Kingship Flashcards
Topic sentence 1
TS1: Duncan is presented as a morally good king who does not deserve to die. His murder disrupts the natural order.
‘his virtues will plead like angels… agains his taking off’
‘the earth was feverous and did shake’
‘his virtues will plead like angels… against his taking off’
L = simile. D moral king. heaven will react with horror to his murder and make sure the murderer is discovered. C = DRK.
‘The earth was feverous and did shake’
L= personification. The murder of King Duncan negatively affects the whole country D = MB’s act of murder has brought moral sickness to the land. C= Gunpowder Plot had just tried to murder James 1. Play warns of terrible consequences of murdering a king.
Topic sentece 2
TS2: Macbeth’s ambition to be king leads him to murder Duncan but he is also determined his descendants will be kings.
‘barren sceptre’
‘barren sceptre’
L = adjective. MB is obsessed with his own descendants becoming kings and not Banquo’s children, Fears he’s damned himself for benefit of Banquo’s children. C = Flatters James 1 – he was one of Banquo’s descendants.
Topic sentence 3
TS3: Later in the play, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, pretending he has no kingly qualities unlike his ‘sainted’ father.
‘justice, verity’ VS ‘bloody, false’
‘Fit to govern? No, not to live. O nation miserable’
‘justice, verity’. ‘bloody, false’
L = Malcolm and Macduff’s conversations describes the virtues a king should have – honesty and fairness.
These are contrasted with adjectives used to describe Macbeth as king – he is murderous and a liar, not fit to be a king.
‘Fit to govern? No, not to live. O nation miserable…’
L= Malcolm tests MD by pretending to have a sinful character. Macduff’s rhetorical question show refuses to support a sinful king because will continue Scotland’s suffering.
MD is loyal and patriotic.
Topic sentence 4
TS4: Macbeth abuses his power as king, but the rightful heir is restored to the throne at the end.
‘it weeps, it bleeds and each new day a gash is added to her wounds’
‘by the grace of Grace’
‘it weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds’
L = personification. Macbeth’s bloody kingship has destroyed the country in contrast to King Edward who heals his subjects. Scotland is like a whipped slave or beast of burden suffering under his rule. C = The Jacobeans believed that a king should be like a father to his subjects. Macbeth is the opposite!
‘by the grace of Grace’
C – Malcolm says that, as king, he will do whatever God calls him to do. He is the rightful king and a morally good man.
R = audience is reassured that the natural order has been restored.
