Shakespeare also incorporates these images into the underlying themes of the play, as a way of making them more apparent. The theme religion is explored in the heavenly portrayal of King Duncan, as afore mentioned. Religion dominated 17th Century Britain, the previous King Henry VIII pioneered the dissolution of the monasteries so that he could divorce his wife, he too was a believer in the divine right of kings; so therefore at the time regicide was an extremely punishable offence, which would have made the archaic themes explored in the play particularly exciting.
Linguistic devices are used in order to further the themes of the play. Both Act 2, Scenes 2 and 3 vary from the blank verse used in the rest of the play. The audience sees Macbeth’s deliveries of long soliloquies in other scenes, however, in Scene 2, Macbeth’s dialogue becomes fragmented, and he delivers one word replies to Lady Macbeth; “When”, “This is a sorry sight” are examples of this disjointed speech. Also, the absence of soliloquies in these scenes suggest a lack of truth, because soliloquies rely solely on character interaction between them and the audience, and usually express the feelings and emotions of the particular character, so they are therefore considered a form of truthfulness, so when these soliloquies disappear, the audience concludes that the truth is no longer apparent. Shakespeare purposely does this in order to put emphasis on the theme of order and chaos, by using these short replies, because the control of rhythm in the speech pattern in lost – this is done intentionally to show how chaos is apparent.
Order and chaos is also explored through Macbeth’s economical use of words, he is careful in what he says, in a bid to conceal the fact that he has murdered Duncan, which links to the theme of guilt and ambiguity. Ambiguity is evident at the beginning of scene 3, because Macbeth begins to equivocate. In reply to Lennon’s reference to the unnatural happenings of the previous night Macbeth simply states that “’twas a rough night”. Shakespeare uses this equivocation in order to confuse the audience: is Macbeth referring to the murder of King Duncan?, or is he simply agreeing with Lennon? The word “rough” is effective, because it relates directly to Lennox’s description of the “unruly” night, where “lamentings” could be “heard i’th’air, strange screams of death”. The fact that Lennox uses the word ‘death’ is ironic because the audience knows that Duncan has recently been murdered.
Lennox’ speech is of great importance because it uses the supernatural in order to render the brutality of the regicide - thus highlighting the theme of guilt. Lennox goes on to describe “prophesying with accents terrible”, by using the word “prophesying”, Lennox makes reference to the supernatural, which is quite ironic, because Macbeth’s future has in fact been prophesised by the Witches. Whether or not the Witches knew or intended that Macbeth murder Duncan is not known, however it is not important because of the fact that it is only him and Banquo that know about it. The fact that the natural order has been disrupted brings attention to the scale of the King Duncan’s murder; to suggest that murdering a King would physically disrupt nature would have really excited the audience – especially King James, who was a believer in the divine right of kings.
Act 2, Scene 3 begins with a speech from the porter, who hears the same “knocking”, that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hear in Scene 2, just after murdering Duncan. The significance of the knocking in this scene is particularly important, because Shakespeare uses it as a dramatic device. The audience is already aware of the fact that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have heard this mysterious knocking, in fact, they have already linked the knocking the supernatural through Macbeth claiming that it’s “plucked out mine eyes”, the audience knows this to be supernatural because Macbeth has personified the knocking, giving it an evil characteristic. The knocking is also linked to the theme of supernatural and religion, in the porters speech, through his reference to his job as a porter, “guarding the hell gate”, the use of the word “hell” infers that inside the castle, hellish things are taking place, so in fact it is something from hell that is knocking at the door. Here, the audience is presented with a sense of dramatic irony, because they are aware of the fact that Macbeth has murdered Duncan in his castle, however, the porter is oblivious to this, which is ironic because despite the fact that he is unaware, he still manages to infer that such hellish things are taking place inside the castle.
