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Analytical Essay of Macbeth

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Shakespeare uses vivid and powerful forms of imagery to let the audience visualize the setting. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong woman who is attracted to power and would do anything to be in control; she is anything but an elegant and sensitive woman. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls an easy prey to insanity and guilt. Her soliloquy (5.1.24-30) shows her decline into madness when she says,“out damned spot...” There are many examples of visual and aural imagery throughout the play. The murder of Duncan is indicated by the clanging of a bell and the knocking at the gate. Though they are not described in the text, the stage directions are enough to build up the tension. The knocking occurs between each …show more content…

Blood is another motif throughout the play. The language used to describe Macbeth’s anguished state is extraordinarily effective in terms of imagery and detail. When Macbeth looks at his hands and thinks they are a “sorry sight” and his hand “will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2.58). Shakespeare uses personification to manipulate Macbeth’s bloody hands as witnesses to the murder when Lady Macbeth urges him to “wash this filthy witness from your hands” (2.2.50). ‘Themes are fundamental ideas explored in literary work.’ In my chosen extract, there are no specific lines that show the various themes in the play. However, the link between cruelty and masculinity is one of the first themes introduced to the audience. The murder of Duncan is the first in Macbeth’s long line of killings. It soon becomes evident to us that Lady Macbeth provides the brains and the willpower behind Macbeth 's actions. Her behavior proves that women can be as ambitious as men, as she herself wishes to be “unsexed” (1.5.40); to become more masculine than feminine. Even so, she depends on the manipulation of others, rather than using violence herself. Macbeth asks her to “bring forth men children only” (1.7.73) and she says nothing to challenge this statement. The hired murderers were also persuaded to

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