Macbeth :: essays research papers

History is made up of many snip periods, many of theseperiods had a certain norm, and a way of thin fagot that was judge and adopted by the majority of the people. In theElizabethan/Jacobean term period the notion accepted and inplace at the magazine was that of a spacious fibril of being. Thisnotion in which God is at the top, then comes the planets,the angels, human kind and finally the animal indexdom. Infact, it was base on psalm 8 and placed God, theall- partful being, on the top(prenominal) link of the chain andgave him all the power. In order for any early(a) being or thingto possess power he/it could do so only 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 any matchless opposing the kingwould not only cause a great disturbance in the great chainof being but would likewise be passing play against the will of God.In doing this, is Shakespeare convincing enough or is thisidea spark plug and without substance? To explore this notion wemust first look at the characters Shakespeare uses topromote this notion. An obvious 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 govern butrather out of personal greed. Before Macbeths greed forpower consumed him, he praises Duncan during his strugglewith the decision of whether or not to usurp the plenty andin doing so, cause great chaos according to the great chainof being. We see this when Macbeth says " This Duncanhath born his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in hisgreat arrive atice, that his virtues will plead like angels,trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his takingoff." Yet in all his greatness and although chosensupposedly by God, Duncan was only human and possessednegative qualities as well. The king, Duncan, was not inbattle (along side his Generals), he is at a nearby tenting (I II,p1). This suggests that the king is dependent of other for hisown protection. We see the naivete that Duncan possesseswhen he says "He was a gentleman on whom I built an peremptory trust." (I IV 15-16, p.11) In fact he complete trustin a man who was in an enemy.