Interpretations of the porter’s speech vary; some historians suggest that it was not initially written by Shakespeare, that it was simply added in later for comic relief. Shakespeare’s audience would have differed in social status: people who paid higher prices for tickets would have been seated round the top and edges of the globe theatre, whereas people who bought cheaper tickets would have stood on the floor. Shakespeare was aware of this, and therefore used the porter as a way of entertaining the audience in a comic way, particularly those of lower social status. Shakespeare uses juxtaposition in order to excite his audience, after tension has been built up with the knocking in the previous scene, and the possibility that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have been discovered, Shakespeare uses the porter, who jokes with the audience making colloquial humour and making sexual references, as a form of light relief. He says that alcohol ‘provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance’, and discusses sexually transmitted diseases, which would have been a big problem at the time, and refers to them as ‘roasting your goose’. The porter is important because he contrasts the doom and gloom seen previously, and also, due to many lower status audience members, it is a way of keeping them excited and gripped to the play.
Lady Macbeth fulfils her role among the nobility and is well respected like Macbeth. King Duncan calls her "our honoured hostess." She is loving to her husband but at the same time very ambitious, as shown by her immediate determination for Macbeth to be king. This outcome will benefit her and her husband equally. She immediately concludes that "the fastest way" for Macbeth to become king is by murdering King Duncan. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth knows her husband well. She thinks he may be too kind in order to murder King Duncan. This is why she represses her conscience so she can later usher Macbeth into committing the deed. At first Macbeth agrees. But later Macbeth wavers in his decision, however Lady Macbeth is sure that being King is what Macbeth really wants and that this is the best for both of them. So, in response to Macbeth's uncertainty, Lady Macbeth manipulates him by questioning his manhood and his love for her. She is successful because regardless of his own conscience Macbeth carries out their plan of murder.
Lady Macbeth is used purposely in order to further the theme of man, by playing on Macbeth’s emotions. Her desire to be “unsexed here”, would have thought to be a very profound request for a woman of noble birth to make. Through wishing to have her gender removed so that she could commit the ultimate crime: regicide, does show having the intent to do so is so unnatural and forbidden that she must have her sex removed and become a man in order to perform it. When Macbeth returns to their chamber she goes back to the murder scene and cleverly smears the grooms with Duncan's blood. However, her morals had prevailed just a while before as revealed through her comment that she would have killed Duncan herself had he not "resembled her father as he slept". The almost superhuman strength Lady Macbeth rallies for the occasion and her artful and sly ability are shown through her meticulous attention to detail regarding the murder. Even her name is ironic: the word ‘Lady’ brings with it certain connotations of good and saintly characteristics, however, this is a far cry from the character that Shakespeare manipulates for the audience. This is done intently so that as an audience, we are shocked at the emotional ride that Lady Macbeth takes -
Shakespeare explores a great deal of moral and philosophical aspects in Macbeth, he explores the concept of natural and unnatural factors in society, especially through the references to the “unnatural” happenings of the night of the murder. By doing so, the Shakespeare raises central issues, which are successfully resolved in the culmination of the plays plot. Two such central issues, evident in the throughout the play, are power and morality. The thoughts, actions and continual reference throughout the play of that which is natural and unnatural exemplify the two central issues apparent throughout the play, engaging the audience with a sense of realism.
I think that this sense of realism is one of the main things that makes Macbeth such a successful piece of drama. For one thing, the audience is presented with a wide range of gothic conventions, namely the sound effects such as the knocking, and owl shrieking. This is interesting because gothic drama had not been invented yet, so to have witnessed these new conventions of drama would have been extremely exciting. Another thing to suggest that this play is before it’s time, is the fact that Lady Macbeth is such an endearing, yet fierce character – the way she manipulates Macbeth into murdering Duncan would have been such an intense deed for the audience to witness. Furthermore, due to 17th Century Britain being very male dominant, the fact that Macbeth succumbed to the pressure would have been quite unsettling, especially for the men in the audience. Macbeth is one of few plays to see this unnatural reversal of gender status in renaissance Britain, contrary to this time; when most famous literature revolved primarily around religion, Macbeth stands alone in the fact that it is such a dangerous endeavour: to think about the regicide, and especially to write about it – 60 years prior could have resulted in execution.
Personally, I feel that this is the prime principal that makes the play so successful: the fact that it is so timeless, and that it has such a big impact on modern day literature. This is typical of Shakespeare’s work, as many of his plays have had such a huge impact on not only modern day literary works, but popular culture in general.
Daniel Cain-Reed
10ACT
English Coursework -