| In the fifth and final Act of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in 11th century Scotland, a queen named Lady Macbeth laments her husband's tyranny and her initial involvement in his murderous rise to power. Use tone, diction and contrast to reveal her inner turmoil in a thorough analysis of the excerpt. Lady M. Yet here’s a spot. | |
| Doct. Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. | |
| Lady M. Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two: why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? | |
| Doct. Do you mark that? | 20 |
| Lady M. The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? What! will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting. | |
| Doct. Go to, go to; you have known what you should not. | |
| Gen. She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that: Heaven knows what she has known. | |
| Lady M. Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh! | |
| Doct. What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. | 25 |
| Gen. I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. | |
| Doct. Well, well, well. | |
| Gen. Pray God it be, sir. | |
| Doct. This disease is beyond my practice: yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds. | |
| Lady M. Wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on ’s grave. | 30 |
| Doct. Even so? | |
| Lady M. To bed, to bed: there’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed. [Exit. | |
| Doct. Will she go now to bed? | |
| Gen. Directly. | |
| Doct. Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds | 35 |
| Do breed unnatural troubles; infected minds | |
| To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets; | |
| More needs she the divine than the physician. | |
| God, God forgive us all! Look after her; | |
| Remove from her the means of all annoyance, | 40 |
| And still keep eyes upon her. So, good-night: | |
| My mind she has mated, and amaz’d my sight. | |
| I think, but dare not speak. | |
| Gen. Good-night, good doctor. [Exeunt. |
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Yet Here's a Spot
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Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a monolithic exposition on the nature of guilt in human existence, and its inherent irony. In the excerpt above taken from Act V of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses various literary techniques in the context of Lady Macbeth’s torturous madness to convey his message. He utilizes tone, diction, and contrast to create profound dramatic irony in the context of an individual’s guilt.
ReplyDeleteThe tone of Shakespeare’s writing is one of his greatest tools, as his work exists to be performed on stage. This excerpt also expresses this trait. The scene itself stirs the reader’s emotions simply through the characters present. Readers often associate the presence of a doctor with an ominous undercurrent, and the doctor in this scene has that exact effect. The dismay the learned expert shows in numerous lines (25, 27-28) at Lady Macbeth’s distressing behavior plunges the reader into a feeling of despair and concern as the doctor states the absence of a solution he knows of (27). This works to create an eerie atmosphere reinforced by the vague feeling of a feudal era asylum. Lady Macbeth’s lines, the focus of the excerpt, begin their tonal contributions right way in the piece. Her raging internal guilt is expressed externally in her subconscious statements made while sleepwalking. Her initial line is only spoken in panicked exclamations and, more dominantly, aggressive questioning of herself (17-19). These questioning lines reveal her internal conflict, but as the piece progresses, they begin to Segway to statements regarding the reality of her situation (29-30). She is actually gradually resolving this internal conflict as she gives in and accepts the deeds she laments, essentially plunging her past the point of return for her morality. Her guilt, after driving her insane, loosened its hold on her as she ceases to question and drifts away from morality. Her attempts to balance guilt and morality with reality are the source of her agonizing conflict, which is dynamic throughout even this excerpt.
Shakespeare plays into this dynamic internal conflict with more than just his tone. His diction plays a key role in impressing the reader with the poignant self-doubt and guilt of Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare’s choice of words is always purposeful, and leaves the simple matter of realizing his choices, subconsciously or consciously, to his readers. One way Shakespeare strategically utilizes diction throughout this excerpt is through his selection of words referencing hell. He first introduces the trend on line 17, as lady Macbeth speaks, still uncertain about her feelings on the situation. Once she has made up her mind, she speaks of hearing “knocking at the gate” (32), an evident reference to the gates of hell as hell was introduced above. Shakespeare also uses his extensive skill in diction in creating words with double meanings to enhance the atmosphere. An example of this is when the doctor says “the heart is sorely charged” (25). This means of course the obvious, that Lady Macbeth is under intense misery and stress, but the word charged also could denote a criminal charge, elevating the nervousness and tension in the atmosphere as Lady Macbeth is simultaneously ranting about her crimes. This escalates the atmospheric tension caused by Lady Macbeth’s
Of utmost importance in theater is the use of irony, which Shakespeare is of course a master of. Shakespeare engineers this contrast in two parts a he did with the underworld diction. On line 21 Lady Macbeth questions if her hands will ever “be clean,” clearly a reference to her crime. She shortly after tells un unseen figure to wash their hands. This figure is described as a killer of Banquo, a criminal, indicating she is envisioning Macbeth (29-30). This ironically illustrates the double standard that characterizes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship. This same double standard pushed him to his crime, and then led to her guilt and attempts to stop the chain of events. Lady Macbeth struggles over whether her hands will be clean, but commands Macbeth to simply wash his hands and move on. This contrast is revealing in their relationship was well as internally for Lady Macbeth, as her proneness to creating double standards increases the tension of the situation and intensifies her guilt.
