Macbeth hears this news and he has a lust for power. So Macbeth plans to kill the king Duncan. Just before Macbeth goes to kill the King Duncan Macbeth sees an imaginary dagger in front of him. This is in Act 2 scene 1. “Is this a dagger which I see before me?” Macbeth is hallucinating a dagger and the dagger is showing him the way to Duncan’s room. The dagger in this scene is a dramatic device showing that
Macbeth is going to murder Duncan. It also is explaining that this will be the weapon he is going to commit the killing with. It also gives a bit of suspense to it as the audience will be wondering what the dagger is for and what is going to happen next. Shakespeare uses dramatic devices to show tragedy in this play. It also shows that Macbeth wanting to be King that he will murder people for power. “ Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as tho art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem” Meaning that Lady Macbeth is saying that Macbeth is a coward if he does not do this he is to scared to do what he is dreaming of doing,. Shakespeare is using the character of Lady Macbeth to show the audience what Macbeths character is like. It is stating to the audience that Macbeth is easily convinced into doing things as Lady Macbeth is just telling him to kill Duncan when he really is doubting what to do. Macbeth’s character here indicates to the audience there is tragedy to come as he is persuaded easily to do anything and Lady Macbeth is telling him to kill Duncan so they know that will be tragic
Shakespeare uses different themes to show tragedy in this play. One of the themes that Shakespeare uses is Light and Dark theme. The theme of Dark is represented by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They are dark people. They are cruel, treachery and evil people. Lady Macbeth states “And pulls thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the word it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark.” This tells the audience that Lady Macbeth is saying to keep it dark so it will hide her actions for what she will do. Also Macbeth says “Stars hide your fire, let not light see my black and deep desires.” This is also a theme of dark. Here he is exclaiming that if the stars don’t shine that night so that people will not see what he is going to do and to hide his actions for that night” This proves to the audience that Macbeth character is nasty and it is dark like he wants the sky to be. It also reveals that something bad and tragic is going to happen if he wants to keep the light away so people will not see what he will be up to.
Evil is also a theme that has been used. Evil in the play is represented by the witches. Evil shows the downfall of Macbeth and the tragedy to come because the witches tell Macbeth their predictions and give him a temptation of success and Macbeth’s character then gets a lust for power and the success. The witches tell Macbeth how he will become Thane of Cawdor and the King. “All hail Macbeth hail thee, Thane of Glamis.” This is the first which that tells Macbeth this and it shows that the witches know who Macbeth is. “All hail Macbeth, hail thee, Thane of Cawdor.” This is the second witch telling Macbeth and Banquo their prediction but they do not no whether to believe the witches as they are evil. “All hail Macbeth that shalt be King hereafter.” This is the third witch telling Macbeth he will become King. Macbeth has always wanted to be King and when he hears this news he wonders. Banquo and Macbeth also are doubting the predictions as these are witches and they could be hatching a evil plan or a spell. This could lead to something bad and tragic.
Suspense is a way that Shakespeare builds up for tragedy to happen. In Act 1 scene 1 the witches say “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” Illustrating to the audience that good is bad and bad is good. This will leave suspense because the audience will be wondering why they have said this and what is going to happen later on in the play. It tells the audience that things tat are going to happen are not what they might seem. Also in Act 1 scene 3 the witches say “All hail Macbeth hail thee, Thane of Glamis.” “All hail Macbeth, hail thee, Thane of Cawdor.” “All hail Macbeth that shalt be King hereafter.” Leaving the audience thinking that Macbeth has always wanted to be King and that is his dream so is this true what the witches say. Also because of Macbeths character that he wants the power what will he do to become King as there is already a king what tragedy will happen further on into the play.
Shakespeare also uses imagery to show tragedy. The way that Shakespeare uses the imagery is he uses bad, evil imagery to represent the tragic things that are going to happen. In Act 3 scene 2 Macbeth states “O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife” This reveals that Macbeth mind is evil and full of evil thoughts. Scorpions are evil, deadly and viscous creatures. This shows that Macbeth is thinking evil and can not think properly since he has committed the murder. It also indicates the downfall of Macbeth as he is not able to think straight since this tragedy has happened.
Shakespeare use historical context in Act1 scene 3. The way that Shakespeare brings historical context into Macbeth is by using the witches. In this time and age in Scotland people were preoccupied with witches and how they were bad and evil. In this Act Macbeth meets the witches and they tell him the prediction. The audience will be thinking what is the prediction all about and that it is wrong and bad. The audience would be wondering what will be happening next as Macbeth has all wanted to be King so he is going to be happy with what the witches are saying. But they will be worried that something bad will happen because when it is set witches were said real. So this is another way that Shakespeare uses different means to build up the tragedy that is to happen.
Shakespeare uses lots of different means to build up the tragedy from introducing the character of Macbeth. He does this by telling you about Macbeth and how he is. He also uses different themes which also bring out Macbeths character which leads to tragedy because of the way Macbeth is. Shakespeare uses historical context and imagery to bring out and show the audience Macbeth’s character and lay foundations for tragedy to come.
