A key theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the way in which pride unmakes the central character and brings about his downfall. In this way Macbeth adheres to the pattern of classical Greek tragedy. In contrast with Macbeth, King Priam (from Malouf’s Ransom), is a depiction of a humble king; he lays aside the honour of his kingly offices in order to pursue what he believes is the right course of action. In a comparison of the two texts, pride and humility are therefore clear determinants of the Good King/ Bad King dichotomy.
Macbeth is introduced as a consummate warrior, a hero of Scotland, and seemingly loyal chieftain:
"For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—
Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valor’s minion carved out his passage
[through the enemy ranks]” (Act I, Scene 2)
Battlefield successes have brought him renown, the king's gratitude, and…show more content… To learn a little of what that might be, and what it is to bear it as others do?’ … He hopes daring to perform a new innovative act will ‘stand forever as proof of what I was’ (p.90). Having ‘stepped into a space that till now was uninhabited and found a way to fill it’, he discovers curiosity, humility, and a sense of his own humanity.” (Edwards, 7-8)
The characters of Priam and Achilles are juxtaposed throughout the novel. Achilles is a man steeped in violence and rage, with a reputation for fierce pride. Deiphobus, Priam’s son warns:
Do you really imagine that a man who has no respect for the body of his enemy, for the laws of honourable behaviour before men and the gods, who in the frenzy of his pride and wrath, his madness, daily violates the corpse of the noblest hero our world has known, that such a man would not take delight in hauling down your kingly image and dragging that too in the dust?
