Have you ever been in a position you feel like you are not in the right position to be in? Maybe you have experienced jobs that don't suit your aptitude. You might have also been trying to seize power that doesn't suit you. In the play, Macbeth, William Shakespeare, one of the world's greatest authors, explores the character of Macbeth, whose clothes never fit, ultimately symbolizing that he is not ready for the position of King.
Macbeth begins by describing Macbeth as the ambitious, brave soldier who served King Duncan, the Thane of Cawdor. After Macbeth hears a prophecy, predicting that he will become King he resolves to do anything within his power to ensure that that prophecy becomes true. Buchanan claims “Macbeth was thinking of kingship even before he dreamed of the prophecy” (Rosenblum). But his desire to become king, Macbeth is conflicted by the loyalty he has for King Duncan. His wife, Lady Macbeth, however, feels no such loyalty, and coerces Macbeth into killing the king by questioning his manhood.
Through his exorbitant greediness, Macbeth finally achieves his greatest dream, a place at the throne as a King. However, life as a monarch is not what he expected it to be, and he feels very uneasy in his new role. Joseph Rosenblum explains why Macbeth felt like this, “Feeling insecure in his new position because of Banquo's knowledge of the witches prophecy and their promise that Banquo's line, rather than Macbeth's, will rule in the future” (Rosenblum). Macbeth's insecure and anxious feelings showed that he was not in a stable condition to be in the position of a king. This is conveyed excellently through the dialogue of the play, however, William Shakespeare also uses the literary device of motif through clothing to convey this theme of incompatibility.
An example of Shakespeare's effective portrayal of the theme takes place in Act 1, Scene 3, after Banquo and Macbeth hear the three witches' prophecies that Macbeth will be king and Banquo son’s, heirs. Angus arrives with the news that King Duncan had instructed him to call Macbeth a “Thane of Cawdor.” Macbeth replies by saying: “The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me/In borrowed robes?” (Shakespeare 1.3.108-109) Because King Duncan is still alive, Macbeth expresses his confusion. Borrowed robes, meaning that “Thane” is a title that Macbeth should eventually give back. In addition, Joseph Rosenblum clarifies “clothes serve as a metonym for honors and titles that may be donned and doffed and stolen” (Rosenblum) which not only foreshadows that Macbeth is only temporarily borrowing the position of king, but also begs the question of whether or not certain people are fit to rule.
After Macbeth questions the title of “Thane of Cawdor” him and his best friend, Banquo, deeply discuss the prophecies. Macbeth says “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, /without my stir,” (Shakespeare 1.3. 142-143), which means that Macbeth does not think of the three witches as voices of fate but the 'chance' that he will deal with what it takes to make him king. After Banquo hears Macbeth's reaction to what he heard from the three witches, Banquo remarks by saying: “New honors come upon him,/Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould” (Shakespeare 1.3.144-145).
After Macbeth uses clothing imagery of, “borrowed robes” (Shakespeare 1.3.109), Banquo also uses clothing imagery to explain how Macbeth is in thought after being named Thane of Cawdor. The strange garments, meaning the new clothes or title . Banquo is saying that Macbeth is thinking of trying to fit into his new title of Thane of Cawdor, but the title doesn't seem to be familiar to Macbeth unless Macbeth becomes more accustomed to it. Just as mending and fitting clothes that don't fit, Macbeth needs effort so that he can wear the clothes.
In Act 5, Scene 2, the tragedy of Macbeth has begun. Joseph Rosenblum explains how Macbeth is “Usurping kingship, Macbeth has indeed dressed himself in borrowed robes, and these fit him poorly” (Rosenblum). It tells that he was terribly incapable of ruling the country, and he was also suffering tremendously mentally from the cost of his own hands. As the time went by, more people criticized his political qualities when they found out that he had been acting crazy lately. Also, many people were well aware that he was not fit for the position of king. Among those involved were Menteith, Angus, Caithness, and Lennox. The conversation is about how things look from Macbeth's point of view. Menteith asks what the tyrant is doing. Caithness response by saying, “He cannot buckle his distempered cause/Within the belt of rule” (Shakespeare 5.2.15-16),
The clothing imagery describes the condition of Macbeth and his kingdom right now. The clothing imagery, a belt of rule means the things that the king should behave. Usually, the medieval king's job is the maintenance of keeping order and protecting the kingdom no matter what happens to the king personally. The king must control himself even if something causes him mental pain, and he must hide it from others and never know any clues. The distempered cause, which he is defending himself from the consequences of his bloody hand cannot be buckled. Overall, the quote is saying that Macbeth is not fit to be a good king because Macbeth is unable to buckle down as he has lost all his self-control and cannot take care of his frantic behavior. Unable to put a belt on himself, which means that he is unable to rule himself. Both Macbeth’s mind and the kingdom are beyond his control. After Caithness responds by saying that Macbeth is not doing well in being a king, Angus additionally spoke, “Now does he/feel his title/Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe/Upon a dwarfish thief.” (Shakespeare 5.2.20-22)
The clothing imagery describes how Angus imagines Macbeth to feel right now. The robe represents the title and position in this play. Like a giant’s robe, meaning that the robe is too big for Macbeth, meaning that he is not ready to wear these clothes thereby unable to fill the king’s position. The “dwarfish thief” phrase refers to Macbeth’s dark sinister greed, which led him to steal the title of Thane of Cawdor, which is as unfit for Macbeth as it is for a dwarf who steals a giant's robe.
To conclude, William Shakespeare clearly used the motif of clothing imagery to illustrate the theme of incompatibility. Using terms like, “borrowed robes”(Shakespeare 1.3.109), “giant’s robe”(Shakespeare 5.2.21), as well as other clothing imagery helped highlight Macbeth's inability to appropriate the role of king. Though the title becomes rightfully his, no matter what, Macbeth seems to drown in the king’s clothing. Because Shakespeare uses clothing imagery to help the readers understand the sociopolitical class and power, the repeated mention of Macbeth’s ill fitting clothes shows that he was never fit or worthy of ruling.
Works Cited
Rosenblum, Joseph. “Macbeth.” The Facts On File Companion to Shakespeare, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2022. Bloom's Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17967&itemid=WE54&articleId=476459. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
Rosenblum, Joseph. “Macbeth: Critical Introduction to the Play.” The Facts On File Companion to Shakespeare, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2022. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=476463. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.
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