Macbeth in 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare

Macbeth

PLAN

• Shakespeare uses Macbeth to present ambition as dangerous through the use of foreshadowing and Tragedy
• ·         “Norway herself, with terrible numbers,/Assisted by that the most disloyal traitor/The Thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict”
• The audience will be aware that those who conscientiously object will be exposed thus they determine Macbeth’s fate before he does as his ambitions and power-hungry mien seems to blind him. His lack of knowledge diminishes his power as Shakespeare makes Macbeth himself impose ideas of how betrayal is unscrupulous to the audience, for he condemns his predecessor (Thane of Cawdor).

Shakespeare uses parallels to present Macbeth as a tragic hero who has fallen. In Act 1, the novel begins with Duncan and the Captain’s negotiations. Macbeth soon enters on stage and explains how they Thane of Cawdor was the “most disloyal traitor” as synonymous to when Macbeth betrayed Duncan. The use of “disloyal” may foreshadow Macbeth becoming “disloyal” himself once the witches evince their prophecies to Macbeth, for they guaranteed him the position of Thane of Cawdor. “Disloyal” conveys a sly nature of someone and that they are untrustworthy, the negative nature of the word may cause the audience to feel more alert towards the characters being introduced afterwards. Macbeth’s regicide to prove his ‘disloyal’ mien, allows the audience to compare the punishment of the previous and current Thane of Cawdor in the play. A contemporary audience may have thought the worse was to occur to Macbeth as the King was often believed to be God’s representative. Thus Shakespeare makes Macbeth commit a barbaric crime of essentially killing god, so having the parallel in the exposition allows the audience to emotionally feel the rising action arise from Act 1 Scene 1 to Act 2, scene 2, when Macbeth becomes a ‘traitor’ to Duncan by killing the King. The parallel allows the audience to witness Macbeth’s hypocritical nature which may indeed be considered as his tragic flaw as opposed to the initial heroic (‘brave’, ‘valiant’) impressions the audience may have gotten from Duncan’s praise. Shakespeare uses the parallels to entice the audience emotionally from the beginning which will prepare them for a great catharsis and release, thus relieving the audience. Moreover, another parallel may be the use of Duncan’s death and Banquo. Duncan’s death may have motivated Macbeth to have committed further homicide which presents Macbeth’s hypocritical nature (he promised Banquo “glory” and instead doomed him by murdering him) thus presenting his destructive tragic flaw.

Furthermore, Macbeth is presented as a leader of great power through the use of iambic pentameter. Only characters who Shakespeare thought were most important spoke by the meters otherwise the rest spoke in free verse. Power could be shown the iambic pentameter as York Notes says: Lady Macbeth "speaks prose when she is mentally disorientated. Lady Macduff begins by speaking in blank verse but as the pressure on her increases prose takes over. She regains the power of blank verse – and so dignity – as she confronts the murderers. As for the Porter, his speech is quite overtly obscene as well as being an ordinary person's commentary on the 'hell' (II.3.1) of a place he is in."

‘Bellona’s bridegroom’ – This metaphor/allusion to Roman mythology references Bellona, the goddess of war and effectively compares Macbeth to Mars, God of war in the process. He’s quite favourably depicted as some sort of supreme being.

In 'Macbeth', Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a thoughtful individual although his nature begins to change as shown through language, structure and form.