1.
Tragedy – A form of drama which originated in Ancient Greece containing epic plots focusing upon the lives of heroic characters, often ending with their downfall. The language is highly poetic addressing serious issues such as good versus evil, love and jealousy, greed and power. The hero and protagonist of the play is often seen struggling with his own inner demons tormented by a conflict between his own selfish desires or consuming passions and his moral sense of what is right. A lot of characters end up dead in
Shakespeare’s tragedies such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and
Macbeth.
2. Tragic hero – This is the protagonist in a tragedy. In Shakespearean
tragedy this is always a man of noble or aristocratic birth, who
possesses many noble and admirable qualities, but whose downfall
is brought about by a tragic flaw or weakness in his character. In
case of Macbeth his tragic flaw is his self-seeking “ambition”.
3.
The Great Chain of Being
– During Elizabethan and Jacobean times (James 1) people believed in the Great Chain of Being or a natural order ordained by God in which every living creature had its proper place as a link in that chain. This idea is also related to a hierarchy of life according to which everything had its special place, from God, Angels, Saints, King and Nobles down to the lowest life forms such as serfs, rats, snakes and spiders. Essentially so long as this natural order was not disturbed society or the State would function harmoniously. However, the balance or equilibrium in society is upset when this natural order is interfered with by the conduct of human beings. For example, when Macbeth gives into his “vaulting ambition” and murders the rightful King this damages a major link in the Great Chain of Being and results in the corrosion or corruption of other links in the chain. Hence society and the natural order is thrown into chaos.
4.
The Divine Right of Kings – This was the belief that the King was appointed to rule on earth by God and was God’s representative on earth. This meant that he was virtually infallible and could do no wrong and had absolute power over all his subjects. Therefore, when Macbeth murderers King Duncan to usurp his throne he has
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committed a crime against God himself, killing God’s representative on earth and this unleashes chaos in the world of men as well as upsetting the natural world; for example, day seems like night and horses eat each other after Duncan’s slaughter.
5.
Kingship – This term is concerned with the issue of what it means to be a King or ruler. Duncan is described as “innocent” and compared to a “newborn babe”. He is clearly a good King who rules with wisdom and justice. In contrast to this Macbeth is a usurper King and a bad King. He knows he has usurped the throne of Scotland, obtaining the “golden round” through treachery and murder. As he feels increasingly insecure and threatened in his role as King he becomes more and more of a tyrant and despot ruling by fear and terrorizing his subjects. The King is seen as the head of the nation and if the head is sick, corrupt and evil this infects the rest of society or the body politic like a disease or contagion ( infection).
6.
Soliloquy – A special kind of monologue (long uninterrupted speech in drama) used by Shakespeare’s characters, in which the innermost thoughts of the character are revealed to the audience.
Therefore the audience is in possession of knowledge and understanding about a character which other characters in the play do not possess. This often results in dramatic irony . For example, it is ironic that Duncan trusts Macbeth utterly, making him Thane of Cawdor after executing the first Thane of Cawdor who betrayed him. Yet Macbeth’s contemplation of murdering this good king is confirmed by his first soliloquy in 1vii – “If it were done..”
Another and related form of dramatic irony is shown through the behaviour of the characters, such as Lady Macbeth, whose hypocrisy is evident in 1vi. when she welcomes Duncan to her castle, behaving like an “honoured hostess” when actually planning the murder of her “honoured” guest.
7.
Dramatic Aside
– This is when a character is speaking onstage in the presence of other characters but the audience suspends its disbelief, accepting that the other characters cannot hear what is being said. This is a common dramatic device used in theatre again resulting in dramatic irony. A prime example of the effectiveness of the dramatic aside is when Duncan announces that he has decided to make his son Malcolm his heir and Macbeth’s real feelings are indicated by the aside; “The Prince of Cumberland – that is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap”, …Of
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course the other actors on stage can hear his words but the audience buys into the theatrical convention of suspending its disbelief, by imagining that the characters cannot hear what is being said.
8.
Paradox
– Something is a paradox or paradoxical when it is contradictory.
This can relate to both behaviour and language. It is paradoxical that Macbeth appears to be a loyal servant of King
Duncan and is described as “Bellona’s bridegroom” ( a god of war protecting the King) and seems to be a loyal subject, yet secretly contemplates how he can replace Duncan as King. The play is full of many paradoxes in terms of language. This is often when an expression seems to contradict itself with seemingly opposite meanings. For example, the witches set the tone of deception and equivocation (concealing the whole truth) from 1i – “Fair is foul and foul is fair”.. Translated this means good is evil and evil is good. This does not really make sense. However, in the twisted world of the witches it does; their purpose is to wreak havoc and misery in the world of men and they delight in this task and abhor goodness. For them what is natural is unnatural and that which is unnatural is natural. We see this when Lady Macbeth (sometimes referred to as the fourth witch) twists the meaning of words in 1vii. contrasting the word “beast with “man” paradoxically suggesting that Macbeth is a better man when he thinks and acts like a “beast”.
This is another example of how the natural order is turned upside down in the play. The witches choose Macbeth as their instrument through which to wreak havoc in the world, knowing his tragic flaw, his ruthless ambition. Look at other examples of paradox –
“nothing is but what is not”…”Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”… “False face must hide what the false heart doth know”.
9.
Ambiguous – The paradoxes in the play discussed in the previous section are examples of ambiguity (also known as double entendre or double meaning). An ambiguous statement is one which may be interpreted in more than one way by the listener and which is sometimes a deliberate ploy to deceive and confuse on the part of the speaker. A good example of this is when the witches tell
Macbeth he will be “Thane of Cawdor” and “King hereafter”..
Their first prophecy comes true very quickly and easily which makes Macbeth cling misguidedly to the notion that he can become
King just as easily. It is not what the witches say that is always as
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significant as what they do not say. Their aim is to lure Macbeth into their web of lies and deceit by feeding on his “ambition” for the “golden round”. Hence they are described as “imperfect speakers” or equivocators and liars.
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