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb. The heroic Macduff through bravery and fate is able to withstand the prophecy and kill Macbeth honoring his family, morals and all of Scotland.
...e murdered. When king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his heroic service in the battle he replies “Your highness a king cares for his people as a father cares for his children and the people represent the loyal children to the father (I, iv, 23-25). Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth shames her husband so he can continue with the plan of killing Duncan. To shame Macbeth, she calls him a coward, questions his manhood, and tells him that he should be as tough as she is, (1.7.54-59). The second apparition is a bloody child which shows Macbeth "The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" (4.1.81). This shows that no man can harm Macbeth because everyman is born of a women except Macduff. He says that Macduff was born untimely and was ripped out of his womb . This was abnormal because being ripped out of your mothers womb is being born.