By what means does Shakespeare engage his audience in Act 3, Scene 4?

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By what means does Shakespeare engage his audience in Act 3, Scene 4?

   The scene begins with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, Lords and Attendants.  At this point of the play, Macbeth is King.  In this era, most countries had a King.  Kings are important because they must take control of the country and make a lot of important decisions.  Kings are usually chosen by who is heir to the throne, in this case it was Macbeth. They are all having a Banquet, and King Macbeth, is the host.  As Macbeth is the host, it was his idea to have a banquet.

  At the beginning, everyone on stage is gathered around a table and is eating.  One of the murderers enters the scene.  Macbeth walks over to him.  ‘There’s blood upon thy face’ this is what Macbeth says to the murderer.  ‘Tis Banquo’s then’ this is the reply the murderer gives Macbeth.  At this point they talk quietly, on a certain part of the stage, away from the other actors.   This piece of staging must be in a good place because there are two things going on at once.  It must be in a position that the audience can see but it mustn’t be too close to the other actors.  As the murderer leaves, Lady Macbeth speaks to the people around the table.  At this point, Macbeth is still at the door.  The staging focus shifts back to the ceremony.  After Lennox’s line ‘May’t please your Highness sit.’ The ghost of Banquo enters the scene.  Macbeth sees the ghost but the Thanes do not.  However, the audience also sees the ghost.  Macbeth seems very scared when he see’s the ghost.  An actor plays the ghost; this makes it easier for the audience to understand what is going on.  They can see the ghost that is only seen by Macbeth but the other characters can’t see it.  After a short while, the ghost leaves.   The scene continues around the table.  Macbeth then speaks which implies a response from the thanes.  This is known as self-incrimination.  The ghost enters again but leaves on after Macbeth says ‘Hence, horrible shadow, unreal mockery, hence!’  They continue around the table but then everyone leaves the stage except for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.  The talk on stage but then they leave.

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Language plays a big part on the impact of this scene.  ‘Humble Host’, Macbeth shows irony when he refers to himself as the ‘Humble Host’.  There are many mentions of blood in this scene, the first, when Macbeth answers the door to the first murderer.  ‘There’s blood upon thy face’.  The murderer also uses a mention of blood ‘gashes on his head’, gashes are deep cuts, which are very explicit and are often bleeding.  Macbeth uses language to conjure up the ghost of Banquo.  ‘Were the graced person of our Banquo present’ this quote conjures up the ghost, which ...

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