Literary Devices Used In Macbeth

Do you like the story of Macbeth? If you do, you should know that it is written by William Shakespeare and is more commonly known as The Tragedy of Macbeth. There are many main characters in this play such as Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff, Fleance, and others too.. This is a play written about how Macbeth became the King of Scotland. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a Thane to King Duncan, to whom he is very loyal to. He then found out that he would, one day, become King himself. Because of that prophecy, he became very greedy and determined. After quite a bit a few murders, fueled by the knowledgy and the encouragement of his wife, in the midst of all the secrecy and everything happening during this time, Macbeth does finally

In some cases in Macbeth, dramatic irony is used, which is when the audience knows more than the character does and they anticipate for the character to realize what they, as the audience, already know. One example of this can be found in act one, the Second Witch says “all hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” (Macbeth 1.3. 49). At this point, Macbeth doesn’t know that he has already been given the position as the Thane, but he believes that what the Witches say is true and it influences his future. It isn’t until the next scene that Duncan makes it clear he has gave Macbeth this position. Another example would be also in act one, Duncan says, “there’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust” (Macbeth 1.4. 11-14). Duncan is saying how he trust Macbeth but the audience knows, unlike Macbeth, that he is suppose to become king but he isn't trustworthy at all. There are many other examples and types of irony found in the text, such as the ones mentioned in “An Essay by Harold Bloom.” Bloom says, “A. C. Bradley found in Macbeth more of a “Sophoclean irony” than anywhere else in Shakespeare, meaning by such irony an augmenting awareness in the audience far exceeding the protagonist’s consciousness that perpetually he is saying one thing, and meaning more than he himself understands in what he says. I agree with Bradley that Macbeth is the masterpiece of Shakespearean irony, which transcends dramatic, or Sophoclean, irony” (An Essay by Harold Bloom 16-17). Though there are still very many different examples of multiple different types of irony that can be found in Macbeth as the scenes