Rhetorical Devices In Macbeth

Macbeth revealed his thoughts and feelings about murdering Duncan to Lady Macbeth. He wanted to back out of the plan because he was already loved by the king and by others, so he does not want to spoil the feeling of being appreciated by so many. Even after this thorough explanation of why he did not want to proceed with the killing of Duncan, Lady Macbeth still made him do it, as she had her mind set on the king’s assassination. After the murder, Macbeth was traumatized by what he did, and he forgot to plant the daggers on the guards. Lady Macbeth told him to go back, but he did not as he is afraid to look back on what he has done. Lady Macbeth then grabs the daggers to plant it on the guards herself but mocks him before she leaves saying “’tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” (II.ii. 57-58), which means she thinks he is a child. The constant mockery of Macbeth shows how Lady Macbeth does not care about Macbeth’s feelings.

Imagine how dull a Shakespearean play would be without the ingenious literary devices and techniques that contribute so much to the fulfillment of its reader or viewer. Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that combines fact and legend to tell the story of an eleventh century king. Shakespeare uses numerous types of literary techniques to make this tragic play more appealing. Three literary devices that Shakespeare uses to make Macbeth more interesting and effective are irony, symbolism, and imagery.

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

Macbeth Act 1.7 is a quintessential example of an author’s mastery of rhetoric. Shakespeare uses his skills to reveal the character’s emotional conflicts through the use of tropes and schemes. First, he highlights Macbeth’s inner battle with morality, and continues with an external power struggle between Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. As the performer of the soliloquy, I had the challenge of portraying Macbeth as an expression of his own thoughts. For the performance of Act 1.7, my group and I analyzed the use of rhetorical strategies to craft an interpretation of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and their shared conflict of killing King Duncan.

With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the

He is Duncan’s ‘kinsman and his subject’, he reminds himself that what he is doing is wrong and that he has the duty to protect the king, not murder him. In an interaction with Lady Macbeth prior to the murder of Duncan, he says they ‘shall proceed no longer in this business’, this shows that he has a moral compass, and he knows that what he is about to do is wrong. Also, previous to the murder he hallucinates a ‘dagger’, it is a figment of his imagination because he is very anxious, and is already feeling culpability. This part in the play is key in showing that Macbeth is consumed by guilt and anxiety, so is not in the best mindset to commit a murder. Despite this, he still kills Duncan. His guilt returns after the murder when an ‘Amen [is] stuck’ in his throat, he knows that he has sinned against God, and he is too anxious to say Amen. Immediately after killing Duncan he is ‘afraid to think of what [he has] done’, he has immense regret and feels a lot of guilt.

After hearing the witches’ philosophy, it was only then that Macbeth had actually decided to think of becoming king, so much as actually pursue such a drastic goal. Macbeth hadn’t initially planned to carry out the murder, but Lady Macbeth had convinced him to after repeatedly questioning his manhood and bravery. Lady Macbeth had said, “That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man…” (Act 1 Scene 7). In this quote, Lady Macbeth said the Macbeth was a coward and played with his emotions. By taunting Macbeth she took advantage of his insecurities of being a man. Macbeth was unable to produce an heir and as such cannot consider himself to be a real man. Macbeth had been coerced and taken advantage of by Lady Macbeth. She had manipulated him into committing the murder even though he had been loyal to the king. After murdering Duncan, Macbeth spiraled into darkness, and led him to insanity. This insanity was described as the murder of sleep. Macbeth was unable to sleep because of his guilt over killing Duncan. Macbeth says, “Macbeth does murder sleep-the innocent sleep” (Act 2 Scene 2). Macbeth is no longer able to rest peacefully as he can never get over his guilt. Innocent sleep indicates that he can no longer sleep as he is no longer innocent for committing Duncan’s

Without literary techniques most literature would be colorless. Therefore these techniques are very crucial in producing successful writing. Not only do they create interest, they also help in development of characters, this is especially depicted in the Shakespearean play, Macbeth. The characters developed from the different literary techniques such as irony, paradox, and imagery assist in conveying the many themes throughout the play.

This is said by Macbeth because this is his new title. He was given the position “Thane of Cawdor” and admits that the “greatest” is “behind” meaning that there is no need to fear because he is rightfully the best fit for this position. This could foreshadow his tragic downfall later in the play because the witches were correct

In Act two scene one Macbeth has an encounter with a ghost in the form of a dagger and he begins to hallucinate about killing King Duncan. Once the hallucination is over Macbeth accepts his and King Duncan’s fate. Shakespeare uses diction and imagery to convey Macbeth’s remorseful and fearful state of mind in Macbeth’s Soliloquy Act two scene one. Shakespeare uses harsh words such as “dagger” and “oppressed” to express Macbeth’s remorseful state of mind.

Diction and imagery play large roles in Macbeth. Shakespeare's use of these devices create a better image in the mind of the audience and set the stage for foreshadowing. In the scene before Duncan's murder in Macbeth, Shakespeare uses diction and imagery to establish Macbeth's guilty, anxious frame of mind. Shakespeare uses imagery as soon as the passage begins by writing, "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand," (II.i.1-2).

Throughout history, writers have developed a plethora of literary devices.  This allows them to essentially spice up their writing, or make it more interesting to the reader.  One of the most commonly used and talked about literary devices is theme; theme is a specific idea or lesson that an author is trying to get across.  Just a few examples are, ambition, guilt, things may not always be what they seem, or even nature verses the unnatural.  In fact, these are common themes used by one of the greatest play writes of all time, Shakespeare.  All throughout arguably his most renowned play, Macbeth, we see Shakespeare use each of the four previously listed themes.

This passage is a key aspect of this play because it demonstrates Macbeths feelings on the killing of King Duncan, this scene takes place whilst King Duncan is over for dinner. Previously Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have come up with a plan to kill King Duncan. During this passage, Macbeth contemplates the death of Duncan and the deed is about to do. He is aware of why he should go forward with the killing and understands the power he will receive but fears the reputation he will get not just on earth but also in heaven. Macbeth knows that Duncan is not just a king but also a kinsmen and guest, a good one. The king trusts him, Macbeth should always protect King Duncan and he is hosting him for supper so therefore should be closing the door in his murderer’s face, not trying to murder him. This is the first time we see a different of Macbeth, a more venerable side of him a less confident side to him.

Shakespeare’s point is that the guilt of murdering King Duncan is too much for Macbeth to handle at the moment, so he shows a hint of weakness. This quote shows that despite wanting to overthrow Duncan as King, Macbeth feels remorse for what he has done, and he does not possess the willpower to return to the scene of the crime to finish the job. Macbeth is terrified of what he has done, so he momentarily collapses under the weight of his actions. This guilt will begin his spiralling descent until his death. During a peaceful banquet, Macbeth creates a

That night Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. Just before the murder Macbeth is walking down the hall when he has a vision of a dagger with a bloody tip, which is pointed for Duncan’s room. He thinks to himself, “Art tho not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation” (II.1.36-38). During the murder Macbeth makes a mistake that angers Lady Macbeth. He has forgotten to leave the daggers with Duncan’s guards, and she must now go and return them. Initially Macbeth is upset over the murder, but Lady Macbeth tells him it is as easy to forget about as washing the blood away with water. This first murder shows the strong character of Lady Macbeth and the influence she has over her husband.