Hamlet and Macbeth as Usurpers
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Hamlet and Macbeth both portray usurpers as ruling kings, and in each case it is made clear that such rule is not to be tolerated either by the ruled or by the universe. Indeed, the fate of kings is tied to the order of the universe, and dissension and tension in one is reflected in the other. Yet, the issue is complex, and while the usurper has no right to rule, it is not always clear who has the right to prevent him from ruling. In Macbeth, the fate of the usurper is ordained, and his downfall at the hands of the wronged Macduff, who is the rightful king. Macduff has the right to retake his throne by force. The hesitation of Hamlet, much commented on by critics, may derive from the fact that while he knows Claudio to be a regicide, to kill Claudio would make him a regicide as well. In both plays, the usurpation of the throne leads to a more dangerous and uncertain environment in the land, and nature concurs by expressing through storms and other travails visited upon the people that a great political wrong is also a great moral and religious wrong. The effects of a regicide are seen in storms and the like because such actions offend the gods, or God. In Hamlet the disorder in the kingdom derives from the fact that the natural order has been challenged - a king has been murdered by his wife and brother, and Hamlet is to act to restore the natural order by avenging his father. The appearance of the Ghost at the beginning of the play shows the degree to which the natu
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s restoring the natural order, his method of doing so is itself a challenge to that order. This seems to be one of the key elements in the political structure portrayed by Shakespeare - the political structure must maintain order for the benefit of all of society. Legitimate rule is an important component of that order, and usurpers threaten stability.
Justice for kings and would-be kings operates at a cosmic level. Claudio is destroyed at the instigation of supernatural forces. The order he has challenged is greater than he. It is greater than any given monarch, but it protects the idea of monarchy and the order that flows from it. Macbeth also challenges that order, his flaw being more clearly seen as ambition, though an ambition stirred by his wife more than by his own innate desire. At first, he seems content to let nature take its course: "If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me/ Without my stir" (I.iii.162-163).
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth also challenge the natural order through regicide. From the first, the play makes use of the surrounding environment as a character in its own right, and the natural order is upset by the actions of Macbeth to the point where his downfall comes in a way that emphasizes
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1730
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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