Macbeth Commentary
Macbeth Commentary
During life everybody has a downfall of sort, some maybe more significant than
others. In selection #3 the purpose is to show the beginning of Macbethʼs downfall.
Shakespeare uses literary devices like irony and the use of exclamation marks to illustrate this.
Irony is used throughout Shakespeare's plays, in Macbeth the device irony is
used frequently. An example is at the dinner when Macbeth says “And to our dear friend
Banquo, whom we miss:/Would he were here!” (37-38). This quote is macbeth saying to everyone how he misses his friend Banquo, but in reality Macbeth got Banquo murdered when he hired three men to do so. In addition, Shakespeare uses irony when only Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo because then the reader knows that Macbeth is seeing things due to his paranoia. These examples do in fact lead to Macbethʼs ever famous downfall.
Throughout the play Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates the use of
exclamation points to draw on Macbethʼs downfall. “see there! behold! look! lo!” Was a great way to play out Macbethʼs downfall because it shows how Macbeth cannot keep his emotions hidden from the other characters in the play, this connects to his downfall because of his lack of protection towards his emotions. Another way that the use of exclamation points ties in with Macbethʼs downfall can be when Macbeth yells at the
ghost “ Hence, horrible shadow!/Unreal mockery, hence!”, this means that his emotions come out in great amounts when he sees the unreal ghost.
In conclusion, Shakespeare uses different techniques to portray Macbethʼs
downfall and in this particular selection he uses irony and exclamation points.
During life everybody has a downfall of sort, some maybe more significant than
others. In selection #3 the purpose is to show the beginning of Macbethʼs downfall.
Shakespeare uses literary devices like irony and the use of exclamation marks to illustrate this.
Irony is used throughout Shakespeare's plays, in Macbeth the device irony is
used frequently. An example is at the dinner when Macbeth says “And to our dear friend
Banquo, whom we miss:/Would he were here!” (37-38). This quote is macbeth saying to everyone how he misses his friend Banquo, but in reality Macbeth got Banquo murdered when he hired three men to do so. In addition, Shakespeare uses irony when only Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo because then the reader knows that Macbeth is seeing things due to his paranoia. These examples do in fact lead to Macbethʼs ever famous downfall.
Throughout the play Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates the use of
exclamation points to draw on Macbethʼs downfall. “see there! behold! look! lo!” Was a great way to play out Macbethʼs downfall because it shows how Macbeth cannot keep his emotions hidden from the other characters in the play, this connects to his downfall because of his lack of protection towards his emotions. Another way that the use of exclamation points ties in with Macbethʼs downfall can be when Macbeth yells at the
ghost “ Hence, horrible shadow!/Unreal mockery, hence!”, this means that his emotions come out in great amounts when he sees the unreal ghost.
In conclusion, Shakespeare uses different techniques to portray Macbethʼs
downfall and in this particular selection he uses irony and exclamation points.