preview

Theme Of Kingship In Macbeth

Decent Essays

Shakespeare’s plays, Henry IV, Part 1 (1H4) and Macbeth (Mac.), support the Tudor myth through the representation of monarchy and the theme of a king’s divinity. From a historical perspective, Shakespeare portrays Henry IV and his descendants as unworthy of kingship as Henry IV disrupts the divine right of kings and thus instigates the Tudor myth. This representation is implemented in order to appease Elizabeth I through affirming her sanctioned appointment to the throne. The depiction of kingship within Macbeth is similar as the monarch is demonstrated as disrupting the divine right of kings through treason and regicide. However, Shakespeare’s tragedy does so in order to attest to James I of Britain’s maintenance of the divine right of kings. This is achieved primarily through the demonstrated polarity between Macbeth the tyrant and James, the king of England. Originating from Henry VII of England, the Tudor myth is a device that describes Henry IV’s disruption of natural monarchical succession that ultimately required expiation and sovereign restoration in kingship. Its premise relies heavily on the notion of the divine right of kings as it was believed that a monarch was “God’s representative on earth” (Hicks 15). Therefore, deposition was considered offensive and unjustifiable before God and the people (Kiryanova 24) and thus it is believed that Henry Bolingbroke, IV of England, sparked a series of successors undeserving of the throne. The restoration of Henry IV’s

Get Access