Kingship Flashcards
Ts1: Duncan is presented as a morally good king who does not deserve to die. His murder disrupts the natural order.
‘His virtues will plead like angels… against his taking off’ (MB)
‘The earth was feverous and did shake’
Ts2: MB’s ambition to become king leads him to murder Duncan but he is also determined his descendants will be kings.
‘Barren sceptre’
Ts3: later in the play, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, pretending he has no kingly qualities unlike his ‘sainted’ father.
‘Justice, verity’
‘Bloody, false’
Ts4: MB abuses his power as king, but the rightful heir is restored to the throne at the end.
‘It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds’
‘By the grace of Grace’
Topic sentences:
Ts1- D= morally good and death disrupts natural order.
Ts2- MB ambition leads him to murder D but he is also determined his descendants will be kings.
Ts3: M tests MD’s loyalty to Scotland, pretending he has no kingly qualities unlike his ‘sainted’ father.
Ts4: MB abuses power as king, but rightful heir is returned to throne at the end.
‘His virtues will plead like angels… against his taking off’ (MB)
L= simile. D is such a morally good king, heaven will react with horror to his murder and make sure the murderer is discovered. C= DRK. Jacobeand believed King was appointed by God. To kill a king= act against God. God will punish the murderer.
‘The earth was feverous and did shake’
L= personification. The murder of king Duncan negatively affects the whole country D= MB’s act of murder has brought moral sickness to the land. C= Gunpowder Plot has just tried to murder James I. Play warns of terrible consequences of murdering a king.
‘Barren sceptre’
L= adjective. MB is obsessed with his own descendants becoming kings and not Banquo’s children, as the witches predicted. Fears he’s damned himself for benefit of Banquo’s children. C= flatters James I- he was one of Banquo’s descendants.
‘Justice, verity’
‘Bloody, false’
L= Malcolm and Macduff’s conversations describes the virtues a king should have- honesty and fairness. These are contrasted with adjectives used to describe Macbeth as king- he is murderous and a liar, not fit to be a king.
‘It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds’
L= personification. Macbeth’s bloody kingship has destroyed the country in contrast to King Edward who heals his subjects. Scotland is like a whipped slave or beast of burden suffering under his rule. C= the Jacobeans believed that a king should be like a father to his subjects. Macbeth is the opposite!
‘By the grace of Grace’
C= Malcolm says that, as king, he will do whatever God calls him to do. He is the rightful king and a morally good man. R= audience is reassured that the natural order has been restored.
