The Death Of King Duncan in William Shakespeare

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The Death Of King Duncan in William Shakespeare

The original ideas for the play of Macbeth was for William Shakespeare

to impress the king of the time (James VI of Scotland later known as

James I of England ) by writing a play for him that shared the same

beliefs of James I that being The Divine Right Of Kings. The Divine

Right Of Kings meant that a king was chosen by god and everybody

accepted this, including Shakespeare. This play includes Regicide (the

killing of a king) therefore killing somebody like a king would be far

worse than normal murder if Shakespeare did this the play would be

more dramatic. Shakespeare’s primary source for the play came from

Raphael Holinshed’s ‘Chronicles Of Scotland’ that was published in

1577 and got most of his ideas from this. However there was a man

called Banquo and he was seen to be corrupt but he was one of James I’s

ancestors therefore he made Banquo a good man in his play in order to

keep on the good side of the king.

Shakespeare written ‘Macbeth’ in early around 1603-1606 when plots

against James I were rife. This was followed up by the gunpowder plot

in 1605 therefore making the king more paranoid. It was performed

around the time 1606 and the play was originally set around 1052.

There have been records saying that Macbeth was born in 1006 so

therefore the play was set when Macbeth was 46. Around that time the

Elizabethan people was interested in stories of killing the king

because they believed the Divine Right Of Kings the same as James I.

Therefore if anybody was going to kill a king the would be shocked but

also interested because at that time King James I was paranoid as he

felt...

... middle of paper ...

... Macbeth think that everything he has planned and

plotted should come true. Macbeth then hears a bell ring maybe from

lady Macbeth and he then proceeds to Duncan’s chamber to carry out the

killing

The scene begins with uncertainty about whether Macbeth has carried

out the killing of King Duncan or not. This will leave the audience on

the edge of their seats as they do not know what is going on and this

will make them feel insecure. Then Macbeth enters and says to lady

Macbeth that he has done the deed and that will leave the audience in

shock and horror. However Macbeth and lady Macbeth show different

reactions to the killing of king Duncan. Macbeth shows remorse and

regret as he is not sure whether he has done the right thing. Lady

Macbeth doesn’t show any remorse at all and assures Macbeth that

everything is ok

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