Allegorical Elements In Macbeth Essay - 761 Words

The use of allegorical devices within Macbeth can also be used as a way of discussing internal political and ethical perspectives. Shakespeare condemns equivocation within the narrative, â€Å"Faith here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale who committed treason enough for Gods sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven† . This is probably in reference to the Jesuit, Henry Garnet a man who was tried and executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Garnet published the Treatise on Equivocation, which encouraged Catholics to bend the truth when speaking to protestant inquisitors. Equivocation resurfaces throughout the play, Macbeth lies and bends in truth in order to justify his action to kill, the†¦show more content†¦Macbeth is perhaps a better suited to act as an allegory for ethics and hierarchy in Jacobean society rather than a narrative concerned with internal or external politics. The major images within the dram a focus not on the relationship between England and Scotland but on the inversion of natural order. The Witches are the summation of disorder, Lady Macbeth redefines the accepted gender roles of the time. Furthermore, these characters are linked with the theme of androgyny Banquo comments on the witches appearance, â€Å"you should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so† Lady Macbeth asks spirits to â€Å"unsex† her. Other Shakespearian play’s such as King Lear or Coriolanus are perhaps better suited. While Shakespeare’s own political beliefs are never overtly stated it does not mean he did not imbue his plays with his opinion on certain matters. In Macbeth there are three main political statements: the importance of order; the perils of regicide and the dangers of ambition. The Jacobean period was a place of creativity and uncertainty, Shakespeare mirrors this sense in Macbeth’s Scotland through techniques like pathetic fallacy. Order is only returned when England intervenes returning order to a war-torn land replacing a tyrant with a new ruler. This new ruler becomes the catalyst for order in Shakespeare’s world. Monarchy for Shakespeare is the natural formShow MoreRelatedWho Caused Macbeth s Ill Fate : The Witches Or Himself?1902 Words   |  8 Pagesof his plays included this supernatural element that ultimately causes the downfall of a character or the climax of the story. In Shakespeare and the Supernatural, writer William Jaggard comments on the supern atural element present in many of Shakespeare’s plays: â€Å"So that whether Shakespeare in his three plays of ‘Macbeth,’ ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ and ‘The Tempest’ intends that all he said about the supernatural should be taken literally or as allegorical, the language and the imagery which he