I.S.P. JOAQUN V.

GONZLEZ

Macbeth and the

Elizabethan Mindset

Subject: Literature III

Student: Palanca, Pablo
Teacher: Van Dam, Valeria

2016

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Contents

Introduction 2
Macrocosmic level 4
Microcosmic level 5
The level of the Body Politic 10
Conclusion 13
References 15

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 Introduction

Cosmic order is a key concept in Elizabethan literature. Among theories that try to order
the universe, two are of utmost importance for Elizabethans: the theory of the chain of
being, and the theory of the planes of correspondence. Renaissance society, Elizabethans
thought, was built upon a divine order or chain of being that stated that everything in life
had a specific place and rank. This was a general conception of vertical order that
embraced every single being, from peasants to kings, and even God. Each of these beings
had a correspondent link within the chain. This chain started with inanimate beings, such
as liquids and metals, passing all throughout the animal kingdom and men, and eventually
reaching God through the angels. It was general belief that whenever the chain was
perturbed, turmoil and disorder would unfold as an inherent consequence. At the same
time, the horizontal theory of the planes of correspondence stated the existence of a
number of planes, parallel to one another, which are arranged in perfect order. In this
planes of correspondence, as in the chain of being, order is also hierarchical, but among
specimens of the same type, each class having a superior or primate being. The
Elizabethans tried to find correspondences between these planes in their everlasting quest
for order. This might be the case in Macbeth, where disruption in both the chain of being
and the planes of correspondence theories brings about chaos, which is manifested in
three different spheres: at macrocosmic level, affecting the atmosphere of the play and the
natural world; at microcosmic level, altering the characters' bodily functions, and at the
level of the body politic, distorting the organization of society. This essay will try to explore
these three areas in order to establish how the Elizabethan conception of order is reflected
in Macbeth.

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 Macrocosmic level

In Macbeth, macrocosmic manifestations of disruption will be linked to the natural realm,

and will be mostly depicted in weather and animal metaphors. Darkness and threatening
weather will not only set a gloomy tone all along the play, but also accompany the
seriousness of the deeds that take place in the play. Act one opens with thunder, lightning,
and three witches. Right from the beginning the audience is thrown into a world of stormy
weather, where it is only possible to distinguish the surroundings of the place thanks to
flashes of lightning. On this, Bradley (1956) very clearly remarks:

Darkness, we may even say blackness, broods over this tragedy. It is remarkable that
almost all the scenes which at once recur to memory take place either at night or in some
dark spot. The vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, the
sleep-walking of Lady Macbeth, all come in night-scenes. [] Macbeth leaves a decided
impression of colour; it is really the impression of a black night broken by flashes of light
and colour, sometimes vivid and even glaring. Bradley (1956, 279-280)

It is important to remark that witches are meeting during the day, which is unnatural for
them since they draw their power from the Sabbaths that they hold at night. On this, Wills
(1995), observes that [] they meet by day, before the battles hurlyburly is ended.
Witches could not, ordinarily, fly by day. They needed the thick humors of night to bear
them up. (54) However, during the day, storms and eclipses are able to obscure the day
and make it profitable for witchcraft. Wills (1995) also points out that

The storm that batters the plays opening scene is, therefore, not just a matter of strange
atmospherics or dramatic imagery. It is the necessary condition of the witches abnormal
activity by day. As the Christian liturgy has feasts of light, the devils rites need darkness for
them to be efficacious. (p. 55)

Therefore, the brooding darkness is not just for setting the mood of the play, but, as
Wills (1995) points out, a constitutive element of diabolic activity. (p. 55) This is the

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reason why it may be considered a break disruption? in the macrocosmos, since the
day-night duality has been violated, with deeds of the night occurring during the day.

