Lady Macbeth Explication Essay

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Formal Explication Lady Macbeth’s speech In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth fights bravely as a thane and craves the power to become king. Lady Macbeth also longs for the title of queen and contemplates ways that she can receive that title. The present king of Scotland, Duncan, is traveling to Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, and Lady Macbeth feels as though this is the chance to make her wish come true. She knows what needs to be done in order to receive ultimate power: they must kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth feels conflicted on this because no matter how much she wants to inherit the throne, it would also give them many new enemies and problems if she was found to be the murderer. In this excerpt, …show more content…

This strong notion of the raven being personified allows the reader to see just how sure Lady Macbeth is that Duncan’s arriving will cause his own death. The author also uses strong diction about the battle Lady Macbeth is having with herself and her evil thoughts. The author’s tone, which discusses how she wants these dark spirits to strip her of her feminine nature, set the mood for the stanza. Next, Shakespeare uses the line, “And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Line 49). The diction used here and image of the “crown” allow the reader to see the foreshadowing of the kingship and just how much she wants the spirits to fill her with cruel thoughts. “Make thick my blood” (Line 50). This line shows the need for no remorse and the use of “thick blood” give the reader an image of a strong person who doesn’t allow meaningless little emotions to get to them. Lady Macbeth wants all access to “compunctions” to go away after a possible wrongdoing. She seems to have a very angry and serious tone that sets the mood for the first half of the …show more content…

She feels as though her duty to Macbeth is to kill Duncan. She is also using a metaphor of her milk for gall that she wishes Duncan to take in order to die. The gall is used to represent a bile substance that would help her to achieve her goals. Shakespeare uses personification to show how nature is creating mischief and it makes the reader think of disorder- that even nature isn’t acting like itself. Next, the term “thick night” is used to give an image of not just a normal night, but an especially dark one on which the murder will take place.“And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell” (Line 58). This provides even more imagery along with the thick night because it shows the comparison to the darkness of hell. Then, Lady Macbeth continues to discuss how she doesn’t even want to see herself killing Duncan and she doesn’t want the knife to either. She then ends with the image of heaven which has a connotation of light and all things good. Shakespeare gives the reader an image of heaven looking through the dark and smoky night to catch Lady Macbeth in the act. The excerpt ends with the heavens calling through the dark to stop what she is doing and question herself and

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