Shakespeare And Kingship Essay

Macbeth is very faithful and honorable general in the beginning of the play. However, once he rebels to king due to three witches plot, his character and personality changes completely. He becomes an atrocious and tyrannical ruler. Furthermore, his understanding of kingly rule is exposed in his words in act 4 scene 1: “Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits: / The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed go with it; from this moment / The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand.” (Shakespeare 4.1.162-166). His evil character, which changed after becoming a king, matches with his understanding of kingly rule – he believes that king can do anything even though it is a dread exploit.

Imagine a time in total monarchy with a fierce queen in power, ready to execute anyone who contradicts her. In the Elizabethan era, William Shakespeare experienced monarchy first hand. He created the play “Julius Caesar” because he wanted to warn the people that monarchy wasn’t favorable. William Shakespeare wrote “Julius Caesar” to address the serious issue of monarchy, creating plays was how he communicated with the public, and this play got his word out without breaking treason laws.

Many Elizabethan bedsides were haunted from “the terrors of the night”. Back then their ghosts were nothing like the pasty blobs we call ghosts now. Theirs were quite gruesome. Ghostly visitations were claimed to have been very unpleasant. Not only this, but they claimed it cast them into a state of spiritual confusion.

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare displays acts of violence and ferocity to distract the miserable life everyone was living in England. Macbeth is a man who becomes hungry for power and desires to take control by murdering everyone who gets in his way of kingship. Macbeth discovers, from a prophecy given to him by three witches, that he will become king. When Macbeth's ambition vanquishes his moral judgement, he gruesomely slaughters the current king and fulfils the prophecy.

In the play Macbeth, author William Shakespeare tells the dramatic story of how a man, who becomes obsessed with his own fate and power, falls from grace and is eventually killed by his own obsessions. Written in 1606, this play follows historical figures during the mid 11th century in the struggle for power and the crown of Scotland. When this was written, the Tudor dynasty had just ended its nearly 120 years of ruling England and Shakespeare wished for a peaceful transition of power unlike in the time of Macbeth where out of nine consecutive kings, only two had their rule ended by natural causes. To discourage this mad scramble for power among the nobles, Shakespeare uses the theme of betrayal

Shakespeare in the 1600's was writing for two political figures, Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. The plays for Queen Elizabeth, like A Midsummer Night's Dream, are often seen to have a happy and optimistic mood. However, those he wrote during James's reign, such as Macbeth and Hamlet, are darker and more cynical. These plays were often written to please the Monarchs and give the public a comedic relief of the circumstance around them. In the play Macbeth, the plot continuously moved along because of the main character, Macbeth, who was overzealous, paranoid, overconfident.

Power does not corrupt an individual, but rather fear of losing that power is what causes corruption leading to bloodshed and agony. This idea is exemplified in the infamous William Shakespearian play the tragedy of Macbeth. The play was originally written in 1606, in tribute to king James IV of Scotland who was a great admirer of poetry and drama. It is said that he frequently visited Shakespearian’s theater and attracted a great quantity of the Scottish populous that Shakespeare shifted his plays to suit and appeal to their culture and history and renamed his company the kings men theater company in honor of the king. Additionally, The play incorporates unnatural forces such as witches and magic as well as recurring ideas of treason, violence,

the throne by evil means, and not by divine right so he should not be

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.

William Shakespeare was a very talented man known for his various works of literature. His works include poems, plays, and sonnets. His works are then broken down into tragedies, comedies, and histories. Shakespeare left this world centuries ago, but his writings continue to live throughout the world today. He has greatly impacted the world of literature and his existence will forever be remembered.

Who was Shakespeare? Was he a man from Stratford-Upon-Avon who started with little and became the greatest English author to ever live; or was he a privileged Earl who was a favorite at Queen Elizabeth’s court? That is the great mystery. This particular mystery is difficult to solve because of the lack of documentary evidence. The Elizabethans did not believe in getting everything in writing as people do today. Therefore, the truth may never be known with certainty. However, evidence does exist to support at least two theories about the Shakespearean authorship: one that the man from Stratford wrote the works, the other that Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford was the author. The question then becomes, which

Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered to be some of the greatest and most eloquent poems in all of English literature. So by analyzing his genius in poetry and style, scholars and ordinary readers alike, try to understand the genius in the poet. There is very little known of Shakespeare’s personal life or feelings he had about himself. This being so a lot of scholars focus on his style and way of saying things to try and get a better understanding of Shakespeare the person. Many scholars have tried to get an insight into shakespeare by analyzing how and what he wrote. Many poets use poetry as a way to express their feelings and emotions, so readers of Shakespeare should be able to start to grasp a picture of who he was by reading his poetry and paying attention to the similarities and unique differences of his work to the norm of the day.

The inconsistency would appear to be an oversight on the part of the playwright, one of the keenest observers of human nature who ever lived. Shakespeare's genius was to show us the timeless aspects of our strengths and frailties through the characters in his plays. People tend to fight, and fight fiercely, for what they believe to be rightfully theirs. Princes, we have learned from countless examples throughout history and drama, plot, scheme, maneuver, risk, and sometimes lose their lives in their attempts to become kings. Shakespeare, himself, wrote one of his greatest plays about the Scottish lord, Macbeth, whose burning desire for royal power is the essence of the tragedy.

Though William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature's greatest influences, very little is actually known about him. What we do know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. Anecdotes and criticisms by his rivals also speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor.

William Shakespeare's Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audience, taking it even as far as perhaps the greatest heresy of all, questioning the necessity of GCSE pupils learning Shakespeare at all. This “proposed vandalism from the policymakers” (Guardian 09/02/01) is opposed wholesale by supporters