How Does Shakespeare Create Tension and Suspense In The Story Of Macbeth.
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Introduction
How Does Shakespeare Create Tension and Suspense In The Story Of Macbeth Essay ACT 1 SCENE 1+2 In act 2 scenes 1 Banquo has just been to see the witches and feels very uneasy about it; at the moment he cannot trust Macbeth because of what the witches said about him. Macbeth is hallucinating, when a dagger was floating in the air, and Macbeth said, "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand? Come let me clutch thee" but Macbeth could not get hold of the dagger. Macbeth thinks it was a sign to kill king Duncan, and in doing so he will become king. Lady Macbeth keeps on persuading Macbeth to kill him, and in the next scene he kills the king and the guards, and frames them as well. Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of tension and suspense by showing that Banquo is edgy and worried about what the witches said. Macbeth treats Banquo as a friend at the start of the scene, but Macbeth is manipulative and tries to persuade Banquo that everything is all right. ...read more.
Middle
Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?" The scene ends with Macbeth going off to kill Duncan. In scene two the tension and suspense increases as we do not see the murder but just the discussion between the two main characters. Lady Macbeth has to persuade Maspeth to kill king Duncan because she is very selfish and she wants more than everyone else, so as she is married to Macbeth who would be come King of Scotland she would become Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth waits excitedly for Macbeth to come back. But she is startled by the loud noise that he makes. The audience shares her worry that someone will come and discover what they have done. Macbeth returns with two b****y daggers he felt at the time anxious, nervous and guilty because he had just killed the king, and two guards which was unprovoked by them, because they were all ready on the floor drugged. ...read more.
Conclusion
Macbeth now wishes that he had never murdered the king because he knows that he is going to be king but will have the guilt for the rest of his life. He will be hallucinating, having nightmares and if someone finds out that it was he he would be executed. When he is in his bed there is a constant knocking at the door but he is to scare that they might have found out all ready about who has killed the former king (Duncan). No one is actually at the door, but he doesn't answer the door, the sound that he is hearing is in his head and he can't block the sound it is driving him insane. Shakespeare has written this in to the stage directions to build up tension, and fear in the reader, and Macbeth. Scene 1, lines 1-37, the tone of the actors was eerie, still, dark. Banquo seems suspicious. False politeness as Macbeth and Banquo skirt around the subject. The reader's reaction was uneasy and tension. When Macbeth was hallucinating about the dagger floating in the air, the tone was fearful and uneasy atmosphere as Macbeth reaches for the dagger. ...read more.
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