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Role Of Paganism In Macbeth

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The inclusion of Christian and other religious themes and influence often deepen the plot, morality, and culture found in a work, especially in English literature. The dealings with God and other religious ideas and actions often show what is done publicly or in the darkness of the culture, leading to pivotal plot points in a story. Yet, even in the midst of the religious corruption, God stands as the judge and helper or enemy of those who act for or against Him. Starting with Beowulf and continuing with Macbeth, the authors use pagan and Christian elements to prove that God intervenes for those who do not turn their backs on Him.
Beowulf proves God intervenes, even when a person or a group of people do not know Him. The working idea of God …show more content…

The character of Macbeth is comparable to Eve from Genesis as He falls to temptation, his coming from the demonically influenced witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, and becomes disconnected from his old, innocent life. Now, Macbeth has wrought shame upon himself for having committed treason and murder, yet begins to, rather than repent, excuse himself. While he experiences shame and guilt, he does not repent but follows suit with his wife into evil. Macbeth eventually becomes animal-like in his spirituality, no longer concerned with the morality of his actions, and soon exalts himself by the end of the first Scene of Act 4. Macbeth puts himself in the place of God by acting without care of morality, cementing his rivalry with God as Macbeth’s, “extreme ‘exaltation of self-will’ over their ground and source, their Creator... (makes) him... (his) perceived rival” (Gimelli Martin 173). Macbeth no longer lets the restraints of good or evil to hold him back, as he takes over as the god of his life. Yet, while Macbeth believes in his own omnipotence, God is still in control. Much like God’s control over the events of Beowulf, God has not simply given up His control over the events in Macbeth. God has given freedom to Macbeth to become His enemy, but this does not mean that God lost. On the contrary, God demonstrates His power of deliverance for those who recognize Macbeth’s evil and turn away from his tyranny by supplying Macdonwald, the English soldiers, and Malcolm to remove Macbeth from the throne. God has proved himself as kind and caring for those who have not turned away from Him (or good, in the realm of morality), while He scorns and ultimately allows the death of those who have knowingly turned away from Him and allow for evil influences to guide

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Macbeth succumbs to evil and in doing so, betrays his King. You could argue that when he ‘wore the Thane of Cawdor’s robes’ he became a traitor like the Thane of Cawdor. His traitorous actions would have been met with death at that time. God's divine order is disturbed as Macbeth challenges God by killing the God appointed King and assuming the role for himself in his quest for power. Later on, in the play, Macbeth asserts his right over Lady Macbeth, flipping their dynamic, and distances himself from her, "be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck.

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