On Tuesday, the unofficial William Shakespeare Twitter account appeared to compare President Trump to Macbeth.



I think our country sinks beneath the yoke:

It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash

Is added to her wounds. — William Shakespeare (@Wwm_Shakespeare) January 22, 2019



Why do I say this is a comparison of Trump to Macbeth?

First, because that quote from Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is a lament of the despotic King Macbeth by his opponents. Many of Trump's critics present him as a wannabe despot who is damaging the nation. Second, because Shakespeare's play has previously been linked to Trump. Michael Wolff's book on the Trump White House, Fire and Fury, is an adaption of King Macbeth's lament that his existence is "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Note that Trump is often described by his enemies as a bloviating fool.

Still, assuming this is an effort to deride Trump, the comparison to Macbeth is a poor one for a few reasons.

For a start, where Macbeth is a murderous tyrant and unjust usurper of the throne, Trump, whatever you think of him, is the elected president of the world's greatest democracy. At this most basic level of that central Shakespearean theme, power, the divergence between Trump and Macbeth could hardly be striking. Beyond their political morality, however, Trump and Macbeth also retain different personalities. While both men are defined by ambition as an end in itself, Macbeth is a far more pathetic creature. Macbeth is an honored warrior who transitions to great power and dishonor and comes to loathe himself. Few objective observers could conclude that Trump either loathes himself or is a murderer.

But there's another problem with this Shakespeare tweet. It implies that the nation, in this case America, is sinking into a despairing decline. That's just not the case. While we face great challenges such as the national debt and geopolitical adversaries, and while our politics has become too partisan, America remains strong. Our institutions continue to hold, our democracy continues to thrive, and our economy is booming in service of all our people.

All of this leads my mind toward a more apt Shakespearean quote for our time, a quote from another king, the protagonist of Shakespeare's finest play, "Henry V." It's a quote that matches our present challenges to our country's relentless spirit.

"Let me speak proudly: tell the constable: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirched With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host — Good argument, I hope, we will not fly — And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim ..."