Macbeth and the Last King of Scotland Weighted Comparison
Morals and Intentions
Nicholas Garrigan from the film The Last King of Scotland and Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth have intimate relationships with their king. Many murders take place throughout both of the stories while the kings are in power. Garrigan and Lady Macbeth have the power to influence the kings. Readers of Macbeth and viewers of The Last King of Scotland might assume that Lady Macbeth and Nicholas Garrigan have the same motives and influence the kings to commit the horrendous murders. However, in further investigation Lady Macbeth and Nicholas Garrigan have extremely different morals and do not share the same intentions when advising the kings.
After hearing the witches, Macbeth writes of the prophesty to inform Lady Macbeth that he will become king. Her desire for her husband to be king drives her strongly to encourage him to murder King Duncan. However, Macbeth is not keen on the idea of murdering his king because they have a good relationship. Macbeth questions his own morals whereas Lady Macbeth does not and instantly badgers Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “What thou wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false/ and yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou’d’st have, great/ Glamis,/ That which cries ‘Thus thou must do,’ if thou have/ it, / and that which rather thou dost fear to do” (Mac. 1.5. 20-27). When finally Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill the king, Macbeth soon becomes the new king of Scotland because Duncan’s sons have fled Scotland. Nicholas Garrigan in The Last King of Scotland is a doctor who travels to Uganda for a new experience. Shortly after arriving, he is cheering with a crowd of Ugandans for the new president, Idi Amin. Garrigan does not assist Amin to become president like Lady Macbeth does with her husband Macbeth. Not only does Garrigan not assist Idi Amin in becoming president, Garrigan has not been informed of Amin’s true intentions for Uganda. When he is finally aware of the true works of Idi Amin, he is disgusted and
Nicholas Garrigan from the film The Last King of Scotland and Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth have intimate relationships with their king. Many murders take place throughout both of the stories while the kings are in power. Garrigan and Lady Macbeth have the power to influence the kings. Readers of Macbeth and viewers of The Last King of Scotland might assume that Lady Macbeth and Nicholas Garrigan have the same motives and influence the kings to commit the horrendous murders. However, in further investigation Lady Macbeth and Nicholas Garrigan have extremely different morals and do not share the same intentions when advising the kings.
After hearing the witches, Macbeth writes of the prophesty to inform Lady Macbeth that he will become king. Her desire for her husband to be king drives her strongly to encourage him to murder King Duncan. However, Macbeth is not keen on the idea of murdering his king because they have a good relationship. Macbeth questions his own morals whereas Lady Macbeth does not and instantly badgers Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “What thou wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false/ and yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou’d’st have, great/ Glamis,/ That which cries ‘Thus thou must do,’ if thou have/ it, / and that which rather thou dost fear to do” (Mac. 1.5. 20-27). When finally Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill the king, Macbeth soon becomes the new king of Scotland because Duncan’s sons have fled Scotland. Nicholas Garrigan in The Last King of Scotland is a doctor who travels to Uganda for a new experience. Shortly after arriving, he is cheering with a crowd of Ugandans for the new president, Idi Amin. Garrigan does not assist Amin to become president like Lady Macbeth does with her husband Macbeth. Not only does Garrigan not assist Idi Amin in becoming president, Garrigan has not been informed of Amin’s true intentions for Uganda. When he is finally aware of the true works of Idi Amin, he is disgusted and
Cited: Last King of Scotland, The. Dir. Kevin Mcdonald. With Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006. DVD. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.