Manhood Motif In Macbeth

Macbeth was written by 1604 in England during the rule of King James I of England, who is the first monarch of England to come from Scotland. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy and is considered one of the four great plays ever written. The play is presumed to have the setting of Scotland, and has been speculated that the play was actually specifically written for King James I. Within the tragedy of Macbeth there are a series of motifs that reflect King James I, of those motifs are meant to question or assert the position of King James I. One of the most prevalent motifs is the manhood motif. It questions what it means to be a man, the manhood motif is prevalent with both the male characters, but also Lady Macbeth. , "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!" Lady Macbeth’s interpretation of manhood is to be ruthless and to kill at will, unrestricted by the expectation of being a women like kindness and hospitable. However the contradicting view is shown near the end of the book when Ross tells Siward of his son’s death “Your son, my lord, has paid a

He conveys a message that no one is invincible and that we must be virtuous to be the best ruler. He doesn’t want King James I to be “played” by his peer, like how the witches “played” Macbeth. The witches gave Macbeth a false sense of security and a false sense of invincibility. This is due to the apparitions which were shown to Macbeth as the first apparition warns Macbeth of Macduff, then the second apparition says no man of women born would kill him. However Macduff wasn’t born of natural birth so because of the ambiguous language used, Macbeth was killed by Macduff. King James I was the new king of England at the time and Shakespeare wanted a virtuous and noble ruler, not one who is easily fooled and