ReplyDeleteThrough this trifecta of literary techniques, Shakespeare crafts his scene to a point of incredible purpose. Every line seeks to further impress Lady Macbeth’s inner turmoil on the reader and therefore communicate her progression through her struggle with guilt, assuredly continued outside the passage. Tone, diction, and contrast are balanced and fully utilized to show more than what the simple transcript reveals, and this successfully enraptures the reader in the story of Lady Macbeth’s guilt.
One of the most fierce forces of human nature is the lust for power, often times controlling and overtaking a life until its fall and destruction. In Act V of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth realizes the tyrannous path her husband continues down. The inner struggle in which she endures is revealed in the excerpt through the queen’s tone, diction and contrasting character.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of the given lines, Lady Macbeth’s tone remains consistent throughout the scene, showcasing and angry and paranoid state of mind. Lady Macbeth frets “yet who could have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.” Cognizant of the crimes her husband committed, the queen frantically replays what occurred and the sanity of within it. Continuing down through the scene Lady Macbeth remains frantic and skeptical, venting to the doctor and general about the vicious acts of her husband. She insists “wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so pale” to distract and settle her mind. This approach is the opposite the queen took at the beginning of the play, demonstrating an obvious contrast.
In the first half of the play, Lady Macbeth can claim credit for convincing her husband to commit such treacherous crimes on his rise to power. Her selfish ambition and desire for the crown herself led her to talk to Macbeth into killing King Duncan. Now, faced with a new look on things, Lady Macbeth is petrified. Like her husband, she cannot rest knowing about the events that unfolded. But the psychological aspect is more prevalent in the queen. This is demonstrated when Lady Macbeth insists “Here’s the small of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! Oh! Oh!” The exaggerated fear in the current character contrasts the wife who de-feminized herself in the beginning of the play.
Shakespeare’s diction reveals the inner struggle that Lady Macbeth experiences. Using the dark words that reflect the crimes committed by the newly crowned King and Queen, Shakespeare is able to showcase the regret and delusional state the queen now feels. Shakespeare utilizes words such as Hell, murky, blood, fear, undone and pale in Lady Macbeth’s lines to give the reader a look into how the Queen currently suffers. The e use of word choice effectively conveys a message about Lady Macbeth and her inner turmoil in a subtle yet forceful way.
The tragic downfall of Lady Macbeth exhibits the contrast of her character throughout the play, utilizing tone and diction to reveal a transformed Queen. Shakespeare effectively promotes this message through this scene, giving the reader a unique approach to characterization throughout the play.
William Shakespeare is recognized for the frequent toying with the irony of human nature in his playwrights. In one of his most acclaimed plays Macbeth, Shakespeare meddles with human’s innate lust for power and the consequences of becoming wholly consumed. In Act V, the side effects of glutton for power emerge in Lady Macbeth, who begins to hallucinate due to the guilt of the actions her and her husband committed in order to achieve their positions in the monarchy. Shakespeare implements literary techniques such as tone, diction, and contrast to communicate the turmoil brooding within Lady Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteIn this excerpt, a consistent tone of delirium and paranoia are present in Lady Macbeth’s speaking and mannerisms. When the doctor observes Lady Macbeth, she is anxious and rubbing her hands exclaiming “Out! Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two”, referring to the hallucinations of blood she sees on her hands-the blood of the beloved and deceased Banquo. She continues on to utter that “all the perfumes of Arabia” could not mask the smell the strong musk her guilt carries. The doctor is astonished by what he is hearing, as Lady Macbeth reveals the crimes her and her husband have committed, and she frantically says “Wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so pale” to calm her tormented mind. The constant scrubbing of her hands and her absent minded babbling to the doctor and gentlewoman convey the toll guilt places upon Lady Macbeth’s mind as she ruminates the murders her husband has committed in order to ascend to the throne.
The darkly shaded diction Shakespeare utilizes throughout Lady Macbeth’s episode further conveys the mental anguish the Queen harbors. In her rambling, Lady Macbeth says “Hell” is “murky”, and speaks often of blood. When she tries to calm herself, she tells herself not to look so “pale”. Shakespeare’s particular word choice communicates the feeling of darkness eclipsing Lady Macbeth’s heart, and how the actions of her husband prey upon her, causing even her external appearance to deteriorate.
Lady Macbeth’s actions in this passage are most shocking because they completely contrast her previous character, her and her husband practically exchanging roles in the play. In the play’s beginning, Lady Macbeth frequently challenged her husband’s masculinity with his indecision and trepidation regarding the throne, because she knew in order to ascend to power and gain control, she needed to manipulate her husband. Once Lady Macbeth corrupts her husband’s honor and loyalty, he starts to lust for more and more power, and it is after his episode at the table when he sees the apparition of Banquo that he begins to seemingly drain Lady Macbeth of her once selfish ambitions, leaving a ghostly shell of a woman, filled with guilt. This passage clearly demonstrates the character exchange, as Lady Macbeth furiously scrubs at invisible blood spots on her hands and incoherently rambles to the doctor about her husband's wretched crimes.
Shakespeare is a master at crafting his pieces to capture the essence of human nature. Macbeth deals with the aspect of greed for control and how a covetous for power corrupts humans and yields dire consequences. Through the utilization of literary techniques such as tone, diction, and contrast, Shakespeare effectively communicates the distress lusting for power places upon the heart and mind of Lady Macbeth.