Context Analysis

Question 1

Great chain of being:

Answer 1

• hierarchical structure, distrust from God given order results in chaos: Macbeth’s regicide disrupts GCB leading to unnatural occurrences (“horses…eating each other”)
• Duncan’s murder fractures the Great Chain of Being, as a subject usurping a divinely appointed King violates order prompting moral chaos.

Question 2

Divine right of Kings:

Answer 2

-King is chosen by God anything against the king is also against god (e.g regicide)
- Macbeth’s regicide of Duncan is a direct violation of DRK, so Macbeth is a traitor and a sinner acting against God’s plan
- Macduff seeks to restore the Divine Rights of Kings by placing Malcolm on the throne, thus re-establishing moral and religious legitimacy of kingship. Again conveying how he is a foil to Macbeth.

Question 3

King James I:

Answer 3

• wrote daemonologie
• was a patron for Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare wanted to appease him especially as his daughter was rumoured to be a Catholic sympathiser
• Wrote against regicide
• Is said to be related to Banquo which explains the character nobility and non infatuation with the witches
• As King James I was a patron to his plays, Shakespeare uses the play as a veiled allegory. He intertwines the act of regicide with tormenting guilt, a potent reminder of the consequence for those who disrupt the divinely ordained order.

Question 4

Seven deadly sins:

Answer 4

• were to be avoided within Christianity to abstain from being influenced by the devil. Macbeth embodies greed and pride(ego) and he is in internal conflict between the two
• Macbeth is driven by his pride and is greedy for more power- he is envious of the power of Duncan. This results in his violent wrath as he commits regicide