Closely related to the theory of the planes of correspondence, the second instance of
macrocosmic chaos is related to the unnatural behavior of animals after before the murder
of the king. In 2.1 an old man comments on the fact that unnatural phenomena have been
taking place:

On Tuesday last, A falcon, towering in her pride of place,

Was by a mousing owl hawk'd and kilk'd. (2.4. 11-13)

The owl, which catches mice on the ground, soared into the sky and killed a falcon. A The
falcon, which is a day creature, was considered to be a royal companion in Elizabethan
times, while the owl is an untamable bird which appears at night and its appearance during
the day might symbolize the betrayal of its own nature. A trait that is to be found in the
planes of correspondence theory is that within every class there was a primate. On this,
Tylliard (1968) asserts that opinions sometimes varied, the lion competing with the
elephant, the whale with the dolphin, for primacy among beasts and fishes. (p. 42) In the
play, the owl eating the falcon can be considered a disruption in the planes, since the owl
may be considered the nights counterpart of the falcon. This piece trend of imagery might
also be a portent to the second murder of Macbeth, since the primate avian is the eagle
the King at human level -, Banquo being represented by the falcon and Macbeth by the
owl. The metaphor shows how the Elizabethan mindset intertwined with the planes of
correspondence of night and day birds.

Another disruption in nature lies in the cannibalistic eating of Duncan's horses:

Ross And Duncan's horsesa thing most strange and certain

Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make
War with mankind.

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 Old Man 'Tis said they eat each other.

Ross They did so, to th' amazement of mine eyes

That look'd upon't.
(2.4.16-23)

Used mainly as a means of transport and symbolizing victory in war, Elizabethan horses
were very important to society. The rebellion of Duncans horses, contending gainst
obedience (reference line) is an effect of Macbeths disruption of the natural order.
Rebellion causes cosmic anarchy which in turn makes nature cease its functioning,
transforming the herbivorous tame horses into carnivorous beasts.

As can be seen, the strange behavior in the animal kingdom, as well as the brooding
darkness are examples of a broken Chain of Being, which has consequences upon the
natural world.

Microcosmic level

The place of man in the Chain of Being was of upmost importance for Elizabethans. Man
was called the little world because he possessed in his anatomy all the faculties of the
universe. Tyllyard (1968), has drawn attention to the fact that in the Chain of Being the
position of man was of paramount interest. [] He was the nodal point, and his double
nature, through the source of internal conflict, had the unique function of binding together
all creation. (p. 83) The microcosmos is represented in the state through the metaphor of
illness and bodily functions. Each part of the body was represented by a part of the state. If
the king was sick, so would be his kingdom. It is the view of Harris in Barmazel (2008) that

to an extent that has not been fully acknowledged, early modern English versions of organic
political analogy are similarly fixated with illness: extensively informed by the emergent

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 discourses of Renaissance physiology, nosology and pathology, elaborate accounts of the
body politics sundry diseases and their remedies make their first appearance in the literature
of the period. Political writers, playwrights, and pamphleteers attempted to explain . . . the
nature of the corpus politicums ills. (p. 119)

In Macbeth, not only does the atmosphere of the play change, but also the well-being of
the characters. The microcosmic sphere or internal world of the characters can be said to
be affected in two ways: the alteration of the gender of the Macbeth and Lady Macbeth,
whose behavior does not conform with what is stereotypically expected from women and
men at that period, and their impossibility to carry out essential body functions, such as
sleeping and feasting. On top of this, Macbeth suffers from hallucinations and his wife from
sleepwalking.

In the play, gender plays a crucial role in determining the behavior of the characters and
the evil progression of their actions. While it is true that the allusions to darkness, storms
and disruptions in the natural world alert the vast dimension that chaos will reach in the
story, it is also true that the interior world of the characters also plays a significant role in
terms of describing a total collapse of the traditional and social conception of order.
Macbeth is portrayed as a fallen man due to the extreme immorality of his actions in order
to obtain what he wants. Lady Macbeth, far from being meek and docile, is the one who
encourages her husband to murder Duncan. At this point, Lady Macbeth, who does not
abide to with the typical stereotype of the period, happens to be strong, even much
stronger than her husband. She taunts the thane by telling him that he is powerless and
weak. According to her he is not yet a man, he is in the process of becoming one, which
will take place only after he kills Duncan. Lady Macbeth describes her husband as a milk-
livered man, the symbol of milk relating him to a child because men should be fed on
food, not on milk, like children:

