The Dramatic Impact on a Jacobean Audience of Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth
In this essay I will be examining how Act 1 Scene 5 of “Macbeth” would
have had a dramatic impact on a Jacobean audience. I will also be
exploring how Shakespeare’s stagecraft – his use of devices such as
symbolism, references to contemporary events and imagery – would have
helped to create this dramatic impact. Macbeth was written to be
performed – on a stage, by actors, and to an audience. In Jacobean
England, drama was considered to be the greatest art form, and was
appreciated by many classes of people, from King James downwards, so
these audiences would have been large and varied. Shakespeare’s
stagecraft is such that it would have been understood by the whole
audience – though many themes were linked to the particular interests
of King James, they would have been understood by all, as would all
the imagery and symbolism in the play.
Act 1 Scene 5 begins with Lady Macbeth reading the second half of a
letter she has received from Macbeth. Starting the scene with the
second half of the letter helps with continuity in the play and
between the scenes, and also means that the audience will not have to
hear Lady Macbeth read information that they already know. The part
of the letter that is read reveals much information about Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth’s relationship. It shows that they have a loving
relationship - Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as ‘my dearest partner
of greatness’. This line also shows that they share a love of power,
and both have strong ambitions. However, after she has read the
letter, Lady Macbeth reveals in her soliloquy...
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...suspense and dramatic irony. Dramatic irony – when the audience know
something that a character does not - is also very important
throughout the play. In Act 1 Scene 5, when Lady Macbeth is planning
to kill the King, the audience knows that the King will be staying at
her castle that night, but she does not, and is shocked when she is
told – ‘Thou’rt mad to say it.’
In my opinion, Shakespeare effectively creates dramatic impact in Act
1 Scene 5 of Macbeth. I think that this impact would have been
particularly pronounced on a contemporary Jacobean audience.
Shakespeare uses a wide range of techniques, all of which are used
successfully. The scene, and the play, would have appealed to and
interested all of a Jacobean audience, from the King downwards,
because of these techniques and the dramatic impact they create.
Audience's Sympathy for Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play Macbeth was written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, a period in history when people’s beliefs in their world were changing. People believed strongly in the Divine Right of Kings and that Regicide was an act against God’s will, making it an unforgivable sin. The worship of God was also incredibly important and people would be fined for not attending church on a Sunday and the priest would be the most important person in the village.
UK Essays website states, “Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt caused them to act differently and become different people” (“The Symbols in Macbeth”). Macbeth’s guilt needs to be hidden, pretending he is innocent until his actions numb inside of him. In Act III, Macbeth says, “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more/ Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.137). Lady Macbeth herself is troubled by her actions. Lady Macbeth is a wife who will stop at nothing to get her husband where he is meant to be. Her plead to become “sexless” in Act I does not follow her through the play, but instead causes her deep fear. In Lady Macbeth’s last days, she is sleepwalking around the castle admitting her and her husband’s sins while trying to “rub away the blood” off her hands before she commits
Columbia University, Press. "Macbeth." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1. History Reference Center. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.
Prior to Macbeth’s transition it was very apparent that Macbeth was insecure about his future role as King. He never felt comfortable in his own shoes; even people of little importance intimidated him. This lack of self-belief leaves Macbeth striving for more and more power, which means more people had to die. Of course for this to happen, for choices to be made, Macbeth needed the counsel and the...
At the end of the play Lady Macbeth is described by Malcom as being a
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Lady Macbeth’s atypical and complex character directly challenged the archetypal principles and beliefs of the Jacobean era which as a result, drew major fascination through the ages. Lady Macbeth was Shakespeare’s device to not only stimulate audience’s emotions, but to also provide historical context and elicit dominant themes which reflected Jacobean society. Her ambiguous character and remarkable influences in the play raised a lot of controversy and fascination amongst both modern and Jacobean audiences. She can either be seen as linked to the witches in a feminist bid to overthrow the balance of power, or as a representation of the evil side of Macbeth. Nevertheless, it was her distinct characteristics and actions which ultimately catalysed the chain of conflicts of the play. Again, this reinforces her important role in the play.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press New Folger Edition, 1992
The Dramatic Effect of Act 5 Scene 1 on the Play Macbeth In this scene the doctor and the gentlewoman wait for Lady Macbeth as it was reported to the doctor that she had been sleepwalking on previous occasions - "since her majesty returned from the field, I have seen her rise from her bed". It is reported by the gentlewoman that every time Lady Macbeth sleepwalks she writes something on paper and she had also seen Lady Macbeth continuously perform an action of washing her hands vigorously. Lady Macbeth enters holding a candle.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Elements of Literature, Sixth Course. Ed. Kristine E. Marshall, 1997. 300-312. Print.
Macbeth is a play revolving around many key ideas observed in Shakespeare’s time with various messages communicated to the audience successfully, despite the lack of the cinematic effects present in today’s literature entertainment. The interweaved themes of immoral ambition and corruption are displayed throughout the text, unveiling the corruptive nature of one’s excessive greed for supremacy, affecting both themselves and others. This idea in Macbeth is successfully conveyed to the audience in Shakespeare’s time through the literary devices of characterisation, soliloquy and plot.
Shakespeare emphasises the opulent ambience through the lavish descriptions of the banquet. The scene opens with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s warm welcome to the lords as they must “play the humble host,” being an important political stage in their lives. Here Shakespeare uses a metatheatrical reference which is dramatically effective to remind the Jacobean audience the falsity of their roles. As they are illicit figures, it sugg...
William Shakespeare’s usage of stage techniques and language effects in Macbeth are extraordinarily used in creating gradual tension from the moment King Duncan is killed by Macbeth, followed by a short relaxation period and then increasing it again until the climax point of the act of regicide. The reader and the audience are kept in suspense right from the beginning of the play until the final scene.
The character of Lady Macbeth is a complex one, there is much that can be said regarding the juxtaposition of ideas concerning her behavior. Within this essay I shall attempt to elaborate on her forceful, selfish and contradictory character.
of the 'evil' witches as he was sure that witches were out to get him