How doesShakespeare use language and staging to create dramatic interest in Act 4 scene1 of Macbeth?

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Aina Hussain

How does Shakespeare use language and staging to create dramatic interest in Act 4 scene 1 of Macbeth?

In ‘Macbeth’ William Shakespeare uses many techniques for example through the language and stage directions he uses to create dramatic interest. The play is set in Scotland and as the king himself was Scottish, he would be familiar with the places mentioned. It was first performed in 1606 in Jacobean England, at a time when both witchcraft and superstition were prevalent. I intend to show how the use of language and staging create dramatic interest in Act 4 scene 1.

        The scene itself is set in a ‘desolate place near Forres’ and begins with a roll of thunder. This creates dramatic interest through staging because when thunder rumbles before a storm, it suggests some sort of struggle will follow. A desolate place and thunder can automatically be associated with one another. The audience are engaged in the play at this point because the thunder has an effect of tension and anxiety amongst the audience. Nobody is sure as to what will happen next. Bad experiences are most frequent in desolate, cold places as no one else is around to experience the bad fortune. Lightning is nearly always followed by thunder, which can be frightening, and this automatically creates tension amongst those watching the play.

        From the moment the witches enter on line one, they create tension amongst the audience. The witches’ language is wicked. Shakespeare imaginatively uses them as the main source of dramatic interest in especially this scene. From line 4 to 45 the witches’ spell is chanted in rhyming couplets. ‘ Round about the cauldron go; in the poisoned entrails throw.’ By having all the ingredients of the spell said in rhyming couplets, it makes the effect of the spell more dramatic. It is like a chant, which bewitches the audience. It highlights the actual ingredients being   ‘thrown’ into the cauldron. ‘ A blind-worm’s sting’ and ‘a howlet’s wing’ are not the everyday things we hear of. This creates dramatic interest amongst the audience because we often hear and have our own ideas about a typical witch and their attributes but actually seeing the witches in action creates interest and awakens our natural curiosity.

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        On line 10 the witches’ together repeat ‘ Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.’ The thoughts that will toil and trouble immediately come to mind. There is tension and fascination. The double ‘ d ’ makes a hard sound, which is effective because it reminds us of ‘ death ’ and ‘ Duncan’. Having all three witches say this at the same time creates tension because there are various ways of saying it, and you can experiment these lines through having all three speak.

        However each of these ways will have equal effect on the audience. ...

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