Macbeth by Shakespeare

Macbeth by Shakespeare

Macbeth was written in the Jacobean era. Shakespeare was influenced at

the time by king James 1st, the new king of England. James 1st was

very Paranoid because there were several attempts on his life for

example The Gunpowder plot and he was preoccupied with the evil of

witches so much so that he wrote a book about it called Demonology.

James 1st believed in the Divine right of Kings, which means he is the

next in line to God. This means that killing a King is much worse than

a normal murder. Which is also reflected in the play.

Qualities of Kings is one of the major concerns in the play. Some of

the qualities that make a King are to reward those who do good deeds

e.g Malcolm making his thanes Earls, to punish the treacherous e.g

Duncan giving the order to hang the thane that betrayed him, to

respect all those who fight on your side. These qualities are spread

between all the kings in Macbeth.

The first King we see in the play is Duncan. Duncan is a very good

king and possesses a few kingly qualities and even Macbeth says “so

clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels.”

Although Duncan made a good king he also had his faults. He did not

reward Banquo for his noble deeds, he only rewarded Macbeth. He is

also too quick to trust people e.g like he trusted Macbeth. Apart from

these two faults Duncan had all the qualities that made a good king.

Malcolm, Duncan’s son is the last king we come across. He possesses

the qualities of a king and has not inherited his fathers faults. He

does not trust people to quickly as we see when he is testing Mac

Duff’s loyalty, he also rewards fairly e.g at the end of the play he

makes all his thanes earls instead of honouring just one man. Malcolm

is very like his father and his language is very similar. For instance

Duncan says “ I have begun to plant thee and will labour to make thee