Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
Shakespeare uses a good range of language devices to show Macbeths shifts in power throughout the play. Techniques such as symbolism, emotive language and masculine iambic pentameter along with many others that I will be talking about were used effectively by Shakespeare. Firstly in act 1, scene 5 symbolic gesture is employed by Shakespeare to represent his plot of power shifts and the
Shakespeare presents the flaws in Macbeth’s character using prophecies from the witches, juxtaposition in his soliloquys, and Lady Macbeth slowly manipulating him to do deeds that in the end lead to his demise. In Act 1 Scene 2 Shakespeare uses 2 characters talking about Macbeth to portray the idea that Macbeth is a loyal, brave and tenacious character and he uses imagery to show this. The sergeant tells us that Macbeth “with smok’d with bloody execution, like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage.” The imagery of “valour’s minion” is used to suggest that Macbeth is Valour’s favourite person and that he is the bravest person other than Valour himself. The imagery used to suggest that he is also a very violent person, able to commit acts that were perhaps disturbed is “smok’d with bloody execution.” This quote tells us that Macbeth is perhaps considered a violent person, but it is acceptable because it is for the King, therefore it is the right reason. In Act 2 Scene 1, just before Macbeth kills the King, we see signs of his psychological destruction when he hallucinates about the dagger.
“Macbeth Essay” In Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, the use of motif is extremely prevalent and not only adds depth to the play itself but also teach valuable lessons about life, the world, morality and humanity. A motif, a recurring idea, phrase, object, situation, or symbol that possesses a deeper meaning, is commonly used to illuminate and unify a written piece. Among the many motifs included by Shakespeare, two significant and valuable motifs are the “unclean hands” and the “sleep no more” motifs. These two motifs present the theme of guilt, the driving force behind Macbeth’s actions and ultimately the driving force of the play following King Duncan’s death. The recurrent “unclean hands” motif establishes the torturous and debilitating feeling of guilt that stains ones soul and conscience after having committed an evil act.
William Shakespeare through one of his most well known plays portrays a tragic downfall of a king through his ambition and human weakness. Shakespeare develops the play Macbeth by showing the changes in the protagonist and the effects others have on him. Shakspeare's use of detail helps to show the changes in Macbeth through a gradual process. Before actually completing his horrendous act of killing the much loved King Duncan, Macbeth suffers mental conflict "having no spurs to prick the side of my intent" between the "vaulting ambition which leaps over itself and falls on the other" and the "deep damnation of his (Duncan's) taking off." At this point in time, scene 7 of the first act, Macbeth exposes sensitivity
“Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague! See what a surge(?) is laid upon your hate That heaven finds means to kills yours joys with love” (V, iii, 291-293) “For there never was a story of more woe, then this of Juliet and her Romeo” (V, iii, 309-310) Tragedy- Reinforced by the death of Mercutio as it is seen by Levin as quite an ironic end, as he has been the satirist- “represents the play moving from Romantic comedy to Romantic tragedy.” Comparing Comedy & Tragedy- Tragedy tends to isolate where comedy bring together, to reveal the uniqueness of individuals rather than what they have in common with others.
Richard at the beginning of the play reveals his plot to kill his brother Clarence in order to eliminate successors to the throne. Act 1 Shakespeare’s use of pun in the line ‘Brother, farewell,’ is said by the Duke of Gloucester with such earnestness that it is interpreted as a simple departure by George, however, there is an underlying message of ‘rest in peace Clarence’ which is later exposed in Richard’s aside. In Act 5, after the brutal death of Richard, pondering how England has remained under a time of tyranny and betrayal, with the use of alliteration, Richmond says as a part of his ending speech “brother blindly shed the brother’s blood”. This, while emphasising the greed of Richard where he has lost all morality and killed his biological brother in order to gain power, further emphasises Shakespeare’s indirect intention to bring forward the theme of karma. It also targets Elizabethan audience obliquely as it displays Shakespeare as an authentic man who believes in fate.
However, the most incredible of all these passages is found in Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 164-177, where Macbeth contemplates his inner thoughts to himself. Here, Macbeth speaks to time, providing the audience with a more in depth image of its importance. Also, Macbeth’s diction is short and fierce, further pushing the play’s theme of insanity slowly taking over Macbeth’s mind. Lastly, the passage faultlessly illustrates Macbeth’s fatal flaw of ambition slowly ruining his inner being. With these things taken into account, it will be effortless for one to show just how lovely this passage is
Macbeth's flaw is clearly his ambition because he says so himself almost immediately after hearing the witches' prophecy. As he is travelling down the path of his downfall, his disturbances are clearer because his ambition gets in the way. The act that Macbeth committed was called regicide in Shakespearean times and was seen as an act against God natural order. Shakespeare revolves the play around regicide because the king at that time James I was a victim of this and he also was very interested in witchcraft which is why Shakespeare used the three witches in this play. Some might say that Macbeth is certainly a play 'fit for a king'.
Hamlet in his first soliloquy demonstrates his disgust that his mother has allied herself in love and in politics with her late husband’s brother, so soon after his death, “frailty, thy name is woman... to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets”. Claudius is clearly established as the villain in Hamlet, murdering his own brother and then plotting to kill Hamlet. He lies and is deceitful toying with the notion that the appearance of things is not their reality. The audience is privy to the ‘reality’ of Claudius ‘deed’, and of his guilt, through an aside, climactically stating, “then is my deed to my most painted word. O heavy burden!”.