Macbeth: Prithee, peace:

I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
Lady Macbeth: What beast wast, then,

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 That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:

They had made themselves, and that their fitness now

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluckd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dashd the brains out, had I sworn as you
Have done to this. (1.7.46-57)

Lady Macbeths famous line Unsex me here [...] come to my womans breast, and take
my milk for gall (1.5.41-48) suggests that she does not only rejects her gender but also
invokes a complete absence of any kind, with all the implications attached to it. what are
these implications? Gender roles seem to be reversed in the play, since she has displaced
Macbeth from the dominant role and she also woos him into completing the scheme, while
he allows himself to be persuaded.

The second element that affects the interior world of the characters is their impossibility to
sleep and eat in a normal way. It is important to take into account that in the imagery of the
play sin represents manifests as// is represented by disease. Disorder in the chain of being
brings about illnesses. Spurgeon (1935), draws attention to the fact that a chief symbolic
idea which is very constant in Shakespeare, and is to be found through his work, that sin is
a diseaseScotland is sick. (p.331-2) In 2.2 Macbeth believes he has heard an unreal
voice that says Sleep no more! Macbeth doth murder sleep (2.2.44-45). This voice may
come right from the thanes conscience: Macbeth feels guilty for he has done something
very cowardly by killing Duncan while he was sleeping. His victim was unaware of what
was about to happen to him and, therefore, defenseless. This guilt alters the thanes
demeanor significantly. As Macbeth is incapable of sleeping, his actions turn more erratic
and impulsive for he lacks the season of all natures, sleep (3.4.140)

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Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth suffers from lack of sleep no. her condition is
sleepwalking. Her guilt affects her significantly. This can be seen in the scene in which
she sleepwalks. Her gentlewoman comments that

Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen

her rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon
her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it,
write upont, read it, afterwards seal it, and again
return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. (5.1.3-7)

To this, the doctor replies:

A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once

the benefit of sleep, and do the effects of
watching! (5.1. 10-13)

This is the direct consequence that guilt has on Lady Macbeths microcosmos, making her
sleepwalk. Later in the same scene, the doctor will comment that

Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds

Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets:
More needs she the divine than the physician (5.1.79-82)

In these lines the Elizabethan belief of in order can be seen. The unnatural deed- the
death of the king- will bring about unnatural troubles, such as lack of sleep and
sleepwalking. This is the reason why Lady Macbeth is not able to hide her guilt while
asleep.

Like sleeplessness, feasting also takes plays an important part in the play. According to
Knight (1931) sleeping and feasting are both creative, restorative, forces of nature. Each
of them seems to allow individuals the possibility to respect the natural cycle that anybody

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needs for its proper function (reference page number). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are
not able to sleep as a consequence of having broken the chain of being. Knight (1931)
states that

the retributive suffering is apt. Macbeth murdered Duncan in sleep, after feasting him.it was a
blow delivered at innocent sleep [] Macbeth does more than murder a living being: he
murders life itself. Because he murdered hospitality and sleep, therefore his punishment is a
living death, without peaceful sleep or peaceful feeding (p. 134)

In Elizabethan times feasting was a friendly gathering that let allowed? individuals
celebrate their victories. Knight (1931) states that

Digestion, health, sauce, meat. Against this life force of feasting, conviviality, social
friendliness and order, comes a death, a ghost, smashing life-forms with phantasms of evil
and guilt: an unreality, a nothing, like the air drawn dagger; creating chaos of order (p.
137)

Hallucinations are also important to understand the way in which Macbeths guilt affects
his microcosmos. The vision of the dagger in 2.2 seems to point out how the moral decay
into which Lady Macbeth has lured him (do you seriously believe that it is her fault?)
affects his mental health significantly. After this, the cries that Macbeth hears: Glamis hath
murderd sleep, and therefore Cawdor/ Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more
(2.2 54-5) come from his guilt-ridden conscience. The change of the seas color from green
to blood red is also a hallucination no. This is his own speculation about what would
happen if he dipped his hand into the ocean deriving from his guilt. Finally, Banquos ghost
represents the most vivid form of hallucination for the thane. Its appearance renders
Macbeth unable to feast with his lords. Macbeths kingship is the result of a murder and
Banquo's ghost seems to be there in order to remind Macbeth of this.

