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The Importance Of Virtue In Macbeth

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Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is unable to maintain his rule through his lack of virtue, even though he comes to power through unvirtuous practices. The way Macbeth runs his kingdom is contrary to the advice offered in Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince. Machiavelli offers that the easiest way to rule is to have a principality that believes the ruler is virtuous. I argue that presentation of virtue, if not absolute virtue, is necessary for an effective ruler. Macbeth comes to power by killing Duncan the previous king. Macbeth describes Duncan as having “virtues [that] will plead like angels… against the deep damnation of his taking-off” (Shakespeare 1.7.18-20). By Macbeth’s own admission, Duncan is a virtuous king and did not deserve …show more content…
Macbeth has good qualities as a military leader as exemplified by his work in battle in the first act, and then in his defense of his castle in the final act. Before he came to royal power, Macbeth was described as courageous in battle as well as being loyal to the crown (Shakespeare 1.2.). These qualities were great enough for Duncan to reward him with a title and honor him by visiting his home. Finally, Macbeth stays with his men at Dunsinane to defend the castle (Shakespeare 5.3.). Nevertheless, I counter these examples by observing that as the play goes on, Macbeth’s qualities of loyalty and courageousness turn into betrayal and cowardice. His decision to stay at Dunsinane is marked by his sense of invisibility, and ends with his eventual death by …show more content…
An outside appearance of virtue is good for gaining the support of the subjects and soldiers, while committing crimes and acting cruelly allows the ruler more freedom in suppressing dissent and keeping the army in control (Machiavelli 76). In addition, pretending to have faith and be faithful awards a ruler more than having actual faith because faith can limit a ruler’s actions and the “observance turns against him” (Machiavelli 69). Being completely virtuous is not ideal because it limits the actions a leader can take to control their kingdom. But not pretending to have virtue is worse as it will turn the people against

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