King James Right To Rule Essay

The Right To Rule

“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”

- William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a great man of theatrics and is world-renowned for his fantastic contributions to English literature as poet, playwright, and actor. One of Shakespeare’s most compelling and bloodiest works was “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which was written in 1606, during the reign of King James the I. During the 16th century, King James’s position as king came under a lot of heat and many questioned whether he was the rightful king deserving of the crown. James, who was a firm believer of the Divine Order felt like he was placed on the throne with God’s will. In his book, “The True Law of Free Monarchies”, James expresses his thoughts about the presence of God and his power to bestow the right kings to rule, “sit upon God his throne in the earth and have the count of their administration to give unto him” (James 1). Shakespeare, as a friend and also a solid believer of the Divine Order helps James reassure the nation’s people of his rightful position as king and the consequences that can ensue if the Divine

Order is disrupted by illustrating it within “The Tragedy of Macbeth”.
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” takes place in Scotland and England during the 11th century, coincidentally the two nations that had been united through King James’s double coronation.

The profound play is about a power hungry couple’s successful assassination of the nation’s King and the events that occur thereafter. Shakespeare uses various changes in setting to extenuate his message about the natural world reacting accordingly wherever evil is present. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth execute the murder, various changes in nature soon occur that reflects the events that occur on a existential scale. Throughout the play, the Old Man and Ross both notice breakdowns in the behaviours of animals in the natural world. More specifically, a hawk being killed by an owl is mentioned and tame horses go wild, symbolizing a great imbalance within the natural order and established food

chain.
Carol Strongin Tufts, an academic author at Marquette University explores many layers of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” in her book review titled , “Shakespeare’s Conception of Moral Order In Macbeth”. She connects the central plot of the play with the Elizabethan theory of the Divine Order and branches off with speculations about the works of karma and fate interlocking the events that occur, “… the events of the beginning and the end of the play are, in essence, the same events seen through opposite perspectives: in the beginning , through the perspective of the rightful king threatened by rebel forces; at the end, through the perspective of the usurper threatened by the forces of the rightful king” (Tufts 169). Macbeth murdered Duncan, a beloved and respected king, and in turn he lost all human qualities and eventually met a bloody death by the hands of Macduff, the saviour and rightful figure. In a way, Macbeth received what he dealt during his reign as the tyrannical king.
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” is definitely one of Shakespeare’s most dark and compelling literary works. Shakespeare does an excellent job at portraying the importance of the Divine Order within the hierarchy of societal rankings and decisions. Shakespeare uses many allusions and symbolic representations following the events that occur after significant events within the play, by the use of nature Shakespeare is able to reflect the imbalance as a result of the disruptions of the Divine Order.