Shakespeare’s characters and themes in “Macbeth” are strongly developed right from the beginning. Shakespeare uses a variety of techniques to establish his themes and characters, via the dialogue and stage directions in his play. The introductory actions of the characters, along with the location and weather of the scene, work in conjunction with the language devices to quickly establish the key characters and themes.
A prominent theme of Macbeth is the supernatural. Shakespeare uses the witches as the centre of the supernatural and mystery in the play. Shakespeare establishes an atmosphere of evil connected to the witches by setting the scene during a storm to give a dark eerie mood. The isolated setting and anonymous witches further hints at a separate supernatural world. Shakespeare keeps the scene short for impact and dramatic effect. The witch’s speech is trochaic and rhyming which contrasts with the blank verse the rest of the play is written in. The trochaic rhythm is disturbing and pessimistic; it’s an unnatural rhythm that sounds ritualistic like a chanting a spell, reinforcing supernatural theme. Their lines are very short for impact, and the speech seems to be split three ways as though the witches are finishing off each other’s sentences,
‘Second Witch: Upon the heath
Third Witch; There to meet with Macbeth’
This establishes the witches as a joint force which makes them seem more powerful. The witches call on animal helpers ‘I come graymalkin…Paddock calls’ use of inhuman helpers is further evidence of the supernatural and evil at work.
The Essay on How Does Shakespeare Present The Character Of Henry V
Henry V is presented as a strong and capable King. Is this an accurate description of Shakespeare's Henry V? Henry VI became King by taking the crown off Richard II, Henry received the crown in 1413 after his father died. Some say Henry V's behaviour was a punishment for his father's crime. Many people thought Henry would take advantage of his rights. People got this idea because of his wild, ...
In the witches scene Shakespeare introduces the theme of nothing is as it seems. He uses antithesis in the witch’s line, such as ‘When the battle’s lost and won’, ‘lost’ and ‘won’ have conflicting meanings the same as ‘lesser’ and ‘greater’ in the line ‘lesser than Macbeth but greater’. The most famous contradicting line the witches speak is ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’. The antithesis shows how everything about the witches is confused and conflicting and adds to a theme in the play that nothing is as it seems.
Macbeth’s opening line immediately establishes a connection with the witches. ‘So fair and foul a day I have not seen’, he eerily repeats the witch’s words and uses antithesis suggesting he may be the centre of much dramatic confusion in the play. Macbeth also seems to be a very inconsistent character. In the Scene two Macbeth is spoken of by the King and the Captain, he is portrayed of as a war hero and noble man ‘brave Macbeth . . .O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman’, but later begins to plot the same King’s death.
Surrounding Macbeth is a theme of darkness and bloodshed; we first meet the character in a desolate, stormy setting in the aftermath of a bloody battle. Other than the King’s praising of Macbeth everything else about him seems to have dark connotations. In scene two Macbeth is being praised, but for murder in battle; in scene one the evil witches mention his name. This theme is contributed to by Shakespeare’s use of language. He uses imagery to stir the imagination with words that immediately invoke disturbing pictures; when Macbeth is fighting his conscience he says ‘Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th’inventor’, the victim will have his revenge. When Lady Macbeth is persuading Macbeth to murder Duncan she says she’d rather kill her own child than break her promise,
‘I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked it from my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn
The Essay on Battles Lost And Won Macbeth King Witches
The play opens with three witches. First WitchWhen shall we meet again Second witchWhen the hurly-burlys done When the battles lost and won All Fair is foul, and foul is fair (I. 1. 1-13) The tone of the entire play has been set. With unsuspecting eyes, the first reading of this, one would not know that this is the witches way of saying that there will be chaos, and lots of it to come throughout ...
As you have to this.’
The graphic detail is disturbing and gives us a frightening image. Finally the use of metaphor further conjures shocking images.
A central theme is ambition. Macbeth’s desire to become king, by any method even murder, is driven by ambition. The play shows how ambition that is unchecked by moral rights can lead to chaos and havoc. Shakespeare highlights this by having Duncan the King as the murder victim. Duncan is considered a good king. He represents the whole of Scotland, killing him wrongs every person in Scotland. In Shakespeare’s time Duncan, as king, would be considered God’s messenger; apart from angels, the King is closest to God in the divine order. Killing the King disrupts the order which will lead to chaos.
Lady Macbeth is the other crucial factor in Macbeth’s ascent to the throne. She is also driven by ambition to assist her husband to the throne. Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s strongest female characters; this is partly established by her first scene being her plotting Duncan’s death. She also recognises that Macbeth has the ambition to become king but not the nature, ‘I fear thy nature, It is too full of the milk of human kindness’. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to express Lady Macbeth’s emotions to the audience. Her strength is apparent in the way she puts aside her femininity and calls forth evil spirits so she can do what is necessary to kill Duncan. She is fully aware that she is stronger than her husband and that she will have to push him into murder. She ends up using a variety of devices to manipulate Macbeth.
Banquo is the voice of reason to Macbeth. He represents morality. He takes a very different outlook on the prophecies of the witches, ‘Good sir, why do you … seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?’; his attitude also stays consistent. Shakespeare uses Banquo to represent normality and to compare the behaviour of the other characters with.
Shakespeare’s diverse use of language is his strongest tool to put across his characters and themes. His most striking devices are the use of imagery, antithesis, soliloquies and metaphor. Using them he establishes in the play a dark mood and contrasting characters. The performance of the play will further enhance his devices and acting will contribute to how the audience perceive his characters.
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... Macbeth s ruthless ambition. In the tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare has shown that Macbeths actions are the result of his own ambitions to be king. ... get Macbeth. Macduff figures out that Macbeth killed Duncan and is not suitable to be king. He also knows Macbeth killed ... favorable character trait, when carried to the point of obsession, can often have disastrous effects. William Shakespeare ...
