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Woven Messages Of Shakespeare 's Macbeth

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Woven Messages in Shakespeare 's Macbeth
Megan Ball 16 June 2015

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn ad cauldron bubble. (Macbeth, 4.1.10)King James I 's obsession with witches and the supernatural sparked Shakespeare’s creation of his most famous tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth illustrates the story of the General, who ruthlessly murders the King in order to gain power which he did not deserve. Along with being an entertaining piece of literature, it also serves as a successful piece of political propaganda. Key themes in this play which link together to form the political propaganda of the time include the Natural Order, Gender and Kingship.

Political propaganda can be defined as ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated that are spread in order to help a cause. Macbeth certainly fits this description. 500 years earlier in Scotland, James IV of Scotland became King James I of Britain. Unsupportive citizens at the time developed conspiracies, one of which was the famous Gunpowder Plot. The conspiracy 's leader Guy Fawkes and his men attempted to blow up the British Parliament in 1605. The conspirators were betrayed and were executed for their crimes. In this manner Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is to some extent a cautionary tale, warning other potential regicides of the awful fate that will inevitably overtake them. In similar ways, other texts have been used as allegories and symbols for historical political events. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an

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