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The Great Chain of Being and 
the Wheel of Fortune
 The “Chain” is an ancient idea, but popular in 
medieval Christianity. 
 It supports the notion that there is a 
“hierarchy”, or natural inequality, in God’s 
universe. 
 In Shakespeare’s time, it was still popularly 
believed that people had to “know their place”. 
 Moving above your “station”, or marrying 
below your social status, was an insult to 
God.
Hecate says this about Macbeth: 
 “He shall spurn fate, scorn death and 
bear/ 
His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace and 
fear.” 
3.5.30-31
 A competing ontological notion was the Wheel of 
Fortune. 
 It was cyclical rather than linear. 
 The “Wheel” was a relatively pagan concept, 
popular in ancient Greece and Rome. 
 The goddess Fortunae (or Fate) was fickle and 
unreliable; good fortune would rarely last. What 
went up had to come down! 
 J.D. Duffy: “Once on the wheel, no one gets off 
until the descent has been made…”
 Scholars have linked the two concepts in the 
following way: 
 Those who ignored the Chain of Being, such as 
Macbeth and his wife, were throwing 
themselves onto the Wheel of Fortune. 
 J.D. Duffy: “A wise man would follow God’s 
law, and not surrender himself to fortune”. 
 This moral choice helps explain Macbeth’s 
tragic nature: he’s a noble man whose “tragic 
flaw” (A.C. Bradley) is ambition.
 If Macbeth has chosen to forsake his place on the 
Chain of Being in favour of the Wheel, is this an 
act of free will? 
 Look to the emissaries of fate and fortune, like the 
Weird Sisters. Are they determining Macbeth’s 
path? Are they messengers or agents? Or is 
Macbeth choosing his own path? 
 “Men at some time are masters of their fates; 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” 
(Julius Caesar: I.I.139-141)
 Duffy, J.D. “Introduction to Macbeth." The 
Tragedy of Macbeth. New York: Airmont, 
1965. xix-xxix. Print. 
 Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. 
Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1904. Print.

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The Two Worldviews of Macbeth

  • 1. The Great Chain of Being and the Wheel of Fortune
  • 2.
  • 3.  The “Chain” is an ancient idea, but popular in medieval Christianity.  It supports the notion that there is a “hierarchy”, or natural inequality, in God’s universe.  In Shakespeare’s time, it was still popularly believed that people had to “know their place”.  Moving above your “station”, or marrying below your social status, was an insult to God.
  • 4. Hecate says this about Macbeth:  “He shall spurn fate, scorn death and bear/ His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace and fear.” 3.5.30-31
  • 5.
  • 6.
  • 7.  A competing ontological notion was the Wheel of Fortune.  It was cyclical rather than linear.  The “Wheel” was a relatively pagan concept, popular in ancient Greece and Rome.  The goddess Fortunae (or Fate) was fickle and unreliable; good fortune would rarely last. What went up had to come down!  J.D. Duffy: “Once on the wheel, no one gets off until the descent has been made…”
  • 8.
  • 9.  Scholars have linked the two concepts in the following way:  Those who ignored the Chain of Being, such as Macbeth and his wife, were throwing themselves onto the Wheel of Fortune.  J.D. Duffy: “A wise man would follow God’s law, and not surrender himself to fortune”.  This moral choice helps explain Macbeth’s tragic nature: he’s a noble man whose “tragic flaw” (A.C. Bradley) is ambition.
  • 10.  If Macbeth has chosen to forsake his place on the Chain of Being in favour of the Wheel, is this an act of free will?  Look to the emissaries of fate and fortune, like the Weird Sisters. Are they determining Macbeth’s path? Are they messengers or agents? Or is Macbeth choosing his own path?  “Men at some time are masters of their fates; The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” (Julius Caesar: I.I.139-141)
  • 11.  Duffy, J.D. “Introduction to Macbeth." The Tragedy of Macbeth. New York: Airmont, 1965. xix-xxix. Print.  Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1904. Print.