Macbeth quotes on kingship Flashcards
(13 cards)
brave macbeth
Bellona’s bridegromm
valour’s minion
(1,2)
At the start, Macbeth is described as having the ideal qualities of a noble king.
Bellona - roman god of war
Ironic - M later shows cowardice by killing Duncan in his sleep (sleep = peace/innocence)
He [Thane of Cawdor] was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust (1,4)
Duncan is too trusting and dependent on others to be a perfect king. He doesn’t even lead his men into battle - relies on others
Duncan is a poor judge of character. He was betrayed by someone who he placed his ‘absolute trust’ in - dramatic irony for M’s plot to kill him
valiant cousin, worthy gentleman (1,2)
Macbeth is trusted wholly by Duncan - the cycle of betrayal repeats itself
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V V
Duncan doesn’t learn from his mistakes
There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face (1,2)
It is impossible to see through someone’s deceit
Kindness is vulnerable to deceit - Duncan cannot contend with the wickedness of his peers
Tarquin’s ravishing strides (2,1)
Paranoid king, only appearing with a bodyguard of dangerous men to stop anyone plotting his murder.
Presided over all capital punishment and could sentence anyone who opposed him to death
Macbeth is not a good ruler - he is corrupt and the least successful king.
Bleed, bleed poor country (4,3)
Macduff is patriotic
Scotland is like a wounded body - it is suffering from the tyranny of M’s rule
Way monarch rules a land impacts the whole country
Macduff respects God’s will by not taking the crown after he kills Macbeth
those he commands, move only in command (5,2)
Macbeth commands soldiers by their fear of him and the consequences of disobeying. This draws parallels to how dictators enforce their rule.
His people do not trust him or like him as king
We will establish our estate upon our eldest, Malcom (1,4)
Macbeth sees Malcolm as an obstacle in his path to kingship
By th’clock ‘tis day and yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp (2,3)
the earth was feverous and did shake
Dark night symbolises evil present at night - link to theme of sleep
motif of time implies time itself has stopped
Duncan’s murder has gone against nature. God’s anger and wrath are being defied by M - is doomed
The land is now sick
hell-hound (5,8)
dead butcher and his fiend-like queen (5,9)
Macbeth death is treated like a liberation for scotland
‘hound’ - dehumanises M, suggesting he is savage.
Or, it could imply M was a slave to violence or to his master, the Devil (LM???)
cyclic structure - macbeth is like the dead MacDonald from the start who revolted against the king
offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb t’appease an angry god
Metaphor of ritual sacrifice - M is bloodthirsty
Juxtaposition between innocent lamb and angry god
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds (4,3)
Malcolm
Malcolm is the epitome of pure, honest and dedicated king. HE worries for scotland’s future
Personification of country - treats it like a loved one
Ideas of kingship
Introduced with the witches first prophecies
Kingship is the destination of all the action in the play
Associated with violence and chaos, but also order and justice
Each person : Duncan, macbeth and malcolm - is an archetype of a certain kind of ruler
Shakespeare - the actions of the rulers shape them. Malcolm is intrinsically more wary than his father (more gullible)
