Kingship Essay Plan Flashcards
(4 cards)
Thesis ideas:
Explores the delicate and politically relevant relationship between nobility and kingship - with the foils of Macbeth and Macduff, we see the potential for restoration of order versus tyranny and usurpation
Shakespeare was warning James I, as he was unpopular (we can relate, therefore a warning)
Macbeth’s kingship, through deceit and tyranny, is only a source of personal suffering as he encapsulates the universal desire to dissociate from violence
Malcolm embodies an essence of kingship which models the approach Shakespeare wants KJ to take in the future
Section 1 : Macbeth
Macduff and Macbeth explore the powers against kingship and the threat to vs restoration of the throne
Macbeths embodiment of tyranny reveals you cannot achieve the throne without supernatural means - encompasses usurpation as a supernatural and Unholy Right
Equivocation used against AND by Macbeth - before he meets the witches, ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’ - embodies supernatural and political deception, encompasses an inherent evil within Macbeth already - his kingship is doomed as he is entangled with supernatural aspects
Commands witches with imperatives - ‘speak then to me’ ‘stay’ ‘tell me more’ - Macbeth attempts to wield powers Shakespeare creates an association between usurpation and the supernatural in order to warn nobility of the dangers of challenging King James I, as Divine punishment was greatly revered
The tyranny of Macbeth is not solely explored as a force against righteous kingship, but as a breeding ground of personal suffering - the wrongful kinship amplified Macbeth’s worst and most defining flaws - his paranoia is amplified, and in the end kills him
‘O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife’ - metaphor of scorpions is associated with poison, implies torment and a slow death, while the adjective ‘dear’ is unusual as at this point in the play Macbeth is dissociating from Lady Macbeth - brief glimpse of desire to reconcile with gentle forces and his
Shakespeare popularised the soliloquy - used it as a format to explore psychology, as in Act 2 Scene 1
‘the bell invites me’ - motif throughout the play, verb ‘invites’ abdicates responsibility in order to dissociate from the reality of violence - audience can relate to the desire to dissociate from sin, however later ownership over ‘ring the alarum bell’ and embodiment of sin - warns audience of the all-consuming and destructive path of usurpation
Section 2 - Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 1
‘nature seems dead’
Nature used as a homophone - should be a contrary force to necromancy in this scene which grounds him, however instead it perpetuates his personal suffering because he abandoned God - created his own personal pool of suffering, an inescapable absence of reality which kills him
‘nature’ also refers to Macbeth’s and epitomises a vulnerable desire to dissociate from the actions he is taking and their consequences, as well as the violence which will condemn him
This is reiterated in his soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 5 before the battle - ‘life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player’
metaphor of life suggests Macbeth lived in the darkness and evil of his potential to become King, the plosives ‘p’ implying his disgust as his abandonment of God and belief in his indestructibility, his pursuit of tyranny which has perpetuated his suffering, when originally Macbeth has the potential of all thanes - the potential to serve and restore order as demonstrated by Macduff
Section 3 - Macduff
Section 4 - Malcolm
Same potential as Macbeth - began as revered nobility, however, models the fidelity and patriotism of a true noble
‘O Scotland, Scotland’ - repetition of ‘Scotland is significant because it emphasises the personification of his country and a sense of immense mourning. Highlights Macduff as a noble who is loyal to his country over his own escalation of power - in this way, Macduff’s power remains very constant throughout the play, implying that his soul is incorrigible against existential powers, he has deep-rooted loyalties to the Divine Order of Scotland
Victory against Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 8, ‘Macbeth slain’ and the restoration of the GCOB reinforces how the loyalty of the nobles to King James I is essential to the success of his rule
‘’bleed bleed, poor country’ - personifies country as it demonstrates the level of loyalty you should have to Scotland
Malcolm embodies the traits of an ideal King which Shakespeare encourages in KJI
Rebukes tyranny, has ability to show prudence unlike Duncan, ‘absolute trust’ - lacks naivety, shows Malcolm in the King of the future - ‘voluptuousness, avarice’ - recognises the evils of Kingship - has an incorruptible soul as he can accuse traits of tyranny
‘shall henceforth be earls’ - generosity is a defining characteristic, rewards his nobility and builds it upon a foundation of loyalty to the ‘throne’ (something permanent to ascend to, as opposed to a ‘fruitless crown’)
Couples ‘my thanes and kinsmen’ - nobility and family alongside each other, symbolic of the unit James I must create
King James I should do this - shows the power of a United nobility and kingship in the success of a country
‘Grace of grace’ - reigns with the righteousness and direction of God - proves Malcolm’s Divine Right and embodiment of Christian power
