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Allegory In Macbeth

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The privilege of democracy has not existed long; in England centuries ago, when the monarch held absolute power, a rebellion took place that questioned preconceived ideas that one should not go against the king, because in doing so one challenged the authority of God. A garden scene from Richard II, by William Shakespeare, answers how to recognize and handle an ineffectual leader. In the garden two workers speak about government affairs, creating an allegory, in which the weeds represent the rebels, the garden the kingdom, and Richard’s disposition as a fallen leaf in fall. Richard allowed weeds to overrun his beautiful garden, consequently leading to his disposition; just as seasons come and go, a king that misuses power must be swept away and replaced, thus is the nature of the garden. News of Richard’s disposition has spread to …show more content…

(3.4.45-48) The rebels, or weeds, taking over the kingdom cause chaos and disconnection between the monarch and the people. The “knots disorder’d” implys that weeds make everything disorganized, even something already twisted. Nothing in the garden is safe from the weeds. By this point it is clear that the king has mismanaged his kingdom and that the only thing left to do is to turn over power to a studier/effective ruler. A king should remain firm throughout the seasons, the tree that stays standing tall through everything. Richard does not have a sturdy personality, often changing his mind depending on how he feels in the moment, and struggles to resist pressures that he can not fight with an army. “He that hath suffer’d this disorder’d spring / Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf” (3.4.51-52), the line informs Queen Isabel of her husband’s disposition. Richard does not have the strength to make it through, thus he has fallen just like a leaf from a great oak. His inability to resist opposing forces, causes his fall from the

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