Malcoms Final Speech

Malcolm’s Final Speech Shakespeare’s written work has stood the test of time and Macbeth is an excellent example of his classic literature. At the end of the play the final scene is about who will become the King of Scotland. After the death of Macbeth, Malcolm is declared King. He is declared King since it was his birthright because his father was King before Macbeth killed him. Shortly after he was declared as the new King, Malcolm makes a speech of acceptance. One can look at this passage from many different perspectives. During his speech he talks about rewarding the Thanes and kinsmen that that fought along side him by declaring them the first Earls of Scotland. This demonstrates his honesty, loyalty and it also proves that he is a trustworthy King. Some might argue that this demonstrates that Malcolm is also very trusting of other people. This was one of the traits shown by his father; the trait that led to his downfall. He was too trusting in Macbeth, which gave him the opportunity to kill Duncan. This is not the only item that Malcolm addressed in his speech. He also addresses the state of Scotland. He wants those that were exiled by Macbeth to return home, and for those that supported Macbeth to be exiled. Malcolm wants to exile all of Macbeth’s supporters to ensure that there is not revolt or uprising against him when the nation of Scotland remains in a fragile state. His decisiveness in this regard, is a good quality for a King to have. The most crucial aspect of his speech is when he announces the death of Lady Macbeth. This is critical because Lady Macbeth was the true ruler of Scotland. Macbeth was nothing more than a puppet and Lady Macbeth was the puppeteer. Macbeth was an honorable man turned tyrant by the manipulation of his wife. Lady Macbeth was not evil, but she was driven by greed for power and control. No matter what her status was in the political world, she was not happy with it until she was finally the queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth took her own life. There were two factors that contributed to Lady Macbeth taking her own life. One of those factors was the fact that she could feel the power slipping away from her. She knew her power and control would not last much longer and she could not accept that. The second, and larger contributing factor that led to her suicide was her conscience. She was tormented because of the things that she and her husband had done. They were horrendous and horrific acts that weighed heavily on her mind. She could not take it anymore, so she decided to jump off of a balcony. Scotland was set free by the death of Lady Macbeth. At the end of his speech Malcolm states that with God by his side, he believes that he will be able to restore peace and harmony in Scotland. In the final line of his speech he invites all to Scone to watch him be crowned and reclaim what was stolen from him. After having examined Malcolm’s speech, it reveals how trusting and decisive Malcolm was and how Lady Macbeth was truly in charge during Macbeth’s reign. Malcolm is a perfect foil to show Macbeths weakness and Lady Macbeth’s power over him. This leaves the reader with the idea that in fact Macbeth was nothing more than a weak coward.