Elizabethan World View and Macbeth Literature Essay Example

In the Elizabethan world view, society was heavily instructed to follow the divine right of kings in which it entails the belief of god choosing a person who is meant to be a king therefore, carrying on the bloodline to follow a chain of power and royalty. The quote I have chosen, "why do you dress me in borrowed robes" in act 1 scene 3 heavily symbolizing the demolition of the elizabethan world view by going against the divine rights of kings portraying the witches picking macbeth to be king and helping him develop the title, leading society to question the laws in which they believe in by trusting the witches which are considered to be the closest thing to god although seen as evil and conniving. This is also shown when macbeth, who does not come from a royal bloodline, is being treated and displayed as a king foreshadowing the quote "dress me in borrowed clothes" showing that he is receiving clothing passed on to him by other kings to assert his righteous power further betraying the belief in which society stands and leaving the readers with a feeling of the potential macbeth has and the self destruction that may come with it as the story continues to elucidate. 

Furthermore, in the quote "In which addition, hail, most worthy thane, for it is thine" disrupts the great chain of being because of  Ross referring to Macbeth as worthy enough to be king although he is not of royal status in act 1 scene 3. The great chain of being is a social hierarchy consisting of God and the angels at the top, to humans, to animals, to plants, to rocks and minerals at the bottom. It is evident to us that kings are higher on the scale making the title very prestigious not allowing anyone to gain its privileges by Macbeth gaining its title, breaking the great chain of being due to his social status bringing a new proposition. 

Alongside the divine right of kings, another Elizabethan world view would be the prevalence of witchcraft, this discusses the societal view of witches being commonly populated among women and that they are the only ones with the capability of witchcraft creating fear among people leading to them to shun ignoring the conspiracy of magical effects or hallucination coming from more natural mediums such as nature. The quote "have we eaten the insane root" in act 1 scene 3. challenges the prevalence of witchcraft Because it made society see things and they thought that only witches were capable of questioning their sanity because of the disappearance of the witches yet the magical encounters still occurred, affecting the audience greatly by allowing them to understand the context and consider the different outcomes of a melancholy setting.