Analysis of Macbeth's Soliloquy
I have chosen one of Macbeths soliloquys from Act 1 Scene 7. This
scene follows Lady Macbeth welcoming Duncan into the castle to have a
banquet to celebrate the sucess of the battle earlier that day.
Macbeth has left the banquet to ponder the idea of murdering King
Duncan.
Macbeths first lines suggest
“If it ‘twere done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done
quickly”
In these first lines there are many elisions making it very quickly
spoken, Macbeth cannot bear to stay on the subject of murder for very
long. Here Macbeth is saying, if only his troubles would end with
Duncan’s murder, then he would go ahead and do the murder, quickly. He
just wants to get it over and done with. The use of 'it' shows Macbeth
using neutral, non-specific language to disasociate himself as far as
possible from the murder.
Macbeth fears the consequences of the murder and implies that he would
go ahead with the plan for the murder, if he were sure that this would
be the “be-all and the end-all, here” .
Macbeth goes onto visualise himself as a fisherman we see this in the
lines:
'But here upon this bank of and shoal time'
He is 'netting' the consequences as he stands on the shoal of time,
perhaps in an unspoken sea of eternity. This is a very powerful image.
He then suggests that he would risk being damned to become king:
'We'd jump the life to come'
There is a sort of recklessness and instability in the word 'jump', as
if to jump off a cliff. 'Life' is a vague euphemism, for hell, Macbeth
uses these a lot to avoid associating himself with the act of murder
and its spiritual consequnces. The 'we' in this line could be seen the
royal 'we' which would show he is already beginning to think of
himself as king.
Macbeth also fears the consequences of killing Duncan in this world:
'We still have judgement met here'
She tries convincing her husband that following through with his actions will prove his love to her. “ From this time. Such I account thy love.” (1.7.38-39). Macbeth is exhausted by his wife’s constant nagging that he is moderately leaning towards doing what she wants just to make her leave him alone. In the text he uses a tone that suggest that he has had enough and says “ Prithee, peace.”. (1. 7. 46). In other words he is saying “ Please Stop”; eventually, Macbeth gives up and starts giving in to the idea of killing the king. After all he does want to be king, and he would do anything that would make his wife
genius plan of murder. An example of his so called “perfect” murder, he hid the
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir?” Macbeth ponders after three witches foresee that he will become king in the tragic play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare (349). Macbeth is wondering how he could become king of Scotland without him intervening as he is not in line for the throne. He believes that he will have to take action to gain this position. Macbeth was right to doubt fate, because his choices led to his ascension to the throne and, later in the play, to his downfall.
for him. Just as Macbeth is ambitious for the throne, so is Lady Macbeth driven
Lady Macbeth, being ruthless, tries to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but his conscience is stronger than his ambition. He feels that the king is at his palace in “double-trust”; he is his host and he should not be holding the knife to kill the king. When he says, “We will proceed no further in this business” (I. vii. 31. He does not want to follow through with Lady Macbeth’s plan.
encouraged “To want to get on.” Most of us we would never go as far
In Act 5 Scene 5, Macbeth hears of the death of his wife as he faces defeat and death himself in the forthcoming battle with Malcolm’s forces. This soliloquy tells a story of Macbeth in a reflective mood, wondering where all had gone wrong. Macbeth realises that he had lost control of his actions, likening his ambition to a drug addiction. As he digs deeper into his thoughts, he discovers the cause of this ‘addiction’ – the deceased Lady Macbeth. He refers to his deceased wife as his “dealer”, the person that fuelled his ambition. Macbeth begins to play the victim, questioning how he could be the one to blame for the murders and the widespread turmoil given that he was merely ‘an addict’ and had no control of his actions. He diverts the
The silence is taking up all of the conversation between them. The occasional drawer closing or shirt ruffling of Macbeth is all she can hear. Macbeth avoids all eye contact with his disapproving wife, as who sits on the bed watching him treat this day as if any other. After what seemed like years Macbeth finally speaks sternly " what is it...out with it." "How dare you ... he was your friend does that mean anything to you?" she finally blurted out. She could tell by the look on his face, it didn't mean anything to him as he kept getting dressed in all black.
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
In the Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was more effective at persuasion because she persuaded her husband, Macbeth, to kill the king of Scotland, Duncan. In one of her arguments Lady Macbeth refers to her husband as a "live a coward in thine own esteem"(1.7.40-45). She says this because she knows that she can convince him by questioning his manhood and making him feel inferior.
to MacBeth in order to remain honorable. He doesn't want to come right out and
Splendid Productions adaptation of ‘Macbeth’ was performed on the 13th of December 2016, at the RADA studios, London, and was performed by Scott Smith, Genevieve Say and Mark Bernie. The original version of Macbeth was written in 1606 during the Jacobean era, and the adaptation created in the 21st century. I would agree with the statement as the interpretation by Splendid was created to be enjoyed, engaged and relevant to the audience of the 21st century.
The scene I chose was act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth written by Shakespeare. It was between two characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. I played the role of Macbeth. In the scene, Lady Macbeth celebrates her plan being a success. Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to come with news that he has killed Duncan. Macbeth announces that he has committed the murder but he is so afraid that he brings the bloody daggers with him and Lady Macbeth takes them from him, to place them with the sleeping guards. Macbeth hears knocking sounds which frightens him so his wife comes to lead him away, they then wash the blood from their hands before they get caught. My character was challenging because I had to understand his emotions and find ways of interpreting that on stage. I chose to perform this act because Shakespeare was able to create tension, build the right atmosphere to show them Macbeth’s reaction to Duncan’s murder but also show the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Shakespeare’s use of imagery, dramatic irony, rhetorical questions helped emphasise the guilt Macbeth felt after the murder.
himself, as his conscience is fighting against his evil minds. Also, they shows Macbeth has brought his own
from one of the last lines in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play. The three witches speak this line