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Literary devices Shakespeare uses in macbeth
Examples of literary techniques in macbeth
Examples of literary techniques in macbeth
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Macbeth Essay
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is an ominous tale that illustrates the danger in violating the Great Chain of Being, the hierarchy of things in God's ordered universe. The Chain ranked all of creation and human society as well. It ranked kings above nobles and nobles above the poor. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan and assumed the throne, the Chain was violated and chaos resulted. The atmosphere of the play symbolized this resulting turmoil. Specifically, light and darkness were used to exemplify the unnatural chaos and ominous tone of the work. The role of light and the role of darkness relates to the chaos resulting from the violation of the Great Chain of Being.
The very first time light/darkness was seen was in Act 1, Scene 3. Shakespeare compares the witches to “instruments of darkness” (I.3.23). The comparison of the witches to "instruments of darkness" reveals their truly foul nature. Shakespeare is implying through Banquo that the prophecies of the weird sisters will only bring about Macbeth's downfall. In addition, since Macbeth listens to the witches, h...
He says “Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (Act I, scene iv, ll.50-53). This is demonstrated again after the murder of Banquo when Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth “Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, and with thy bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale”(Act III, scene ii, ll.46-50). This quote from the play also shows the importance of night and darkness to Macbeth’s plot of killing Banquo. He is asking the night to come and hide and cover up the things he has done to Banquo. These examples from Macbeth show that throughout the play, Macbeth wants the darkness to conceal his evil deeds.
The play “Macbeth”, by Shakespeare, contains many motifs. Two very powerful motifs that Shakespeare illustrates in this play are blood, and weather. Blood is important because it shows that this play is violent, and the blood physically shows that these characters in the play are warriors. Weather plays an important role because it usually foreshadows events that are about to take place. For example, a storm usually foreshadows terrible things, like death and destruction.
When Macbeth kills King Duncan in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, there is a breakdown of order throughout Scotland. This breakdown is evident through three main factors; within the person, mainly through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, through the kingdom and through nature. From a completely ordered nation into the depths of chaos - Scotland collapsed from the lack of strong leadership. In the end, when resolution is reached, this chaos is reversed and Scotland is restored to a peaceful nation as it was before Macbeth's reign.
During a low point in Macbeth’s life he faces struggles with power, ambition and the thoughts of death surrounding him. Grabbing ahold of him strongly he is shown many ideas that are very promising at first, especially when the witches tell him of all of the control he could have, he wants the power, the fame and will do anything to get it. In act 1, scene 3, lines 140-145 Macbeth is recalling a conversation with the witches which brings about a thought in him of murder and the ambition to kill Duncan. Creating this supremacy trip that we see later, almost causing total insanity. In this we see Macbeth come across three of the major themes in the play, power, death and ambition as he struggles to make the right decision with what the three witches tell him.
In the play Macbeth, or more commonly referred to as the Cursed Scottish Play, the multitude of death and betrayal covers up or destroys the potential heroism of many characters, except for that of Macduff. His purity, courage, and sacrifice throughout the course of the play enable this hero to eventually orchestrate the fall of Macbeth.
Light and darkness represent the tragedies that took place throughout the play. Light represents the good things that happen and darkness represents bad or evil things. One example of light is when Macbeth was given the thane of Gladis he was very elated and there was sunshine at that time. But for darkness its the opposite all the bad events took place during the night for example when Macbeth goes to kill king Duncan because of greed he wasn't happy with the position he received he wanted to be king so he can have more power . Another example of Darkness is when the witches come to tell him his prophecy (I, iii, 125). This is a type of tragic situation because if the witches hadn't appeared and told Macbeth that he would be king he wouldn't have so much lust. In this scene Macbeth describes the witch as an ugly old lady dressed in black. The color black represents the witch’s evil nature. Shakespeare used this traditional symbol through the play to focus on the Elizabethan concept of the Great Chain. When the chain is in order everything is good and there is light. When the chain is violated bad things happen and there is evil and darkness. When Macbeth committed the act of killing Banqu...
