Evan Hsu
10-19-09
3rd
Literary Elements in Macbeth
The common characteristics to all of Shakespeare’s plays are that he
displays the same types of literary elements
in all of his plays. Macbeth is one of his plays
that display examples of catharsis, tragedy,
blank verses, imagery and tragic flaw.
Shakespeare’s work is also comparable to
other Elizabethan dramas because his works
have tragedies and commented on English
rulers in general.
The play Macbeth took place in the Middle-ages mainly in Scotland,
but also in England. In the beginning of the play Macbeth receives high praise
from King Duncan for being a great commander. He becomes Thane of Cawdor
which makes him both the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor. Lady Macbeth and
Macbeth plot to murder King Duncan. During the night while everyone is asleep,
Macbeth kills King Duncan. Macbeth also orders the murder of Banquo, Lady
Macduff and Macduff. After one of the witches tells Macbeth to be aware of
Macduff, Macbeth orders his men to murder his wife and child, ultimately
capturing his castle. Out of revenge both Malcolm and Macduff along with
Malcolm’s army, raid Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth commits suicide out of her
own guilty conscience and Macduff kills Macbeth. Malcom eventually becomes
King Malcolm of Scotland.
There are two conflicts that occur within the play. One is an internal conflict
in Macbeth and in Lady Macbeth. The other is a conflict between Macbeth and
both Macduff and Malcom. The problem both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth faces is
their constant guilt for killing King Duncan. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both show
traces of their guilt by paranoia and emotional breakdowns. Eventually the guilt
inside Lady Macbeth overcomes her and she commits suicide. The way Macbeth
dealt with his guilty conscience was by killing others, which made himself a tyrant.
Once Macduff and Malcolm recognized Macbeth’s tyranny, a new conflict arose.
The conflict finally ends when Macduff kills Macbeth.
Shakespeare uses strong, descriptive words to present imagery and sensory
details. Here is an example of imagery in Macbeth’s play:
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry "Hold, hold!" (Macbeth Act I, Scene V)
In this passage, Lady Macbeth shows the masculine side of her. What makes this
passage so emphatic is the sensory detail. She gives an image of thickening her
blood to block the remorse in her body. She also describes wanting her milk to
become poison, which gives audiences the sense of danger, evil, and manliness in
Lady Macbeth.
In Elizabethan dramas, during 1558-1603, there is a common style to all
plays. Most of the plays during the Elizabethan era were mainly about rulers
during that period. Elizabethan dramas give some social commentary to tyrants,
noble rulers and how societies responded to them. Plays during the period also
contained catharses, tragedies, blank verses and a tragic flaw. In the following
passage, Shakespeare shows us an example of catharsis by connecting the
audience emotionally to Lady Macbeth’s emotions.
Lady Macbeth: Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why, then ’tis time to do ’t.—
Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it,
when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
Doctor: Do you mark that?
Lady Macbeth: The thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?—What, will these hands
ne’er be clean?—No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that; you mar all with this starting.
Doctor: Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.
Gentlewoman: She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that; Heaven knows what
she has known.
Lady Macbeth: Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! (Macbeth Act 5, Scene 1)
This passage is a strong emotional passage that connects
audiences to Lady Macbeth’s guilt. The fact that Lady
Macbeth was able to see blood on her hands that others
could not, elevates the guilty feeling. Audiences feel
empathy for the mistake that she realizes she made.
Something that is unique in Shakespeare’s work is that he uses blank verse.
A blank verse is a meter that does not necessarily have to rhyme. The most
common blank verse in Shakespeare’s work is the iambic pentameter. The
following is an example from Macbeth that displays an iambic pentameter.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5)
“Creeps” is unstressed and “in” is stressed. The pattern repeats throughout the
whole passage.
Creĕps| ín |th̆is |ṕe|tty̆ |páce |frŏm |dáy |tŏ |dáy
The reason this passage is an iambic pentameter is that there is a pattern of
alternating unstressed syllables with unstressed syllables.
Tragedy is a popular trait in Elizabethan drama. With tragedy, there is
always a tragic flaw in the main character. Macbeth is a great captain on the
battlefield. He is a brave soldier, and very ambitious.
The trait that he lacks as a king is the ability to be a
respected King. He does not have the ability to handle
politics. The impression that others have of Macbeth is
that he is a tyrant. The way that Macbeth dealt with an
issue was by killing people. Macbeth’s other flaw is that
he is ignorant and foolish. When the prophet tells him
of three prophecies that will lead to his death, Macbeth believes he can avoid
death. Even though two of the prophecies come true he ignores the signs and
believes that he still can live. The third prophecy was that Macbeth could not be
killed a man woman-born. The tragedy occurs when Macduff reveals that he was
taken out from his mother’s stomach and technically had not gone through the
normal process of birth.
Macbeth is Shakespeare’s social commentary on tyrants, believing that
tyrants never prosper as a ruler. The play strongly conveys the emotions of both
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s struggles. The most intriguing part of the play is the
way it was structure with blank verses. Macbeth was a well written poetic and
touching play.