As can be seen, the regicide or the mere thought of it, since Macbeth has the vision of a
dagger before he kills the king- has unfolded not only turmoil at macrocosmic but also at
microcosmic level. Macbeths lack of sleep and hallucinations and Lady Macbeths

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sleepwalking, as well as their inability to feast properly are consequences of the crime they
have committed.

The Body Politic

The Elizabethan mindset was underpinned by a rigid patriarchal conception, which

established that man was the supreme ruler and responsible for the appropriate handling
of his home, while women were expected to follow their husbands dispositions. In this
patriarchal world male figures tended to be associated with bravery, physical strength, and
control over their female partners, while women were always tender, delicate, submissive,
motherly and kind. Any deviance from this rigid system implied total chaos in the way the
household was run. As French (1981) explains,

Womens supposed closeness to nature became a stigma rather than a miracle, women began
to be seen as lower than men being part of nature in way men were not, they were also part of
what must be controlled. In the Chain of Being their natural role was in an inferior position with
respect to men. (p. 13)

At the beginning of the play Macbeth is described as a virtuous man. His ability to kill and
his courage in battle reinforce his masculinity. Macbeth embodies the qualities that were
associated with successful men in Elizabethan times, which were won in the battlefield.
His loyalty to King Duncan stresses the social order. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth
appears to conform to the social family standards of rigid patriarchal system of the period,
but in fact she does not, as she is the one who convinces persuades her husband into
killing the king.(convince + of// persuade+ into)

In Elizabethan times the very concept of kingship was bounded with that of fatherhood. In
close relation with the theory of the planes of correspondence, this idea of household order
was replicated at royal level, stating that, in the same way families were ruled by their male
figures, nations were expected to be ruled by the king, who was responsible for the

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appropriate handling of the kingdom. The state and the states laws imitate the
macrocosm, where the king- a god-like figure- functions as the supreme force and must be
obeyed and respected.

The idea of order was also applied at the microcosmic level. For the Elizabethan mindset,
kingship, fatherhood and bodily fluids were seen as bound. Barmazel (2008) states that

[] the milk of human kindness that supposedly fills Macbeths nature betokens a range of
female bodily fluids (menstrual blood, mothers milk), but at the same time also suggests
semen. Macbeth is thus both too much a woman and too little a man. He is saturated with the
bodily fluids associated with childbearing, but without the children that should, to a
Reinassance mind, accompany him. (p. 7)

This might be the reason why Macbeth remains childless. It is worth noting that, besides
the three weird sisters and the murderers- like Macbeth, disruptors of the Elizabethan
order-, Macbeth and his wife do not have any family members. On this, Barmazel (2008)
explains that among a cast of principals who appear either as parents or children, it has
been noted the Macbeths stand alone and un(re)productive. (p.121) The fact that the
couple does not have offspring is not Lady Macbeths fault. Her constant allusions to blood
shed light on the possibility that she is perfectly capable of bearing children. She even
comments on having compunctious visitings of nature. (1.5.45) She actually talks about
having breastfed, which corresponds to the character as she appears in Shakespeares
sources (she has children by a previous marriage) Likewise, Macbeths inability to bear
children and his inability to rule as King of Cawdor are related. As Barmazel (2008)
observes:

The Kings ultimate political inconsequentiality- his inability to produce heirs who might
legitimate and extend his reign is made to resonate with language of bodily insufficiency,
with the suggestion that Macbeth is unable to extend himself physically, at least when it
comes to pleasing his wife. He appears in the play surrounded, variously, by the language of
sexual insufficiency and inadequacy and masturbatory excessboth of which would have
arguably connoted humoral imbalance to a Renaissance audience. (p.122)

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Not only does Macbeths onanism reflect in his lack of children but also in his reign, which
is sad and cruel. Macbeths subjects move only in command, nothing in love (5.2 18-9).
As can be observed, the microcosmos of the character is related to the body politic of the
king, and vice versa. Barmazel (2008) also states that Macbeth's ruling is only to satisfy
the couple's (political) desires, without a concern for the future of the nation (p.123).

