Soliloquies In Macbeth
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare illustrates the tragic events in the life of a man named Macbeth. Macbeth is the tragic hero, whose selfish and greedy actions led to his downfall. Shakespeare uses literary elements such as irony, foreshadowing, soliloquies, and asides to portray tragedy throughout the story. The Tragedy of Macbeth shows that power brings out the worst in people, and can ultimately be the downfall of their reign.
Many times throughout the story, Shakespeare uses irony, both situational and dramatic, to show tragedy in the plot. One of the first occurrences of dramatic irony is when King Duncan is talking about Macbeth to Lady Macbeth and says, “We love him highly and shall continue our graces towards him (Pg. …show more content…
In Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 5, the audience begins to see regret from both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth eventually kills herself because she cannot escape the guilt she feels. Macbeth decides to face Malcom and fight him, but he knows that he will die. Macbeth grows to hate what his life comes to, “My way of life is fall’n into the sere” (Pg. 422, Line 22-23.) He begins to realize that he has broken everything that the Thanes of Cawdor stood for “And that which should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have” (Pg. 422-423, Line 24-26.) He realizes that he will be left with no one due to his vicious acts. Shakespeare uses asides to show what is going on in a characters head and important interactions between the characters throughout the story. In Act 1, the audience sees the beginning of Macbeth’s evil ways in the aside. Macbeth is contemplating murdering King Duncan to receive power, but he feels like killing will make him less of a man “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man (Pg. 357, Line 139-140.) This is also ironic because killing someone will make a person seem stronger, not weak. As the story goes on, the audience sees the darkness of Macbeth’s mind, and eventually see the guilt he feels for all he has done.
The literary elements used in The Tragedy of Macbeth help
Many times throughout the story, Shakespeare uses irony, both situational and dramatic, to show tragedy in the plot. One of the first occurrences of dramatic irony is when King Duncan is talking about Macbeth to Lady Macbeth and says, “We love him highly and shall continue our graces towards him (Pg. …show more content…
In Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 5, the audience begins to see regret from both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth eventually kills herself because she cannot escape the guilt she feels. Macbeth decides to face Malcom and fight him, but he knows that he will die. Macbeth grows to hate what his life comes to, “My way of life is fall’n into the sere” (Pg. 422, Line 22-23.) He begins to realize that he has broken everything that the Thanes of Cawdor stood for “And that which should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have” (Pg. 422-423, Line 24-26.) He realizes that he will be left with no one due to his vicious acts. Shakespeare uses asides to show what is going on in a characters head and important interactions between the characters throughout the story. In Act 1, the audience sees the beginning of Macbeth’s evil ways in the aside. Macbeth is contemplating murdering King Duncan to receive power, but he feels like killing will make him less of a man “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man (Pg. 357, Line 139-140.) This is also ironic because killing someone will make a person seem stronger, not weak. As the story goes on, the audience sees the darkness of Macbeth’s mind, and eventually see the guilt he feels for all he has done.
The literary elements used in The Tragedy of Macbeth help