Written during a time of great social and political turmoil, Shakespeare’s Macbeth addresses many of the themes that concerned the public at the time, namely traitors, plots against the monarchy and the threat of witchcraft. Through his narrative of Scotland descending into a seemingly irreversible chaos, Shakespeare offers an exploration into the possible destiny of his society, yet without the limitations of any specific political connotations. Shakespeare manipulates and challenges steadfast conventions, such as the idea of the “divine right of kings”, gender roles and the natural world itself in order to explore the psychological impact of defying these codes on individuals, as well as to provide his audience with a credible dramatic sense of a world losing any form of natural order or structure.
In Elizabethan society, the ruling monarch was at the very top of the social hierarchy, thought to be the closest living manifestation of God himself. When Macbeth chooses to kill Duncan, knowing that to do so is “Against the use of nature”, whether in order to simply fulfil his destiny already anticipated by the Witches, a supernatural force, due to Lady Macbeth’s domination over him, representing a reversal of the gender roles or of his own free will, he embarks on a path of eternal “deep damnation” for himself as he is then forced to kill more and more innocent people. Macbeth is, in fact, accustomed to killing due to his past involvement in battle, therefore highlighting his regicide as immoral on a much deeper level. When he feels unable to say “Amen”, we see the destruction of the metaphysical world, in which something which had come so naturally to Macbeth now seems wrong, as his actions have led him away from righteousness, along with any hope of religious salvation.
Nature itself also becomes distorted in the play, with almost apocalyptic ideas, such as “darkness” during daytime, suggesting that evil has taken over, as well “a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.” suggesting the mixing up of predator and prey. There is utter upheaval in the image of horses “Turn’d wild in nature” and eating each other, as not only has nature turned to chaos, but tame animals have now gone beyond human control. The physical world is disturbed by “the owl that shriek’d”, a symbol of death, giving a sense of foreboding for the future os Scotland. By murdering the king, Macbeth also “blows the horrid deed in every eye”, causing the suffering of all of Scotland, as described by Ross when he refers to “a wild and violent sea”, suggesting a state of total anarchy with no sense of righteousness as, “we hold rumour”. Shakespeare uses the image of disease to represent the corrupt and unnatural rule of Macbeth. We observe how Macbeth’s own mental illness, as referred to by Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5 with, “The illness should attend to it”, encouraging him that he needs this illness in or to be able to kill the king, filters down until the whole of Scotland eventually becomes infected. Even Macbeth himself foresees this with, “Bloody instructions, which being taught return to plague the inventor.”. Lady Macbeth also feels the psychological consequences of taking part in Duncan’s murder. In Act 1 Scene 5, she wishes for sickness so that she does not feel guilty for her evil actions, with, “Make thick my blood; Stop up th’access and passage to remorse”. However, in Act 1 Scene 5 the doctor claims that her disease is “beyond my practice”. After visions of blood staining her hands, we see that Lady Macbeth is suffering with the psychological consequences of committing a murder. In Act 4 Scene 3, the doctor tells Macduff of a disease called “evil”, which describes the sickness of the whole country as a result of Macbeth’s position of authority.
Macbeth’s evil actions have distorted the natural order so deeply that he has “destroyed sleep” and can “Sleep no more”, “sleep” being the most sacred state of peace and nourishment. This image alludes to the notion of a nightmarish world in which one has no opportunity for rest of any kind, or escape from the harsh reality of daily life.
Shakespeare also shows the destruction of the natural order in Macbeth through how he represents and challenges gender roles. This is evident from the outset of the play, with Shakespeare’s use of trochaic tetrameter giving the Witches’ speech a chant-like quality, unlike iambic pentameter, which usually represents the natural humanity of a character. Phrases such as “hurly-burly” introduce riddle language, which links to a theme that runs throughout the play- appearance versus reality. The line, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,”, proposes a world in which morals are turned upside-down, and therefore nothing is as it should be. Another major example of reversed gender roles lies in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Parallels can be drawn between Lady Macbeth and the Witches, as she also calls upon clichés of diabolism and darkness, such as “the raven”, acting against what Shakespeare’s Elizabethan audience thought were her natural feminine instincts to be gentle and submissive. Instead of being sensitive, she wishes to “make thick my blood” so that no remorse can enter her. Similarly, the image, “take the milk from my gall,”, shows how Lady Macbeth wishes to transform something meant to nourish life into something that destroys it. A continuation of this which Shakespeare writes in order to evoke shock and horror in the audience is that she would have “dash’d the brains out” of her own baby, showing just how unmotherly and evil she is willing to be to fulfil her desire for power. “Unsex me here”, said in cruel and graphic terms also destroys her femininity, make Lady Macbeth almost inhuman. She wishes to make her very body an instrument of cruelty, never thinking beyond the action that must be achieved and going strongly against the natural order. It seems that in their relationship, Lady Macbeth has a greater degree of control over Macbeth than would traditionally be expected. She is able to manipulate him and questions and undermines his masculinity with, “And live a coward in thine own esteem,”, and, “Be so much more the man.”, creating a contrast between his cowardice and her more “masculine” qualities, such as her brutality.
Throughout the play, there is a conflict between appearance and reality, with appearance often adhering to the natural order while reality opposes it. This contrast has the effect of shocking the audience, often providing a heightened sense of evil and betrayal. Shakespeare plays on the contemporary issue of equivocation, with “honest trifles” being used to disguise reality.The metaphor of clothes is used to represent the responsibility of kingship, suggesting that to rule Scotland is simply a layer that can be taken on and off. Only through various soliloquies can the audience be certain of characters’ true feelings, as we discover inner turmoil as reason conflicts with passion. This is particularly evident in Macbeth himself, as he denies even to himself that he is about to commit murder, referring to the deed only as “it”. The Macbeths put on an almost comical act of hospitality, showing elaborate and superficial courtesy through their polite conversation, such as, “The air is delicate.”. After the murder, Lady Macbeth manipulates her womanhood to put on a feminine pretence and faints, showing she is not affected emotionally by the evil her husband has just done. In Macbeth’s brief speech, “Had I but died…Is left this vault to brag of.”, there is dramatic irony, as he manages to express his sincere feelings of regret without admitting to the murder.
To conclude, Shakespeare utilises an array of dramatic techniques to give the audience the sense of a gradual descent into chaos. Through the upheaval of the natural order, the drama of Macbeth is significantly heightened, as it seems the world he creates, not dissimilar to the reality at the time, is destined to fall to a hellish state from which there is no revival.