How does Shakespeare use act 3 scene 4 to show his audience the extent to which Macbeth has declined since the beginning of the play?

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How does Shakespeare use act 3 scene 4 to show his audience the extent to which Macbeth has declined since the beginning of the play?

Throughout act 3 scene 4 Shakespeare uses the conventions of a tragic hero and historical devices to demonstrate how Macbeth’s control and mental stability has declined from the beginning of the play. Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as confident and self-assured about his status as king at the very beginning of the scene. However Shakespeare uses the elements of a tragic hero to render how much he has actually declined. We can also see that Shakespeare uses the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate another means to his decline.

At the very beginning of the scene Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as powerful and in complete control, however we can see that this is all an act and Shakespeare uses this technique to perhaps to show the audience how far he has declined. Macbeth uses imperative language to speak to the lords at the banquet, as the audience we see that Macbeth has a power over the lords as that of a true king, your know your own degrees sit down”  we also see that Macbeth has great potential as a king when he displays a democratic side to him as he tells the lords, “ both sides are even : here I’ll sit in the mid’st”  saying this Macbeth’s ploy is to show that he is fair and believes that although he is king he will still sit side by side with his “society”  hence reminding the audience how Macbeth was perceived by others at the beginning of the play, possibly his former greatness to which he was seen as others as  a “worthy gentleman” and described as almost immortal, yet we can see that he is acting as “thi innocent flower and be[ing] the serpent under’t” Shakespeare uses his  theme of duality to reveal  the insincerity of Macbeth’s character this perhaps shows how Macbeth is actually deteriorating instead of fulfilling his position as the king of Scotland.

Throughout the play we as the audience can see that Macbeth has been led to success due to his relationship with his wife, In this scene we see that Shakespeare has caused a breakdown in their relationship to accompany his downfall, thus leading to his further decline later in the scene. At the very beginning of the play we see that Macbeth’s hamartia as a tragic hero is his ambition, but we also see that Shakespeare has created Lady Macbeth’s character to trigger this in him she is his external hamartia. From the beginning of the scene we see that there is less intimacy in the relationship when Macbeth tells her, “Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time We will require her welcome” But Lady Macbeth remains persistent to her throne and asks Macbeth to welcome the guests for her. From Shakespeare’s stage directions the audience also have this impact as Macbeth stands and Lady Macbeth sits at her throne. This could imply to the audience that unlike Macbeth she is savouring her time as queen instead of defending her decline but does this mean that  she will not decline? The unity that the couple had at the beginning of the play is now beginning to deteriorate. When before Macbeth referred to his wife as,  “my darling partner of greatness”  this is a term of affection, it is also an indication of the influence Lady Macbeth already exerts on his life. It would appal the audience because for a man of his stature to be referring to his wife like that is not in keeping with the natural order of the timeand “my dearest love”. Nevertheless we see that Shakespeare makes this problem even clearer when Macbeth is baffled that Lady Macbeth can not see the ghost as he does when he tells lady Macbeth, “you can behold such sights, And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks”   Shakespeare could possibly have used this technique to show that Macbeth has become delirious but also that they do not see the same things and Macbeth is worried by this, for the first time in the play it is clear they are now two separate people as he can see what she can not. Shakespeare has shown that without the support of his wife Macbeth can become scared and instable the audience can see that this can play a major role in his decline for the rest of the play.

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As the audience we see that there is a change to how Macbeth sees murder and how it demonstrates Macbeth’s decline. When Macbeth was to kill King Duncan he became fitful and erratic. He began to hallucinate and Shakespeare’s theme of appearance and reality was demonstrated when he began to see a dagger, “is this a dagger which I see before?” the audience saw that Macbeth, on the verge of murder was not then in a well state of mind, but when the Murderers enter in act three scene four he is positively ...

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