How Does Shakespeare Create Differing Moods In These Scenes Through The Language The Characters Use?

Soon Macbeth gets his soliloquy underway. It is in this part of the scene, lines 33-64, that Macbeth is hallucinating and he ends up analyzing and talking to a floating dagger.  This surreal vision of a dagger is another example of the supernatural. This one object toys with Macbeth change his state of mind dramatically. The fact that there is a floating dagger enhances the supernatural feel in this extract. To make the supernatural feel even more obvious Macbeth starts to find himself in a trance when he says, “And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.” Macbeth I seeing the future – Duncan’s blood is on the dagger. He tries to reassure himself that he is not going mad but still the thought of Duncan being killed overpowers him. This gives a sense of madness, which also symbolizes the fact that this is a dark and dreadful scene. The fact that there is blood on the dagger heightens the supernatural mood to the atmosphere. He starts to break up his sentences and he pauses quite often and the quick broken up sentences suggest that Macbeth is in a troubled frame of mind.  He asks himself many questions concerning the dagger and this alone heightens the supernatural theme. Macbeth also starts to use repetition a lot with the words dagger and blood. Those two words are mentioned several times, and it is because they amplify the darkness and supernatural mood to the scene as they are hallucinations and they are making Macbeth go mad. In the last few lines of the soliloquy we see a totally different Macbeth. “I go and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.” In this line it is as if the bell has brought him back to reality and he is now about to kill the King. The darkness of the dark night suits Macbeth's purpose and mood. In the line 48-49 Macbeth isn’t terrified of the dagger is more comforted by it and he acts as if he wishes to be as deadly as that dagger. The darkness of the dark night suits Macbeth's purpose and mood.

In Act Viii, the mood is set by the questions Macbeth asks himself. He thinks back to the prophecies and wonders about Malcolm and about whether he was born of a woman. It is totally different because in this one the mood is more to do with apprehension. We see a range of emotions from Macbeth in this scene. He is nervous at start but then when reverting back to the prophecies he gets stronger and stronger especially when he wants his armour; then he reflects on a bleak future, which lowers his confidence; he is angry when he hears of the countless English army; but then at the end of the scene he says that he does not fear death. When Macbeth says, “I am not afraid of death” we see a glimpse of the real Macbeth – the courageous and loyal Macbeth.  We can tell of what type of mood it is by what some of the characters say. Macbeth, in lines 30 – 38 uses very short sentences with excessive punctuation. This gives of a nervy sort of mood showing apprehension.

The long sentences used in lines 18-29 are used to show the inner Macbeth and he reflects on the things he hasn’t got and his mistakes. This gives off a despairing mood at a nervous time. This is because he is still waiting to see if the prophecy is correct. There is some confusion. This is when Macbeth wants his armour and he is listening to the doctor yet he still does not take everything in. There is a lot of confusion and much anticipation concerning Birnam Wood and if it arrives at Dunsinane as that event will determine Macbeth’s future.