In 1603, James I became king and patron of the King's Men, William Shakespeare's company formerly known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men. James I was obsessed primarily with two things: witchcraft and murder. He feared that people, usually witches, were conspiring against him to steal his crown. Macbeth, which premiered around 1606, is said to have been a gift to King James and plays on his fear of murder and witches. Killing a king was considered sacrilegious because, at that time, kingship was thought to be a gift given to someone directly by God. Killing the King, therefore, would be going against the word of God. Macbeth's imagery of procreation in the form of birth, fertility, and children represents the play's fascination with what is considered a "natural" or divine right to rule. His continued efforts to go against this nature foretell his subsequent death from “unnatural” causes. By analyzing the use of metaphors and similes that compare the Scottish crown to family life in Macbeth, I will show that the play uses discussion of nature and the unnatural to foreshadow the end of the play. These questions of nature, as they pertain to the right to rule, are important because nature's intervention in the struggle for the throne ultimately leads to Macbeth's downfall. I will look at Act 1, scene 7 and Act 2, scenes 3 and 4 to focus on the similes used to compare the murder of King Duncan with the images of the child and birth. I will then look at Act 3, Scene 1 to discuss the metaphors used to link fertility to Macbeth's fear of losing his crown. Finally, I will relate these fears to the factors that led to his death in Act 5. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Macbeth's guilty usurpation of the Scottish crown is manifested in images of children and is used to describe the environment's response to the murder of King Duncan. Although he ultimately kills King Duncan, he initially goes through a period of hesitation and fickleness. During a soliloquy in which he weighs the reasons for and against the regicide, he states: And pity, like a naked infant riding the blast, O cherubs of heaven, riding on the blind couriers of the air, will blow the horrible deed in every eye, that tears will drown the wind. (1.7.21-25)The 'newborn' evokes images of newborns. However, "cherubim of heaven" also connotes this image as cherubim are often depicted as healthy, innocent children. This use of flawless creatures combined with his own description of the murder as a "horrific act" gives the impression that he feels guilty for what he was doing. This is because, historically, a kingdom passes from father to son; at birth, a child inherits future rights to a crown. Macbeth plans to upset that tradition by killing King Duncan. Here these children personify the Pieta who, through their informative actions, speaks against the assassination of the king. They serve as an image of condemnation of the murder. The literal image of the natural succession to the throne, the child who would presumably be next in line, speaks out against the murder. The fact that Macbeth thinks of this as he considers killing Duncan indicates that he understands that killing the king is wrong, in the sense that he is defying nature. The use of similes of child and birth as they relate to the wrongfulness of Macbeth's actions evident in this passage are amplified in Macbeth's language even after he kills King Duncan. Macbeth applies similes to his speech to compare murder toabnormal birth of a child demonstrating the unnatural aspect of regicide. When a baby is born, it typically comes out head down. Occasionally, the baby comes out feet or butt first, in the breech position, and many doctors then perform a cesarean section. Not only is the cesarean section completely unnatural as the body cannot perform it without the help of doctors, but the way the baby is balanced is a literal reversal of the natural process. Macbeth evokes the image of this reversal by saying, “…his gashes seemed a breach in nature” (2.3.110) after seeing King Duncan's corpse. Macbeth has just killed the king. The position of kingship was considered sacred, a divine right into which one was born. Macbeth's use of the phrase "violation in nature" implies that he knows that killing King Duncan goes against the natural order of the world. The pun on the words "breech" and "breach" implies that regicide is a reversal not unlike that of a breech or cesarean birth. On the night of Duncan's death, the king's horses are said to have “gone wild, broken the stables, bolted,…. [and] they ate each other” (2.4.16-19). Macbeth's murderous act turns the natural world upside down, in a sense. What he feared before – nature's condemnation and revolt against the act – rings true. Animals commit cannibalism, one of the few universal taboos for all creatures. This "violation in nature" did more than just give Macbeth the crown, but it disrupted nature in such a visible way that Macbeth still uses imagery of procreation to describe his precarious situation. Macbeth uses fertility imagery to contrast his childlessness with Banquo's prophecy from the witches which shows his underlying fear of losing the stolen crown. After becoming king, Macbeth is still not satisfied. He laments his position by stating, “On my head they have set a fruitless crown / And they have put a barren scepter in my hand” (3.1.61-2). Macbeth evokes images of fertility using phrases such as "barren scepter" and "fruitless crown" and thus associates himself with the lack of natural offspring, the absence of fertility, and a perversion of natural succession. Following the previous logic that a “natural” or legitimate kingship passes from father to son, Macbeth's childlessness symbolizes his position as an unjust usurper. With no children of his own, the crown will leave his family line upon his death. His insecurity about the crown and childlessness culminate in his hatred and fear of Banquo as he remarks that "Banquo's seeds [shall be] King" (3.1.70). Seeds here are a euphemism for both Banquo's sperm and his offspring. Macbeth receives the crown through unnatural means, murder and not through family line, and fears that Banquo's lineage will take it from him through natural or legitimate means: by being born into it. He is bitter that Banquo's future children are entitled to the crown he feels guilty about taking. Macbeth is thus fixated on Banquo's "seeds" and his fertility because he himself lacks them. This constant fixation by Macbeth on his precarious and unjust position leaves him unable to think logically in a way that prevents his fears from being realized. Macbeth's inner thoughts about his "unnatural" ascension to the throne manifest in a death by "unnatural" means. With the knowledge that Banquo's sons may have a natural lineage that allows them to become kings, Macbeth once again seeks the strange sisters to ask them about his future, they say, "No one born of woman will harm Macbeth" (4.1.82-3), lulling him into a false sense of security that she can be alive without being born of a woman It makes biological sense,.