Pathos In Macbeth

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In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a prophecy that Macbeth will be king causes him to murder the king to take the throne himself. After Macbeth murders the king however, he descends into madness trying to cover his tracks. Eventually he returns to the witches from whence the prophecy came and is met with another prophecy: beware Macduff. After hearing this prophecy, Macbeth hires murderers to kill Macduff and his family. Instead of just having Macduff hear the news of his family’s murder Shakespeare includes Act IV scene ii to create sympathy for Macduff through the use of pathos and to make Macbeth seem even more brutal.
Pathos is any literary device that is used to elicit pity, sorrow, or compassion from the reader. Shakespeare uses pathos …show more content…

Lady Macduff flees chased by the murderers and is also killed. This generates pity for Macduff because his family has been pointlessly slaughtered in an attack aimed at him Shakespeare includes scene ii in Act IV for two main reasons. The first reason Shakespeare includes this scene is because it “creates sympathy and pity for Macduff’s family” (Gordon). This scene creates sympathy and pity for Macduff because both his son and his wife are killed. The second reason Shakespeare includes this scene to make “Macbeth look even more brutal” (Gordon). Scene ii makes Macbeth seem even more brutal because Macbeth hires the murderers to kill Macduff’s family. Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play about a man named Macbeth who, when tempted by prophecy, murders the king to take his crown. Macbeth then drives himself mad trying to wipe the blood from his hands. Among the madness Macbeth seeks solace from the witches who told him to beware Macduff. In his paranoid state, Macbeth sends murderers to kill Macduff and his family. Shakespeare includes the Macduff Massacre scene rather than just having another character break the news to him to show how brutal Macbeth really

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Pathos In Macbeth

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