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Shakespeare was not in the business of presenting messages; he wrote plays, not sermons. In general, however, his plays oppose the idea of transition of power by force. Claudius in Hamlet, Richard III, the Duke of York and Edward IV in the Henry VI plays, as well as Macbeth, try to acquire power by murder, revolution, and armed force. The same applies to the conspirators in Julius Caesar. In all cases, people who try this hurt the state and plunge it into turmoil until legitimacy can be re-established. The story of Henry IV is a curious part-exception. Although he acquires his crown by armed force and by the murder of Richard II, he is able to hold it and pass it peacefully to his son. This is so that Shakespeare can glorify the heroic Henry V. But even so, Henry IV's unlawful acquisition of the crown disturbs him and his son, causes the Hotspur rebellion and is an ultimate cause of the downfall of his grandson Henry VI.
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Judy
CoachShakespeare's plays were not written to impart a message, as a rule. However, that has not stopped people for looking for messages in the plays, probably because they touch on such fundamental and deep issues. People tend to find a lot of different "larger messages" in a play such as Macbeth such as:
1. James I is a great king. Some people think that the play was intended to flatter the king because he was Scottish. Considering how the main characters are portrayed, it is more likely that the flattering remarks about the king's ancestors were added to prevent himfrom being offended because he was Scottish.
2. Witches are evil. Some people find satisfaction in finding confirmation of their views on witchcraft in the downfall of Macbeth after he listens to them. Of course, they do not seem very evil in the play. More silly than anything, actually.
3. Ambition is bad. This is an old favourite. Sir William Davenant altered Shakespeare's play to make Macbeth say he was ambitious. He had to do this because the play is so ambiguous about just how ambitious Macbeth is. In Act 1 Scene 7, he completely discounts ambition as a good reason to do anything.
4. Women are great at pushing men into doing things, rather than doing them themselves. Well, this may be true of Lady Macbeth, but why generalize it?
5. Hereditary monarchy is the best kind. An ongoing theme in Shakespeare's political plays is that the executive power should pass from father to son. Macbeth tried to break that pattern by taking over as king when it should have been Malcolm. Again, this was a very politically correct viewpoint to take at the time. It worked for all those people who voted for George W Bush as well.
6. Don't believe in mumbo-jumbo. This comes from the people who don't believe in witches, and who think the trouble comes from those who believe in such superstitions. The problem is that Macbeth only half-believes in the prophecies. If he really believed, he would have let chance crown him.
7. Be careful what you wish for. This is especially true of Lady Macbeth, who didn't know what she was getting into by inciting Macbeth to murder.
It is neither fable or legend. Shakespeare wrote the play as a cautionary tale of what greed, guilt, and power does to people. His use of images within the play of the three witches, bloody hands, and the trees moving are put in because that is what a audience expected in a play and they were a means to convey his tale. The story did not come from anyone other the brain of Shakespeare.
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