Shakespeare, who intended to support James I during times of instability, uses Macbeth to highlight the turmoil that would ensue if people got involved with treachery in order to guide his Jacobean audience to preserve the status quo and James I power.
Shakespeare uses Macbeth's interaction with the supernatural to comment how he was not fit for king. This is seen when he commands the witches to "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more" after they give him information that drives his desire to know more about what is to come. Here, Macbeth orders the witches with an imperative, indicating he is urgent to know more from the witches, highlighting his willingness to communicate with the malevolent supernatural in order to boost his status. Despite knowing these beings are "imperfect speakers, and therefore malicious people that oppose God, he persists in asking them to reveal more to him, hence revealing how they are able to trigger Macbeth's Hamartia, which was he overwhelming ambition to increase his power. Shakespeare, who wrote this play in support of James I, intends to indicate how Macbeth was to fail from the start, because he made the choice to listen to the supernatural. James I, the King of England at the time, believed these witches were extremely dangerous to stability, writing the book 'Daemonology' to warn society that meddling with malevolent forces such as the witches would only lead to turmoil. Therefore, Macbeth's choice to be lured in with the witches' equivocations means he is disobeying God and thus not fit for king because of the Great Chain of Being, which meant that the king was chosen by God, and so disobedience to God by interacting with the witches has barred him from being a king selected by God.
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a character who is not only undeserving of his power, but also left to suffer the consequences of his treachery. This is seen when he realises that, after all his efforts to increase his power, it is in vain when all he has to show for it is "a fruitless crown" in Act 3 Scene 1. In other words, his position of king is of no value to him, despite all the efforts he went to in order to attain it, because he is without an heir and is constantly restless with paranoia. With no heir to the throne, Macbeth's power is short-lived and will soon come to end; he realises that Banquo's children will soon take the throne and his efforts are of no use. However, despite his power being short-lived, he is aware that he is still eternally damned because he has committed regicide and cannot escape his impending punishment at death, thus realising how Macbeth's pursuit to become king was futile. Macbeth, who usurped the crown by force, was not divinely appointed by God, and so the power that he has aquired was not his to have, because he went against the Divine Right of Kings when he went ahead with treason for meaningless gains. Perhaps, Shakespeare intends to teach his audience that going against King James I was futile because it would only lead to instability, evident by how Macbeth is left constantly paranoid that he committed the murder of King Duncan. Alternatively, Shakespeare wants to link the regret Macbeth feels with the fears following the 1605 Gunpower Plot, where Shakespeare aimed to criticise the people involved in the plot by highlighting how their efforts to assassinate King James I were futile because God had chosen for him to be King, and hence going against this was guaranteed to cause turmoil.
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a person who has strayed too far from morality to be considered human by the witches. This is seen when the witches spot that "something wicked this way comes" in Act 4 Scene 1. Here, the witches ironically call Macbeth, who is King of Scotland at this point, a "wicked" being that juxtaposes the true characters of a king. Macbeth, who is supposed to be God's representative as King, is in a dire situation that he has returned to the witches for help; despite being trusted as a "Brave" and moral person, he resorts to the supernatural in order to guide him as king, highlighting how he is not meant for this position of power. It's almost as if Macbeth has inverted the role of king because he has decided to side with the witches to help him with his paranoia, showing how he is not a true symbol of god. Perhaps Shakespeare does this in order to show what happens when you pursue power that you are not the rightful owner of, hence being the reason why Macbeth causes severe instability in Scotland. Furthermore, the witches' choice to call him "something", despite now being king, highlight how they can no longer recognise him - he has gone to dire lengths to boost his status, but the very beings to lead him onto this pursuit no longer recognise who he is, and thus implying how this power is of no value and isn't deserved. As a consequence of transgressing the Great Chain of Being, his power has become futile and led to the deterioration of his morality and character, thus indicating how power cannot be forcefully attained, only gifted from God.
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