Manhood Motif In Macbeth

Macbeth was written by 1604 in England during the rule of King James I of England, who is the first monarch of England to come from Scotland. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy and is considered one of the four great plays ever written. The play is presumed to have the setting of Scotland, and has been speculated that the play was actually specifically written for King James I. Within the tragedy of Macbeth there are a series of motifs that reflect King James I, of those motifs are meant to question or assert the position of King James I.

One of the most prevalent motifs is the manhood motif. It questions what it means to be a man, the manhood motif is prevalent with both the male characters, but also Lady Macbeth. , "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!" Lady Macbeth’s interpretation of manhood is to be ruthless and to kill at will, unrestricted by the expectation of being a women like kindness and hospitable. However the contradicting view is shown near the end of the book when Ross tells Siward of his son’s death “Your son, my lord, has paid a

soldier's debt: / He only lived but till he was a man; / The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd / In the unshrinking station where he fought, / But like a man he died.” In this context the meaning of manhood is to have bravery to stand up to evil. Macbeth is entangling his expectation of manhood through his play and to convey what he thinks is the true meaning of manhood. He directs that King James I shouldn’t set the expectation of manhood to be like Lady Macbeth, but instead be noble and brave like Young Siward.
The most direct of the motifs toward King James I is the kingship motif. During the exchange between Malcolm and Macduff, all the qualities of a good and bad king are revealed. As Macbeth resembles the worst type of king in the book, his counterpart is King Edward I, who is of the most virtuous of all. Malcolm says “I grant him (Macbeth) bloody, / Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, / sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin…” he later also states that voluptuousness is the worst of all sins possible. On the next page, all the qualities of a great king is listed as a king must have grace “justice, verity, temperance, stableness, / bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, / devotion, patience, courage, fortitude…” all of which Macbeth doesn’t possess. Shakespeare is trying to convey through this play that he wishes King James I to possess all of the virtuous traits and none of Macbeth’s traits, however he wishes King James I to also be like King Edward who is so virtuous that he cures illnesses on touch.
Lastly Shakespeare uses the word equivocate quite often within the play compared to most other words.

He conveys a message that no one is invincible and that we must be virtuous to be the best ruler. He doesn’t want King James I to be “played” by his peer, like how the witches “played” Macbeth. The witches gave Macbeth a false sense of security and a false sense of invincibility. This is due to the apparitions which were shown to Macbeth as the first apparition warns Macbeth of Macduff, then the second apparition says no man of women born would kill him. However Macduff wasn’t born of natural birth so because of the ambiguous language used, Macbeth was killed by Macduff. King James I was the new king of England at the time and Shakespeare wanted a virtuous and noble ruler, not one who is easily fooled and

manipulated.
In conclusion, Macbeth isn’t simply influenced by the fact that King James I just took the throne of England, he also conveys messages through his play to set his expectation of how a king should rule and how a king should compose himself as a ruler. His messages are directed through motifs and aspects of the play, and not only were they supposed to be directed toward King James I, it also affects us as readers of what type of person we should be in our lives, whether one should live with or without virtue, and whether one should see him or herself before others or to put others before themselves.