Essay Plan for Kingship

Beginning Of The Play

Point: At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare presents ideas of kingship through the role of Duncan as a well respected king.

• “his silver skin laced with his golden blood” (1.7)

• “so clear in his great office that his virtues will plead like angels” (1.7)

“his silver skin laced with golden blood” (Act 1, Scene 7)

• Colour imagery: Emphasises the king’s value, with connotations of royalty, holiness and beauty. This is immediately juxtaposed with the gory, brutal description of his “gash’d stabs” - highlighting the evil of the act.

• “Silver skin” symbolises Duncan’s purity and nobility, while “golden blood” represents his royal status and valuable life force. The phrase emphasises the sacrilegious act of murder and the violation of a sacred figure.

• The verb “laced” suggests that the blood is spread or intertwined with his skin, creating a vivid image of the murder scene.

• “Silver” and “gold” are precious metals, further highlighting that Duncan’s purity and holiness go beyond that of the average person.

“so clear in his great office that his virtues will plead like angels” (Act 1, Scene 7)

• Simile: Heavenly Imagery likens Duncan’s virtues to angels playing trumpets in protest to his assassination. This suggests that Duncan’s humility and purity will highlight his innocence and the guilt of his murderers.

• The image evokes the Last Judgement, where virtues are personified as pleading before God, consistent with Macbeth’s earlier concerns about eternal condemnation.

• Here, Macbeth is suggesting that Duncan embodies such humbleness and freedom of corruption that his virtues will plead his case before God. (Macbeth is personifying these virtues.)

• Semantic field of honour: Macbeth attempts to convince himself against the murder of Duncan due to his purity and honesty.

Middle Of The Play

In the middle of the play, Shakespeare presents ideas surrounding kingship through Macbeth as a corrupt ruler and Malcolm as a foil to emphasise his cruelty.

• “untitled tyrant bloody-scepter’d” (4.3)

• “no time broke my faith” (4.3)

“O nation miserable, With an untitled tyrant bloody scepter’d” (Act 4, Scene 3)

• Pre-modifier “untitled”: Macbeth is a usurper, through murder, who does not have legitimacy to be king of Scotland. Malcolm sees the country as a wretched state under Macbeth’s rule.

• “O nation miserable”, which through the suffering onomatopoeic “O” and the sorrowful adjective “miserable”, suggests Macduff suffers through the depression and sadness permeating his nation as it is abused, emphasising the closeness of it’s wellbeing to his heart.

• This exemplifies Macduff’s patriotism, in contrast to Macbeth’s lack of care for Scotland in favour of his selfish hamartia of ambition.

• The scepter is a symbol of royal authority, and Macduff’s description as “bloody” suggests that Macbeth has stained the throne with violence and bloodshed. The scepter is a symbol of Macbeth’s tyrannical rule.

“No time broke my faith” (Act 4, Scene 3)

• The phrase is spoken by Malcolm, while testing Macduff’s loyalty. Malcolm feigns a list of personal flaws to see if Macduff will still support him.

• This signifies his unwavering loyalty and honesty, contrasting sharply with Macbeth’s treacherous nature. It is a declarative statement emphasising that Malcolm is steadfast in his integrity and that he has never broken an oath or betrayed a trust.

• The phrase juxtaposes with Malcolm’s initial list of alleged vices. By retracting those claims and asserting his unwavering loyalty, he highlights the stark contrast between himself and Macbeth, who has betrayed trust and broken oaths throughout the play.

• This reinforces the themes of loyalty, honesty and the consequences of treachery. It underscores Malcolm’s virtue as a leader and contrasts it with Macbeth’s corruption and ambition.

• The line contributes to the dramatic irony of the scene, where Macduff is unsure of Malcom’s true nature. It also establishes Malcolm as a trustworthy and morally upright figure who is worthy of leading Scotland.

End of the Play

At the end of the play, Shakespeare presents ideas surrounding kingship through the overruling of Macbeth’s tyranny and the restoration of order with Malcolm being reinstated as King of Scotland.

• “dead butcher and his fiend-like queen” (5.8)

• “fled the snares of watchful tyranny” (5.8)

“dead butcher and his fiend-like queen” (Act 5, Scene 8)

• This phrase is highly symbolic, referring to someone who kills without feeling or remorse. It contrasts sharply with Macbeth's initial portrayal as a brave and valiant general. The noun "dead" emphasises the lack of life and feeling in Macbeth's actions. By comparing him to a butcher, Malcolm suggests that Macbeth has become a common murderer, driven by ambition and a loss of moral compass.

• ‘Butcher’ connotes violence and brutality, epitomising Macbeth as a leader - he has brutally butchered Scotland in his own quest for power.

• Lady Macbeth is described as "fiend-like," suggesting a connection to evil and demonic forces. This imagery highlights her manipulative nature and her influence over Macbeth, who is portrayed as easily swayed by her ambition. The comparison to a fiend emphasizes her role as a force of chaos and destruction.

• Malcolm's lack of use of their names in the description further emphasizes their moral decline. By referring to them as "butcher" and "fiend-like queen," Malcolm highlights their fall from the position of respect and honor they once held.

• Possessive pronoun ‘his’ highlights that even after death and the atrocities they both committed, Lady Macbeth is still her husband’s property.

• The phrase "dead butcher and his fiend-like queen" underscores the play's core themes of ambition, power, and the corrupting influence of unchecked desire. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's descent into violence and evil is a direct consequence of their thirst for power and their willingness to sacrifice morality for ambition.

“fled the snares of watchful tyranny” (Act 5, Scene 8)

• This emphasises the oppressive nature of Macbeth’s rule, his paranoia and suspicion extended throughout the kingdom, creating a climate of fear and surveillance.

• The noun ‘snares’, suggests the Macbeth’s reign was like a trap, inhibiting the residents of Scotland to live comfortably and freely.

• This line appears in Malcolm's speech after Macbeth's death, as he announces his plans for the future of Scotland. He promises to restore order, bring back the exiled, and punish those who supported Macbeth.

• The phrase symbolises the destructive nature of tyranny and the hope for a new beginning under a rightful ruler. It suggests that the period of terror and fear is over, and a new era of justice and freedom is dawning.