When I thought about the role that the word "night" would play in the tragic play "Macbeth," I found that there were a variety of possibilities. Immediately, I thought of the nighttime as a period of rest and revitalization. I expected that this would allow characters to recover from the day's many demands. Secondly, I connected the night to the unknown. In the night's cloak of darkness, many more things could go undiscovered than in the revealing light of day. Next, I thought that the night would mean vulnerability. As the evening closes in, everyone begins to wind down, not expecting any real action until the breaking of the dawn. In addition, while one is sleeping, they are susceptible to almost anything. The most logical time to make an attack would definitely be after nightfall. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is night's correlation with evilness. As children, we were all afraid of nasty monsters that lurked in the darkness of night. The night has long been believed to host supernatural beings and occurrences. As I read the play and came upon the word "night," I was surprised to discover that all four aspects of my hypothesis were correct. First, in act I, we see the first usage, night as a period for rest and revitalization. In scene iii, lines 19-23, the First Witch says,
... a dark setting used which involved supernatural events, while the light setting was used for last battle, when Macbeth was slain at the end to show the restoration of peace and honesty. Thus the symbolism of light and darkness representing good and evil in the play emphasizes the theme of corruption of power.
Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery of night and darkness in Macbeth. This imagery is used to portray an image of a desolate, deranged place, full of tumult and disorder. Darkness and night imagery is also used to create an atmosphere of malevolence and misleading obscurity. Images of night and darkness are often used at times in the play when a death has occurred, or some other tragic event. Shakespeare also uses imagery of night and darkness in scenes with the witches, to make them seem evil and unruly. When someone is doing or thinking of something evil, there is often imagery of night and darkness, which helps to causes it to appear more evil and deranged. The images of night and darkness make the play more entertaining and captivating, which maintains the audience’s attention.
The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.
The first example of Shakespeare’s use of night and darkness in the appearances of the three witches. The witch sisters are the main sources of evil within the play MacBeth. When the witches are in an act, storms or the darkness of the woods always accompanies them. This shows great evilness. "
Shakespeare often uses darkness and will frequently set the scene as a dark and stormy night. This depicts that evil happenings are occurring or are about to take place. There are at least three examples of this in "Macbeth". "The night has been unruly: where we lay,/Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,/Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,..." (Act 2 scene 3 line 54-56). "Three score and ten I can remember well;/Within the volume of which time I have seen/Hours of dreadful and things strange, but this sore night/Hath trifled former knowings." (Act 2 scene 4 line 1-4). Both these quotes are talking about the night of Duncan’s death. They are showing the comparisons between the natural unruliness and the anomalous disaster. "And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp." (Act 2 scene 4 line 7) is a metaphor for both the murder of Duncan and the night in which it transpired. A dark and stormy image is also portrayed when pernicious characters (ie. the witches, Macbeth and the murderers) meet.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is full of supernatural forces and events. These supernatural forces were a very big role in the creation of a suspenseful atmosphere as well as in the development of the character Macbeth. Additionally, they justified his changing personality, beliefs, and morals. The inclusion of prophetical witches, ghosts, apparitions and visions eventually led to Macbeth’s tragic downfall.
In Macbeth there are many examples of light verses dark imagery. In Macbeth light is represents peace. Darkness represents horrible events or death. In the beginning of the play Macbeth started out as a friendly guy that would not kill someone who does not deserve it. He started out in light by killing the traitors to the king. Later on in the play he becomes greedy and kills King Duncan to take his place. Once he kills Duncan he turns into this killing machine. Lady Macbeth started out the play on in the dark side, she wanted to have no feeling for anything that she did, and she just wanted power. Later on she became guilty and started sleep walking; she became insane and committed suicide. In the beginning of the play all of the murders were committed in darkness. This changes once the three murders kill Banquo, he is killed in torch light.
In the opening scene of the play, the entrance of the three witches depicts the first presence of supernatural in Macbeth. The presence of the supernatural forces of the witches was accompanied by the dark, gloomy and thunderous ambience, perhaps functioning as a foreshadowing of future events that involves evil, wickedness and darkness. This is important as it gives the audience an idea of what might happen later in the play. For example, we see that later on in the play, Macbeth turned evil and wicked, killing an old and honourable King Duncan and a loyal friend, Banquo. I take particular note of the significance of darkness as it was later used by Macbeth when he calls upon the "seeling Night" (Act III. Scene ii. Line 46) which `makes clear vision impossible', as a way to cover up his evil deeds. Foreshadowing of `evilness' which is also a theme in the play is also created when the witches, before leaving the first scene, cried in unison that "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (Act I. Scene ii. Line 11). This line suggests and gives the audience a foreshadow that ...