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Shakespeare literary techniques
William Shakespeare common theme
Shakespeare literary techniques
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The famous Shakespearean tragedy of Macbeth follows the life of a lord by the name of Macbeth and his quest for power. The play details his unlawful rise to kingship, his consequential problems, and ends with his execution by another lord of Scotland named Macduff. Betrayal and treachery are some of the key ideas forming the foundation of the play, and these characteristics appear in many forms throughout the story. The characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth perfectly exemplify these fundamental ideas. Lady Macbeth manipulates others to commit vile acts of murder and betrayal. She convinces her husband Macbeth to follow through with his plans of killing the king, and in doing so, betrays both her king, the natural chain of being, and her femininity. …show more content…
Her character embodies many of the dark and evil sides of the play. One of the traits she possesses is her strong tendency to betray those around her for her own personal gain. One of these moments can be seen in her decision to betray King Duncan and convince her husband to murder him. Upon first receiving the letter from Macbeth detailing the witches' prophecy and his newly appointed title as Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth swiftly devises a plan to eliminate the King and give her husband the throne. This lack of any hesitation when committing treason against the throne proves her proneness to betray others. Lady Macbeth further cements this betrayal in the short period of time after learning of Macbeth's reluctance to commit the crime of murdering the king. She manipulates her husband to follow through by questioning his masculinity and uses his fierce pride against him. This treachery also upsets the natural order of power in the play. Lady Macbeth decides to change this order by force (the murder of the King). Upsetting the natural chain of being was not her final crime however. Lady Macbeth further betrays her femininity in her soliloquy, calling …show more content…
Macbeth's state of delusional paranoia is the repercussion of his crimes too. Unlike Lady Macbeth however, he is physically responsible for Duncan's murder. This act alone is enough to exemplify his tendency to commit vile acts of betrayal and treachery. However, he further goes on to send murderers after his once-good friend and fellow Lord Banquo, and Banquo's son Fleance, betraying their trust. Banquo did not pose a direct threat to Macbeth's life; Macbeth simply wanted to guarantee his uncontested rule over all of Scotland. As prophesied by the witches, Banquo's family would gain the throne after Macbeth. In an effort to prevent losing his family's claim to the throne and defend his own life, Macbeth chooses to kill Banquo and Banquo's son Fleance to cease their line of family, ensuring the continuation of royalty in Macbeth's family. Although this second murder was unsuccessful, the principles behind ordering it remain treacherous and evil. These crimes represent once again another disruption to the natural chain of being, with emphasis on the murder of King Duncan. By choosing to elevate his own position in this chain by murdering other people, he once again contributes to his destruction farther along in the play. This natural order is extremely important in Macbeth, and changing it causes negative repercussions to directly affect the person or persons responsible. This inexcusable betrayal is
Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fears his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family. Macbeth states, “For Banquo’s issue, I have filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murder 'd, put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man. to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings”(Shakspeare 3.1.64-69). Macbeth had committed murder, poisoned his own mind, and destroyed his soul only to end up benefiting Banquo’s heirs. Macbeth, being the paranoid character that he is, feels threatened by this and orders both Banquo and Fleance to be killed. In Act 3, Macbeth says that, “and mine eternal jewel, given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!” (Shakspeare 3.1.67-9). Seeing this choice of act, leads Macbeth’s blind ambition doing all he can, in order to remain where he is, even if he is ‘blind’ to what it going on and fails to truly understand the concept of his choices in killing Banquo, which only further deteriorates his mind because of his thirst for power, causing
Macbeth is the remaining contributor to turning himself into the power-hungry animal he is before he is finally taken down. Macbeth let himself get talked into killing Duncan; he rationalizes with himself to kill Banquo. He is too ambitious. As soon as the witches cast the prophecy that he would be King, Macbeth lets himself be jealous. Once it is an option, he realizes how divine it would be to be King. Now, Macbeth will do what is necessary to get there, even if he suffers terrible consequences. After killing Duncan, Macbeth suffers by not being able to speak. “As they seen me with these hangman’s hands,/List’ning their fear. I could not say ‘Amen’/When they did say ‘God bless us’” (2.2.38-40). Macbeth cannot utter the sacred words of God; moreover, this illustrates to the reader how terrible the consequences are psychologically for this murder. Macbeth is also jealous of the prophecy Banquo gets, which also drives him to kill Banquo. Soon after he kills Banquo, Macbeth hosts a banquet, where Banquo’s seat is left empty. Only Macbeth truly knows what has happened to Banquo. However, he hallucinates that Banquo is at the table with all the guests when Macbeth says, “Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee./Thy bones are marrowless; thy blood is cold;/Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with” (3.4.113-116). Macbeth is seeing Banquo at his banquet even after he ordered murders to kill Banquo and Fleance, Banquo’s son. Macbeth cannot believe his eyes, he is shocked at the sight of Banquo and he is losing his mind. Macbeth endures horrific hallucinations, falling into the depths of insanity. These two quotations in the play are very important because they emphasize how Macbeth has turned into a mon...
Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth is all about power, manipulation, violence and greed. The main character is Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth is his wife. Lady Macbeth has a major role in the manipulation and violence part of it. Even though Macbeth is the person who does the killings, Lady Macbeth plays the role of a malefactor along with him. She underestimates Macbeth’s manhood (III. IV.60-62, I. VII.48-49), and if he refuses or overthinks a command that she says to him, Lady Macbeth’s trick to manipulate is to deride and tease Macbeth (I. VII.36-45). She says: “Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ like the poor cat i' the adage?” (I. VII.45). Lady Macbeth knows that in order for her to become queen and for Macbeth to become king,
This is a change that shows his decisions’ motive being desire for power, not honor. The gruesome homicidal decision drives him to accept murder as a solution and pusts a hit out on two men, causing the death of Banquo and attempted murder of Fleance. These decisions even lead to his own death. Tied to the loss of his emotional well being, Macbeth also loses his sight on the life he used to have and the man he used to be. Not only do these action drive Macbeth to the ground, they greatly affect Lady Macbeth. After expressing her sorrow for the crimes, she commits suicide. Macbeth learns this and rambles of how there is no purpose in life. He
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
On the level of human evil, Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth is about the character Macbeth's bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden pathology of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. Perhaps, the play's most memorable character is Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth's ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play's famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
His eagerness for the throne, combined with his ambition allow other characters to coerce him into killing Duncan. The murder of Duncan was planned by Macbeth and his wife together, but he ordered the deaths of Banquo, Fleance, Macduff’s children, and Lady Macduff without any prompting from other characters; their murders were solely the result of Macbeth’s ambition. Macbeth is alone as he rationalizes his decision to kill Banquo and his son, “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me to th’ utterance,” (3.1.73-75). Instead of giving the throne to Banquo’s sons, as the prophecy suggests, Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and his son to prevent the prophecy from occurring. He makes the choice to murder Banquo purely due to his own ambition, without any assistance or prompting from other
To make sure that Macbeth have no chance to lose his crown from Banquo and his descendants, he decides to have two murderers kill Banquo and Fleance while they are away while Macbeth is at the banquet. He continues to believe in the witches prophecy and from his own choice, decides to kill Banquo. This can be seen with the quote from Macbeth "For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;/ For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;/ Put rancours in the vessel of my peace/Only for them..."(3.1.69-77). In the quote, Macbeth is requesting for faith to help him as he i through all the events that has happened at this point was due to his ambition and by his own choice. The death of Banquo caused by Macbeth had made tensions rise further and was not prophised by the witches but occurred due to Macbeths fear of Banquos descendants becoming king. His over-ambition was also discussed by the three witches and Hecate with them essentially tricking him with the prophecies. In the play, Hecate says "He shall spurn fate,/ scorn death,/ and bear his hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear./ And you all know, security/ Is mortals' chiefest enemy." (3.5 30-34). From the quote, we perceive that Macbeth thinks that he is able to control his destiny by killing King Duncan and Banquo to become and stay a king. From this, Macbeth's ambition and over-confidence with his choices cause his
Macbeth the noble, loyal and brave Thane of Glamis, the traitorous Thane of Cawdor and the murderer of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth the cruel, ruthless and heartless instigator of the murder and the women who motivates her husband to gain Kingship through the most brutal and inhumane means. A loving yet cold hearted pair, Macbeth and his Lady plan, plot and execute murders to gain the Scottish crown. Along the way they show their eminent differences and underlying similarities. Through their cold heartedness both achieve the ambitious dreams that lie close to their hearts. Macbeth to be crowned and his wife to see him crowned. But out of the murders rises an overlying feeling which seemingly neither has the strength to combat, the remorseful pangs of conscience. Finally the pair overcome by their actions both, succumb to this powerful and yet unseen faculty. Macbeth is murdered and his Lady commits suicide. The traits which the pair exhibit during the play share a common similarity and sameness but, are manifest at different points throughout. Both share ambition, creed and a blood thirsty desire, and through their underlying love for each other, they both finally achieve these ambitions which eventually lead to their downfall.
In William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the death of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s role in his murder is the most significant. But, there have been many influences towards Macbeth, such as the three witches and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has been seen throughout the novel to manipulate her husband and to make him go through with the murder. Without her persistence, King Duncan would have never been killed. This is due to the fact that Macbeth himself doesn’t want to kill Duncan. He is very skeptical in going through with the act. The three witches in the play are not as responsible as Lady Macbeth, because they never directly say that any malicious activities must occur. When Lady Macbeth first reads her husband’s letter, Lady Macbeth strongly things that the way to achieve power is to kill King Duncan. Furthermore, Macbeth himself, is not entirely convinced that he should murder in order to become king and is not nearly as responsible as his wife. Lady Macbeth is one who came up with the idea.
After Duncan’s death, Macbeth feels that Banquo is suspicious of him because he knows about the prophecy. With the goal of eliminating a possible threat, Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Macbeth convinces the murderers that he is not only their enemy but, “so is he mine; and in such bloody distance/ that every minute of his being thrusts/ against my near’st of life,” (III.i.119-121). Here Macbeth explains that Banquo is also his enemy, and that every minute Banquo is alive, is a threat to his own life. While Banquo may be suspicious, this is far from the truth. Banquo is Macbeth’s closest friend, and his willingness to kill him without hesitation shows how much he has changed. He is willing to harm not only his best friend, but also Banquo’s innocent son who may pose a threat in the distant future. Macbeth’s instinct for self-preservation outweighs his morals, and his extreme caution leads to the downfall of others. In doing so, he digs himself into an even deeper hole, and is surrounding himself in secrets in order to protect himself. This takes a toll on Macbeth mentally, because he fears that everyone is his enemy, and that he can only trust
Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair."
Lady Macbeth and her husbands downward spiral towards dark destruction is one the most famous of all time. We watch with pleasure as their horrible actions lead to their ultimate destruction. Lady Macbeth makes the choice to, as one source put it, lose her womanly virtues and become what she thinks is a man. It is this choice that leads to her unknowingly helping the witches in their desire to destroy Macbeth and ultimately her as well. She changes from a woman sure of these decisions to woman riddled with fear, corrupted in all possible manner – mind body and soul. Her ambition and power lead to her destruction. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass