Macbeth Passage Analysis

Authors Avatar

Macbeth Passage Analysis:

In the play ‘Macbeth’, written by William Shakespeare, there are many different techniques used to convey meaning to the reader. These choices Shakespeare has made use language to show the moral fiber of the characters, themes and convey a more effective description of what is happening. This passage from the beginning of Scene 5 in Act 1 is when Lady Macbeth is musing over the news in a letter from Macbeth, her husband. This is a very important scene in the play as it shows the reader what Lady Macbeth is like and the dark ambition she and Macbeth share. Immediately before the passage Lady Macbeth is reading the letter from Macbeth that explains to her his encounter with three witches who have prophesized his future. Lady Macbeth recognizes that Macbeth is too kind to kill Duncan (the King), so she begins to persuade him to pursue the crown. Immediately after the passage Macbeth enters and they discuss their murderous plan for the king.

There are many language devices used in the passage to convey the direction and excitement of Lady Macbeth’s thoughts. Also directly before the passage the letter that Macbeth has written Lady Macbeth is not in verse, as in most of Shakespeare’s writing, but it is written in prose. This change in writing style shows that Macbeth was not thinking with a clear mind but thinking in an excited state about the news and events that he has just encountered. As Lady Macbeth ponders the news that she has received she begins to talk in a soliloquy in verse. As the passage continues she begins to explore what is right and human and what must be done. She tries to distance herself from the deed that she is about to do by means of imagery. She discusses the fact that no human person with kindness or pity would commit such an act so she proceeds to make herself inhumane as such. She uses the imagery of spirits taking all of her human kindness away from her “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,”(1.5.38-39) By using this image of her being ‘unsexed’ she is showing that she is happy to remove all that makes her a woman for the purpose to kill Duncan the king.

Join now!

Symbolism is another language and dramatic device which is used by Lady Macbeth in this passage to put a large emphasis on her seriousness on the matter. She uses the symbol of a raven, which is a black bird, and she links it with the entrance of Duncan the king. “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan” (1.5.36-37) Black is often used throughout Shakespeare and modern writings to symbolize death and evil. The use of a raven to announce the entrance of Duncan shows that evil and deadly deeds are going to fall upon ...

This is a preview of the whole essay