Shakespeare's Macbeth: When considering the balance of moral responsibility for the death of Duncan, how do dramatic techniques help to shape and direct the audience's response?

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 7 essays on Macbeth that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

George Rose

Shakespeare's Macbeth: When considering the balance of moral responsibility for the death of Duncan, how do dramatic techniques help to shape and direct the audience's response?

In the play, Macbeth is clearly guilty of the act of murdering King Duncan. Yet in order to fully understand his motives, reasons and influences towards doing this we must consider to what degree Macbeth is solely responsible for the murder, and also to consider the dramatic techniques Shakespeare uses in order to persuade the reader into feeling certain emotions and bias. The two main influences on Macbeth's actions would have been Lady Macbeth and the three witches. Other influences too would have been greatly influential including the hallucinations of MacBeth and also his masculine desire for success.

Before considering the separate characters, it is important to consider the social background of the play. This can help us to understand how many ideas of the play would have been seen by the Shakespearean audience. Witches were seen as superstitious creatures, associated with evil and wrongdoing. The use of witches in the early scenes of the play would immediately show the audience that some form of witchcraft