Macbeth Literary Devices Essay

The play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, presents many societal issues, such as the influence of superstition and the supernatural, as well as the continuous desire of the human race for progress and ambitious fulfilment. What a person chooses to do in order to fulfil those desires depends on the individuals themselves, and in the case of Macbeth, he turns to murder in order to advance his social and political standing. The audience’s perception of Macbeth changes throughout the play, beginning with feelings of admiration and approval of his deeds and character, and ending, with the play and as well as his life, as feelings of contempt and disgust at his treachery. This is achieved mainly through the progression of Macbeth’s character development, as well as through the dialogue of himself and other characters.

Using figurative language helps create imagery and enhances the imagination of the readers. The use of personification allows the author to give human like characteristics to non-living things. An example within the story that displayed intense emotion was included this quote,“This set formula, spoken in a kind of lilt, would awaken loud echoes in Tzili’s soul, and their reverberations spread throughout her body” (Appelfeld, p. 275). By adding in this literary device the readers can foreshadow Tzili’s growth throughout the story and how she realizes who she is as an individual and matures into a strong and independent

I remember the feeling in explicit detail, as if it were only yesterday. It was a feeling of complete awe, triggered by beauty that was unexplainable to me at that time. The source of that beauty was a play, and that play was Macbeth.

The idea that: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more” (V.V. xxvii - xxix) conveys that life is something that lacks substance, that it’s an actor who only spends a short time on stage. This metaphor explains how life is short and passes quickly. Finally, Macbeth refers to death as the last act of an awful play or “...a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, / signifying nothing” (V.V. xxix-xxx), demonstrating the ending to a long journey down an existential path.

     The second type of literary device that Shakespeare uses in Macbeth is symbolism. The predominant symbol is blood and is used as an effective method to describe the theme of the play. Not only does blood symbolize bravery, it is also a means of showing treachery and treason and probably most importantly, guilt. One example of bravery occurs when the captain says, "For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name--/Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody execution"(1.2.16-18). Soon after this blood changes into a representation of treachery and treason. Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to "Make thick my blood,/ Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse" (1.5. 43-44). She asks the spirits to take away compassion and make her remorseless for the actions she is about to take. Also, when Ross asks, "Is’t known who did this more than bloody deed?" (2.4.22), he tries to figure out who performed the disloyal act of murdering the king. Blood is also used many times to express the guilt-ridden consciences of the characters. For instance, Macbeth says, "What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine own eyes!/ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash the blood/ Clean from my hand?" (2.3.58-60). Macbeth obviously feels guilty for killing Duncan in cold blood. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth

In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses alliteration and personification to enhance the theme of a normal person’s difficulty in dealing with extreme guilt. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of consecutive words and is effective at catching the audience’s attention. Personification is characterized by giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects. In Macbeth’s “Dagger” Soliloquy, he uses alliteration in his musing as a way to express his agony about the crime he is about to commit. “It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes” (2.1.48).

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

Having a lust for power can cause a loss in many things. It’s as if you’re in a win-lose situation. In this case, the play Macbeth written by Shakespeare has scholars sayings, “The lust for power by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth led to a loss of humanity.” With that said, I totally agree with their view. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth went out of their way to even killing King Duncan and burdening the murder on his guardsmen. Even though that’s a common human act, you just don’t do something like that. It’s just so wrong. The acts of both these people are very evil and violent, in which causes Macbeth to move from one act of endangerment to another just to protect himself from a great disaster which I likely

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth evil is conveyed in many ways through characters, themes and settings. Many themes are explored in detail contributing hugely to the sense of evil with characters being used along with these themes to create evil within the characters. These themes and characters are shown in different settings at different times consequently affecting the mood and atmosphere of the play.

One example from the text is, “The dark sky, filled with angry, swirling clouds, reflected Greg Ridley’s mood...” In this quote the author uses a metaphor to compare the sky to Greg’s mood. This can help develop the mood, angry, of the story because the clouds are dark and swirling, which is not a happy mood. Another example from the story is, “The voice was high and brittle, like dry twigs being broken…” When the author uses this simile to compare Lemon Brown’s voice to twigs, a reader can understand that his character is not threatening and frightened. Since Lemon Brown sounds like twigs being broken and his voice was high then he is not going to scare any intruders. One last example from “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” is, “A car passed, its tires hissing over the wet street..” The use of personification in this quote can help develop setting. The car’s tires can not actually hiss, so the author is giving the tires a human quality. When the tires hiss over the wet street a reader can understand that the setting is a gloomy, dark, rainy day. In conclusion, Walter Dean Myers uses metaphors, similes, and personification to create the characteristics of the story’s mood, character, and

The repeated use of the “s” sound creates a rhythmic sound that along with the end of line rhyming scheme makes for a very enjoyable read or recitation. Other examples of alliteration are the names of the characters in the poem such as Abbot of Aberbrothok and Sir Ralph the Rover. Another figurative language that the poet uses is personification. Personification is when

According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?

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.

The definition of a tragic hero, as stated on dictionary.com, is a literary character that makes an error in judgment that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. It has been argued for years whether Macbeth from Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Macbeth, can truly be considered a tragic hero or whether he is solely a villainous tyrant. Although there are some valid arguments for the Macbeth is pure evil viewpoint, by looking at Macbeth in a holistic way you can see the tragic, the heroic, and the tragic hero within him. Macbeth is a tragic hero in every sense of the definition.

Teadale uses many examples of figurative language to express her message. The first example of personification is “you never gave my spirit wings, nor gave my heart a song.” If one takes into account the meaning of spirit, it could be a ghost, or the qualities of a person. None of these have wings, thus giving it wings could be personification. Also, a heart cannot sing, thus it is personification. These two examples develops Teasdale’s message that her suitor, who has loved her for a long time, has never given her anything. As well as being personification, the two examples stated prior function as metaphors for how she wanted her admirer to make her feel. Wanting to feel free, she uses she phrase “spirit wings” and she uses “my heart a song” to communicate that she never had a feeling of love for the man who pursued her. Lastly, there is a third metaphor of “I owe the little open gate that led through heaven’s wall,” which Teasdale uses to communicate her feelings for the person she vies for. She believes that she owes him true happiness and more than the world, thus using the metaphor “the little open gate that lead through heaven’s wall,” to represent that. Thus, the multiple literary devices enable Teasdale to communicate her message to the viewers in a less direct way, even though they are quite easy to