Shakespeare And Kingship
In writing his history plays, Shakespeare was actually commenting on what he thought about the notion of kingship. Through his plays, he questions the divine right of kings, which the kings and the aristocracy used heavily in their favour to win the people's love. In Macbeth, King Richard II and King Henry IV part 1, Shakespeare shows us his opinion of kingship in general.
Although the plays are written about individual kings, I think that Shakespeare used the plays as an opportunity to voice his opinion on kings and kingship in general. This was assisted by the fact that he was not prohibited by the true events, because it is well known that all of Shakespeare's plays were written purely ...
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Macbeth, he commits treason and murder, the two worst crimes of the day, and neither Duncan nor Macbeth were saved by God, who, according to the theory of the divine right of kings, should have saved Duncan and then Macbeth. When they were killed, they were both king, and therefore the right-hand man of God, the creator, who controls the entire world and who could have stopped them from being killed.
In Richard II, Richard bankrupts the country with his blatant mismanagement and his excessive spending on his 'favourites', who are already rich aristocrats, while ignoring the common people who are living in poverty. Richard's behaviour leads to both the aristocracy and the common people disliking him. The aristocrats disliked him because he was bankrupting the country, which they did not like because they were proud to be English and wanted their country to dominate for many more years. The common people disliked Richard because they were living in poverty while Richard was spending ...
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to his driving ambition. Duncan listened to the people and was widely respected, whereas Macbeth ignored the people, and associated only with his noble friends. Macbeth thought that he was assured the kingship and so he thought that there was no need to listen or respect the common people in the least. It was because of the witches' prophecies that Macbeth became king, and it was the prophesies which brought his downfall - Macbeth felt assured that he would be safe, because he was told by the witches' apparitions to: "Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn | The power of man, for none of woman born | Shall harm Macbeth" . However, Macbeth has been tricked by the witches because ...
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"Shakespeare And Kingship." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 30 May. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeare-And-Kingship/65631>
"Shakespeare And Kingship." Essayworld.com. May 30, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeare-And-Kingship/65631.
"Shakespeare And Kingship." Essayworld.com. May 30, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeare-And-Kingship/65631.
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