‘A good and virtuous nature may recoil in an imperial charge’ Macbeth IV.iii, 18-19.

It’s easy to be critical of people in leadership.  We’ve all had a boss we can’t stand, an insufferable manager or a selfish captain.  We are endlessly confronted in the news by politicians who have been caught fiddling their expenses or being ‘economical with the truth.  As a result, cynicism often comes as standard, especially in an election year.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a leader of undoubted quality is seduced into taking the crown of Scotland by force.  What follows, as you’ll know, is a trail of disaster, murder and wickedness, all summed up in Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest play.

Towards the end, when the prospects for Scotland are at their bleakest, Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne, makes a simple observation concerning Macbeth. “A good and virtuous nature”, he says, “may recoil in an imperial charge”.  Without trying to excuse the tyrant’s behaviour, he recognises that Macbeth’s treachery isn’t necessarily inherent, but that his character has been twisted.  The Victorian historian Lord Acton described the process succinctly: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.  Leadership, in other words, is a very dangerous place to be.

Christians believe that Jesus was the only person who ever managed to demonstrate a ‘good and virtuous nature’ completely and consistently, without ever failing.  His is a tough example to follow, and in a season when so many people have been clamouring for our votes, it’s no bad thing to remember the corrosive nature of power and to be wary of candidates’ motives.

But it’s also important to remember that these are not, by and large, bad people, even if they’re not perfect.  By offering themselves for public service they’re actually doing something good and virtuous.  Our responsibility is to hold them to account – to keep them honest when they’re tempted to falter, and to remember that, however fallibly human they are, in opting to serve, they’re reflecting Jesus more than we (or they) might realise.

Apropos nothing, I played Malcolm in Macbeth at the Theatre Royal, York, in 1996.