Macbeth :: essays research papers

History is made up of gayy time periods, many of theseperiods had a certain norm, and a way of thinking that wasaccepted and adopted by the majority of the people. In theElizabethan/Jacobean time period the concept accepted and inplace at the time was that of a bang-up drawing string of being. Thisnotion in which God is at the top, then comes the planets,the angels, gracious kind and finally the animal kingdom. Infact, it was based on sing 8 and placed God, theall- provideful being, on the uppermost link of the concatenation andgave him all the power. In order for any other being or thingto possess power he/it could do so completely with the permissionof God or in accordance to the will of God. In The Tragedyof Macbeth, Shakespeare, pushes the concept ofprimogeniture and also the fact that the king is put intopower by the will of God and anyone opposing the kingwould not completely set a great disturbance in the great chainof being but would likewise be going against the w ill of God.In doing this, is Shakespeare convincing enough or is thisidea hype and without substance? To explore this notion wemust first look at the characters Shakespeare uses topromote this notion. An distinct character to start withwould have to be the one who is king at the beginning of theplay. Duncan is a righteous king, one who is greatlyrespected by many of his subjects. Even the man, who killedhim, did so, not because of Duncans unjustly ruling but sort of out of personal greed. Before Macbeths greed forpower consumed him, he praises Duncan during his managewith the decision of whether or not to usurp the throne andin doing so, cause great chaos according to the great chainof being. We see this when Macbeth says " This Duncanhath innate(p) his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in hisgreat office, that his virtues will asseverate like angels,trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his takingoff." Yet in all his greatness and although chosensupposedly by God, Duncan was only gracious and possessednegative qualities as well. The king, Duncan, was not inbattle (along facial expression his Generals), he is at a nearby camp (I II,p1). This suggests that the king is helpless of other for hisown protection. We see the naivete that Duncan possesseswhen he says "He was a gentleman on whom I built anabsolute trust." (I IV 15-16, p.11) In fact he complete trustin a man who was in an enemy.