Kingship Flashcards
kingship
TS1 – Duncan is presented as a morally good king who does not deserve to die. His murder disrupts the natural order.
TS2 – Macbeth’s ambition to be king leads him to murder Duncan but he also determined his descendants will be kings.
TS3 – Later in the play, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, pretending he has no kingly qualities, unlike his ‘sainted’ father.
TS4 – Macbeth abuses his power as king, but the rightful heir is restored to the throne at the end.
[ Macbeth ]
‘his virtues will plead like angels … against his taking off’
C - Divine right of king
Jacobean believed king was appointed by God To kill a king is an act against God, God will punish the murderer.
L - Simile
Duncan is such a morally good king, heaven will react with horror to his murder and make sure the murderer is discovered.
[ Lennox ]
‘the earth was feverous and did shake’
C - The Gunpowder plot had just tried to murder James I. Play warns of terrible consequences of murdering a king.
L - Personification
The murder of King Duncan negatively affects the whole country
D - Macbeth’s act of murder has brought morally sickness to the land.
[ Macbeth ]
‘barren sceptre’
C - Flatters James I as he was one of Banquo’s descendants.
L - Adjective
Macbeth is obsessed with his own descendants becoming kings and not Banquo’s children, as the witches predicted. Fears he has damned himself for benefit of Banquo’s children.
[ Malcolm ]
‘justice, verity’
‘bloody, false’
L - Adjectives
Malcolm and Macduff’s conversation describes the virtues a king should have – honesty and fairness. These are contrasted with adjectives used to describe Macbeth as king – his is murderous and a liar, not fit to be a king.
[ Malcolm ]
‘it weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds’
C - The Jacobeans believed that a king should be like a father to his subjects. Macbeth is an opposite.
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.
[ Malcolm ]
‘by the grace of Grace’
C - As a king, Malcolm says that 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.