In close relation with the theory of planes of correspondence, the body politic will assign
each member of Elizabethan society a role to fulfil. In 3.1 Macbeth makes an allusion to
this with animal imagery:

Ay, in the catalogue you go for men;

As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels,
Curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept
All by the name of dogs: the valued life
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive
Particular addition from the bill
that writes them all alike: and so of men (3.1.99-108)

This is an image of order where each member has a degree. However, Macbeth will be
unable to restore the order of things since he is not a king, but a tyrant. Macbeth's lack of
righteousness can be reflected, according to the Elizabethan mindset, in his inability to
rule. The body politic in the play is represented by a tyrant who has obtained his position in
an unnatural way, which paves the way for unnatural things to happen in the macro and
micro cosmos, as well as in the state.

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 Conclusion

This essay aimed at explaining how the Elizabethan beliefs of order affected the play. After
describing the way in which the chain of being and the theory of the planes of
correspondence worked, the way in which these theories are interwoven in the storyline of
the play was explored.

It is worth noting that the witches are not the ones who break the order of nature do not
include new points in your conclusion. They just plant the idea of murdering the king into
Macbeths head no. The idea is there already.. Lady Macbeth is the one who persuades
Macbeth to commit regicide, and Macbeth is the one who takes action. It is him he who
breaks the chain of being. The murder of King Duncan, then, is the act that triggers an
alteration in life. Because the king is held higher in the chain of being, the act of killing him
is an atrocity that breaks the order of things. The play advances with Macbeths ruling as a
tyrant and his crimes. The plot to kill Banquo and his son is only a way to perpetrate
perpetuate himself in power. At the end of the play, the normal order of things is restored
in the scene where Macduff kills Macbeth.

The chain of being breaks the moment Macbeth kills Duncan, starting a domino effect that
will result in the disruption of the established order. The three planes of existence fall into
turmoil, affecting the natural and harmonious organization of life. Mascrocosmic alteration
is seen first in the atmosphere and animal world. There will also be disruption in the
microcosmos, which is depicted in the inability of the characters to perform properly bodily
functions, like sleeping and feasting, and in the alteration of the senses, most specifically
in the form of hallucinations. At the level of the body politic, the kingdom, which was ill-

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gotten, becomes a tyranny because Macbeth was not a rightful king, but a usurper and
tyrant. Finally, the theory of the planes of correspondence can also be found in the play,
mostly dealing with animal imagery. The falcons death foreboding Macbeths attempt to kill
Banquo as well as Macbeths explanation of dogs qualities alluding to ranks in society can
be said to come from a mindset in which divine order was well-established. This may
explain why the act of killing the king could unleash such a catastrophe for any
Elizabethan.

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References

Barmazel, J. (2008) The Servant to Defect: Macbeth, Impotence, and the body politic New

York: Taylor & Francis Group

Bradley, A. (1956) Shakespearean Tragedy New York: St Martin's Press

French, M (1975). Shakespeare's Division of Experience. New York: Summit Books

Knight, W. (1931) The Milk of Concord: An Essay on Life-Themes in Macbeth in

Shakespeare: Macbeth. A Casebook. A Selection of Critical Essays. Casebook Series.

Edited by John Wain, England: Macmillan Press, 1972.

Knight, W. (1931) The Imperial Theme. London and New York: Oxford University Press

Shakespeare, W. (2004) Macbeth. Coradella Collegiate Bookshelf Edition

Spurgeon, C. (1935) Shakespeares Imagery and What It Tells Us. Cambridge: University

Press.

Tillyard, E. (1968) The Elizabethan World Picture. London: Penguin Books

Wills, G. (1995) Witches and Jesuits. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Very good piece

Well organised and reader friendly, with relevant substantiation

For the final draft you will bring to the exam, you want to revise a couple of
problematic points raised which do not correspond to the text of the play

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