Macbeth King Qualities

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is set in a time and place where the ideas of the ‘Chain of Being’ and the ‘Divine Right of the King’ are highly regarded and held to be true. The play incorporates both these ideas and uses them to depict two models of kingship that either hold fast to these concepts or deviate from them. This can be seen in how the throne of Scotland first falls from Duncan, the true king of Scotland at the beginning of the play, to Macbeth, who usurps the throne by killing Duncan, and then to Malcolm, the true heir to the throne who takes it from Macbeth at the conclusion of the play. It is the aim of this essay to compare these different models of kingship, show how they are represented through the characters of Duncan, Macbeth and Malcolm, as well as to show what the play suggests about the qualities that are necessary for a good king.

In the play “Macbeth” the author furthers the ideas of ambition, manhood and violence throughout the play using a gender lens, mainly for masculinity in men. In the play “Macbeth” ambition plays a big role in the man characters life; Macbeth. In Act 1 scene 3, lines 125-129, “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm; The instruments of darkness tell us truth.” (Shakespeare 1.3.125-129). This quote stated by Banquo foreshadows Macbeth further into the play. Macbeth ends up killing King Duncan because he wants to be in power over the kingdom. When Banquo questions Macbeth about the killing of King Duncan, Macbeth’s ambition to kill Banquo skyrocketed. Macbeth didn’t want anybody to think or know that he ended up killing King Duncan for power. This started a cycle of death for Macbeth’s ambition to kill to stay in power. This example of ambition from “Macbeth” has a very similar motif from the movie called “The Mask You Live In”. In the movie, George Orwell states, “He wears a mask and his face grows to fit it.” The idea of the mask he wear fits his face helps us further the reason for men’s ambitions. Men’s ambitions are driven by power and dominance over people and prized possessions. For men to be able to gain power, they need to prove how masculine they are to society. In doing so they are dehumanizing their biological thoughts and feelings and turning them into artificial ones in order to be seen more powerful or dominate to the public.

Shakespeare's shortest play, Macbeth, is also, consequently, his most shocking and intense. We see the essence of tragedy: in this case, the protagonist transforms himself from a noble warrior who is loyal to his king and fights for his county to a reduced tyrant by the play's end. Macbeth's divided soul which is in turmoil is the cause of his deterioration from a respected warrior to a despised tyrant.

Macbeth abuses his power as king by becoming so ruthless that he kills whoever might get in his way or threaten his position as king. Macbeth fears that Banquo is beginning to doubt him and believes that Banquo is his enemy. When he is speaking to the two men he has hired to murder Banquo, he tells them,” Every minute of his being thrusts / Against my near’st of life” (Shakespeare 3.1.128-129). Macbeth is jumping to conclusions about Banquo because he fears Banquo’s sons will become king, as the witches predicted. This turning point in the play shows that Macbeth is not suited to be king and continues to act out against people in Scotland. Macbeth feels the same threat towards Macduff as he did towards Banquo, but since Macduff fled to England, Macbeth had to take a different action. Macbeth chose to attack Macduff’s family, he said, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife; give me the edge o’ the sword” (Shakespeare 4.2.166-167). Macbeth chose to kill everyone in Macduff’s family so that he would scare Macduff away from Scotland while Macbeth is king. This downfall did not come from no where, but from his sins and the choices he made as king, he did everything for himself instead of for others.

Macbeth demonstrated his nobility and honor for the country of Scotland, through his loyalty to the king and his valiant fighting against enemies. Macbeth was a loyal friend to King Duncan. The King felt extremely highly of Macbeth and viewed him as one of his kinsmen. King Duncan placed trust and faith in Macbeth, and felt honored to have Macbeth fighting for him and his country. King Duncan announced, “No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth” (1.2.63-66).

