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Divine Right Of Kings In Macbeth Essay

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Kingship is a central theme in Macbeth and through the use of contrasting characters such as Duncan and Macbeth, Shakespeare presents his views about the divine right of the kings. Furthermore, Shakespeare builds the theme to demonstrate to his audience the link between Gods and the monarchy; the belief in the divine right of kings is strongly established throughout the play and chaos and tragedy when Macbeth usurps Duncan.

In Act 1 Scene 2, Duncan describes Macbeth as "Valiant cousin, worthy gentlemen", he does this to express his appreciation and trust to the character of Macbeth who stopped the Macdonwald rebellion. Duncan uses similar phrases as the captain when he described Macdonwald - Shakespeare does this to foreshadow the usurpation
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This shows Macbeth’s desire to become king, even though he already has a high ranking position in the land. He is not content with he has and desires an even higher position. He desires it so much to the point of betraying the trust of people who are close to him just for his own greedy self gain. Macbeth betrays and backstabs many characters in the story, an example being King Duncan himself.

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Kingship In act 1 scene 4 Macbeth says “stars hide your fire, let not light see my black and deep desires”. This rhyming couplet conveys the emotion that Macbeth has at this point, he is determined to kill the king with his wife’s support. ‘Stars’ symbolise fate but if they hide his fires then it’s not his natural favour he is choosing. He wants to construct artificial fate that the witches have prophesied for him in the start of the play therefore we know that Macbeth feels that he is more powerful than a god and he can decide the outcome rather accept what he has been given to him at birth as Thane of Glamis.

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Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor / All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (1.3.46-49) This quote sets the motion for the rise and tragic fall of Macbeth. Macbeth after hearing these words spoken to him is filled to the brim with mixed feelings that cause him to lose grasp upon himself and his nobleness. Macbeth was ordinarily noble and devoted to his country prior to the incident with the witches which led him to be blinded by his overwhelming sense of cupidity.

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When the story begins, Macbeth truly is a “peerless kinsman” to the king (1.4.66); however, as the story progresses others refer to him in this way only because they are oblivious to his true desire” (Balwan 3). As Balwan states, Macbeth has as significant change due to the so call “power” of being king. While Macbeth transitions to a new form of character, he isolates himself from Lady Macbeth. As the power increases, Macbeth is determined to kill.

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This shows he is brave because, due to his valiant efforts and bravery in the war, the King believed this was enough to bestow the title Thane of Cawdor upon him. Furthermore this shows that King Duncan believes it was him alone that won the war for Scotland. Macbeth is also shown as kind when Lady Macbeth says “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o ' th ' milk of human kindness” this tells me personally that Lady Macbeth thinks that he is so kind that it is actually a handicap for him, in the sense that because Lady Macbeth wants him to kill the King she believes that his kindness will prevent him from doing such a devious act to acquire power. This could also be a metaphor for the level of his kindness, you could say that the only way to

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In the play 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare, the theme of kingship is explored through the character of Macbeth who is driven by ambition to become king of Scotland. The theme of kingship holds significance in the play due to it being dedicated to King James I and it shows the downfall of going against the divine rights of kings to warn people against treason. In Act 1, Macbeth recognises that Duncan is a good king,'his virtues will plead like angels', perhaps it's Shakespeare's intent to present Duncan this way to support the view of the divine right of kings, which basically meant that God annointed each king which makes Duncan seem more virtuous and makes his murder more horrifying to the audience. in Act 2, the theme of kingship is further

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In Act 3, Scene 1 of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses personification, allusion, euphemism, tone, oxymoron, and imagery to establish the theme of the difference between kingship and tyranny. Within this passage of the play, Macbeth says, “. . . come Fate into the list, / And champion me to th’utterance” (Shakespeare 3.1.72-73), which is an intelligent demonstration of personification. In the previous quote, the title character is challenging his predetermined fate, as if it were an opponent in a duel.

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During the first act, Duncan along with many others showered Macbeth with praises such as, “For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name-”(1.2.16) and

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