Evaluating King Duncan

I believe King Duncan was a good leader given the time period when he ruled. He appointed people by their loyalty and honor. He also convicted his people who were disloyal. “No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death and with his former title greet Macbeth”(1.2.63-65). This shows the old Thane of Cawdor was killed for being disloyal and Macbeth was given his position because of his bravery and loyalty. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to murder King Duncan so he can become king. Macbeth is questioning killing King Duncan because he was such a good leader. “He hath honored me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people” (1.7.32-33). If King Duncan was a bad king, Macbeth would not have had such a problem killing him. After Macbeth has killed King Duncan Macbeth shows huge regret. “For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered, put rancours in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine external jewel” (3.1.69-70). Macbeth respected King Duncan for promoting him because of his loyalty, and Macbeth went against his morals by killing king Duncan. Macbeth and other characters actions reflected King Duncan being a good leader.

Machiavelli would evaluate King Duncan as too nice a leader. He would think King Duncan needed to be tougher on his people. “Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed out drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more”(Machiavelli). Machiavelli is saying kings should set boundaries so that no one steps out of line. Instead ,King Duncan fawns over his people like Macbeth. “This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself. Unto our gentle senses” (1.6.1-3). Machiavelli implies that you should not show weakness and always appear seamless. “It is not essential that a prince have all good qualities, but it is most essential that he should seem to have them”(Machiavelli). He would want King Duncan to come across strong and powerful instead of stooping down to the Thane of Cawdor’s level. Machiavelli would also imply that monarchies are not democracies and it is essential to show power. King Duncan showed his emotions to Macbeth which aided in Macbeth being able to kill him.      

Themes of Act One in Macbeth

Appearance vs. Reality

In Macbeth this theme is very prevalent. Many of the characters in Macbeth act a certain way to get what they want but actually have a secret agenda. A key example is Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth sucks up to Macbeth, “Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor, Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter”(1.5.52-53). She acts nice and loving but she actually has a secret agenda. She knows she needs to kill King Duncan in order for Macbeth to become king. This theme can be summarized by this Machiavelli quote, “It is not essential that a prince have good qualities, but it is essential they seem to have them.” Lady Macbeth needs to seem to appear nice but we all know she isn’t.

Gender Roles

In these times, men were often portrayed as tough, strong and bold whereas women were portrayed as loving, caring, and weak. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is at war fighting for Scotland. When Macbeth and Banquo come back they are applauded for their excellent efforts and bravery on the battlefield. While the men are off fighting, the females are at home waiting for their men to return. In this context, the women are not portrayed as brave and heroic. However, Shakespeare sometimes switches these gender roles. For example, Lady Macbeth might seem innocent and weak but actually is the one pulling the strings. She is the one who devises a plan to kill King Duncan so Macbeth can be king. Lady Macbeth says to herself, “Come, you spirts That tend on my mortal thoughts, un sex me here”(1.5.38-39). While Macbeth thinks to himself, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function.” The two both have the thought of killing King Duncan ,but Macbeth without the help of Lady Macbeth, wouldn’t be able to will himself to do such a thing.

Loyalty and Honor

In Macbeth ,loyalty and honor often come with some irony. At first Macbeth achieves honor by being loyal to his leaders. Then there comes a point where to become a higher rank such as king Macbeth needs to betray someone he was once loyal to. Macbeth is promoted from Thane of Glamis to Thane of Cawdor because of his loyalty and bravery while fighting for Scotland. The old Thane of Cawdor is executed because he was disloyal. Thanks to the three witches prophecy Macbeth knows he will be king one day. All that stands in his way is King Duncan, who is the same person who promoted him. Also the three witches said Banquo’s son would be king one day. Macbeth and Banquo were loyal to each other but in order for Macbeth to ensure he becomes king, he needs to kill Banquo’s son. This ties in with a quote from Machiavelli, “The ends justify the means.” In a sense, Macbeth has to decide what will he will do in order to become king.                                                                                                                      

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Evaluation of Machiavelli

1.

Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. Machiavelli started by working as a secretary in the Florentine government. He quickly rose up and was involved in diplomatic issues. Through his job he met the Pope, king of France, and other important people at the time. Cesare Borgia was the leader of Florentine at the time. Borgia was a cruel leader and Machiavelli didn’t like his policies very much, but Machiavelli lost his job when Medci overthrew the government. Machiavelli was out of a job and wanted to return to politics. Machiavelli wrote The Prince for Medci in order to support and gain his trust. However, Medci didn’t agree with the book and Machiavelli never got a job. At the time many people were outraged by the book but the philosophy is so interesting that the book and Machiavelli’s ideas are still present today.

2.

“Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed out drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.”-Machiavelli

Today in 2010, there are still lots of governments that are dictatorships and are unstable. I believe this quote applies best to these situations. This quote simply says you must set boundaries early when you come into power to ensure no one steps out of line. If someone does step out of line you must come down hard on them to create this fear that generates power. Machiavelli lived in a time when democracy was a rarity; most governments didn’t allow freedom to the people and this idea was probably more prevalent. This quote wouldn’t apply very well for the United States. The United States still has laws but they don’t kill people who speak out against the government. However, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 are an excellent example of Machiavelli’s quote. The Chinese government killed protesters that spoke their beliefs about the government. These deaths oppressed the Chinese people by creating these very harsh boundaries and harsh consequences.     

3.

“The ends justify the means.”-Machiavelli

This is bad advice for all leaders in the world because how you get your policies and ideals to be accepted by people should be fair and just.  It is far too easy for leaders to get consumed by power and have their politics be more about control then doing what is best for the people.  Even if an objective seems good and just if the way to achieve that goal is wrong it should not be undertaken by that leader.  Adolf Hitler used this theory to justify to his people the taking over of Europe and killing the Jews.  He believed that Germany had a right to do these things after World War I and by any means necessary.  The ends ended up being horrible, with millions killed and Germany in disarray.     

4.

“Before all else, be armed.”-Machiavelli

This would be excellent advice for the Incas when they encountered Pizarro and his 167 men. The Incas wanted to be peaceful with Pizarro and brought no weapons to their first meeting. This proved to be a huge mistake and Pizarro took advantage of this. Even though Pizarro was hugely outnumbered, Pizarro had better weapon technology then the Incas. The Incas were advanced in many things such as architecture but in this situation being armed made the difference.  It is good to be advanced in the arts and technology, but throughout history having a strong army has shown to be one of the most important things for a society to survive.

Helpful sites/sources:

http://www.ctbw.com/lubman.htm

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/