Arguably Macbeth could be seen as a tragic hero because he shows aspects of hamartia. He has two main flaws that lead to his downfall, his persistence on listening to what the witches told him and his overwhelming ambition. Throughout the play Macbeth’s flaws start to weigh out the good aspects of his personality until his poor qualities are more noticeable than the good ones. As the play continues Macbeth’s actions result in a increase of self awareness and realisation, “I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not “ implies that Macbeth regrets his actions and is starting to realise that he has been so persistent on fulfilling what the witches said he’s let himself kill his friends which is starting

“Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong”- Machiavelli. Macbeth, according to Machiavelli who believes the greatest rulers are cunning, deceitful, and evil at the core, is a great leader. He is a man who is loved by the people, only because they don’t know who he is behind closed doors. On the outside he appears to be a loyal soldier, loving husband, and a great friend to all. However, on the inside he is a killer, who will destroy anyone who may put or be an obstacle in his path. Macbeth is a grade A liar, a cunning fox, and he's more than capable of knowing and doing wrong. Therefor, these three points clearly show the understanding of why Macbeth is such a great leader.

Good leader is only as good as the people who follow them. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Scotland is thrown into turmoil when king Duncan dies. Throughout the play Malcolm, the king’s eldest son, exhibits the noble traits of a just leader, whereas Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is the epitome of poor leadership skills. Both men are motived to do good and bad things. As well as being intelligent, Macbeth uses his brains contrary to those of Malcolm. Lastly, Malcolm and Macbeth exhibit opposite mentalities when it comes to achieving their goals. Even with opposite mindsets, Macbeth and Malcolm are motivated to do what they believe is true.

The want for power can be recognized in everyday life. The feeling of power can cause many problems which are made evident in the one of Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth. In Macbeth, the main character receives word from witches that he will become king. When his decision to take over the thrown himself occurs, he murders the previous King and is then taken over by guilt. Moral lessons, conflict, and fate are used to show the detrimental effects of the desire for power.

Shakespeare’s ideas towards kingship can be seen throughout the play. He shows that a king should be chosen by divine right and shows the attributes of what a good king should be.

I know that Macbeth is about how a character named Lady Macbeth tells her husband Macbeth to kill the king of Scotland who King Duncan so that he can inherit the Scottish Throne. Lady Macbeth also tells Macbeth to kill other people who comes in his way of becoming the new king of Scotland. King Duncan has two sons; his eldest son is named Malcolm, and his youngest son is named Donalbain. Malcolm escapes to England and Donalbain to Ireland. The escapes of both of the sons of King Duncan somehow become a threat to Macbeth’s inheritance of the Scottish Throne. Moreover, I am hoping to improve my ability to understand William Shakespeare’s style of writing in English, which seems to be currently a bit complex for me to understand. However, according

Another factor that involves the presentation of royalty in Macbeth is the way the King and the nobles dress and speak. Royals in Macbeth wear fancy clothes and unnecessary coats in order to make themselves look important or even valuable. It seems as if the people with a pleasant social status only care about the way they are viewed by others and ignore the respect and loyalty that is neglected to them. Macbeth, for example, is so blinded by ambition that he gets distracted by his ensurance of the throne and that does not see the nobles betrayal coming. Malcolm, the legitamate heir who should have taken King Duncan’s place after being assassined by Macbeth, actually planned the removal of Macbeth from the throne.

Macbeth’s good nature is increasingly defeated by one of his major flaws-ambition. His ambition and desire to become king leads

In a tragedy, there is always one noble character, in this case Macbeth, whose nobility is represented by birth and through action. When Sinel, Macbeth’s father, dies, Macbeth inherits his throne because “By Sinel’s death, he knows he is thane of

The definition of a good king may vary depending, on one's morals, and values. If a leader has some sort of mental health issue he/she might think in a very corrupt manner, even then usually there are some people that receive benefits from the position a king holds; in that context the people receiving benefits may not think the king is as corrupt as he/she is. In shakespeare's play “Macbeth”, and as well as the epic poem “Beowulf” there are examples of how a “good” or “bad” king should behave. One’s opinion of a king differs, however there is strong evidence that sets near perfect guidelines of how a king should behave. Kings/ leaders should: behave and make decisions in a way that benefits the majority of the people, not just themselves, but most of all they must have good ethics, loyalty, courage, and integrity.