Macbeth Act 3 Figurative Language

If upon hearing the prophecy, Macbeth was just suspicious and slightly moved, his heart was quickly poisoned when hearing the news of him being made the Thane of Cawdor. In his astonishment of realizing that the first part of prophecy had come to reality, the idea of regicide has germinated in the depth of his mind. Macbeth was utterly shaken of the “fantastical murther”, while the ambition inside him was like a beast woken by the weird sisters, tiering his conscience apart. At the end of Act1 Scene 4, the King, who was utterly ignorant of Macbeth inner struggle, announced his son Malcolm as successor at same time heartily praised Macbeth as noble and deserving. The stars, representing high virtue and heavenly power, was used in such an ironic way, for Macbeth with his dark thoughts currently had nothing to do with these qualities, but need to evade their watchful eyes. At this point, Macbeth already had it in his mind to murder the King, yet he still unsettled, thinking about the trust and glory he had received from beloved Duncan. In the next scene, Lady Macbeth would push him onto the doomed

However, the serpent, to which Lady Macbeth metaphorically speaks of in act one scene five, is not only these evil desires of Macbeth. It also represents the threat that Macbeth possesses to Duncan.

When Macbeth is starting to crave power, he decides that he needs to kill King Duncan. His wife, Lady Macbeth suggests, " Look like th'innocent/ Flower,/ But be the serpent under't"(I.vi.76-78). Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to be deceitful to get rid of King Duncan, while Macbeth does not want to kill him at this point. The snake is how Macbeth will solve his problem, for he needs to be the snake himself. He needs to be the snake who will get himself to power. Although, Macbeth problems only go deeper from there. Macbeth's best friends Banquo is a part of a prophecy stating that his children will be kings. With Macbeth's power on the line he feels, "we have scorched the snake, not killed it."(III.ii.15). He hopes his problems will be solved once he kills Duncan, except his problems, carries on to Banquo. After Macbeth Gains power he does not want to lose that power so he decides to kill Banquo and his son. At this moment, Macbeth who is lusting for power believes the treacherous snake is now holding him back from the power which Macbeth feels is his. This is a development in Macbeth’s ideology, for now, he is no longer the snake trying to get power, rather he is fighting the snake. He feels less treacherous and he is starting to lose the morals which once held him back. The murder, however, does not go as he has planned and only Banquo is dead, leading

Referring to Lady MacBeth, supposed to be an explanatory manner as how she perished. This should also be almost ANGRY. Lady MacBeth has been referred to as a “fiend” (devil) so Malcolm clearly isn’t too sympathetic even after her suicide.

I,Malcolm, let Macbeth do anything to be king. While I watch him ruin his legacy.Macbeth proves his loyalty to Duncan by serving him. Macbeth states, " the service and the loyalty I owe in doing it pays itself(I.iv.25) To avoid being taken advantage of, Macbeth must demonstrate that he is not weak. He fulfills this by taking the cowardly way out and murdering Duncan King of Scotland. He acts out because he is jealous and feels as if he deserves to be king. At this point once Macbeth displays that he is no longer loyal to his once King of Scotland, who said " for brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name"(I.ii.95). A disloyal Macbeth cannot accept the promotion to thane of Cawdor, so he get greedy and does the unthinkable. Macbeth says, "Let not light see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see"(I.ii.50-53). These words reveal Macbeth's deep desire to be king, after King Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be the one to take the throne after him.

In many traditional and modern literature, figurative language is often used to embellish the writing and make it more descriptive. Yet, it is often the case that some of these rhetorical figures are poorly understood by the audience who read the text. A notable example is William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a tragedy that was published in 17th century Europe. Although most critics maintain that the central conflict of this play stems from Macbeth’s extreme willingness to follow his ambition, the few critics who manage to decipher the Shakespearean wordplay all agree that the most logical explanation behind Macbeth’s ultimate downfall lies in the fact that he is an alcoholic who suffers from hallucination.

Everyday, people face decisions that could impact the rest of their lives. However, few are as far-reaching as Macbeth’s. Through his use of metaphors and symbolism, Shakespeare in his tragedy Macbeth explains the title character's predicament, to kill Banquo or not, reflecting the unstable world he lives in.

As Macbeth’s speech stretches on, he utilizes metaphors to describe death so as to be more concrete. When he describes death, he calls it the “curtained sleep” (ln 19). In doing this, he describes death as though it is a darker slumber. Macbeth’s concept of death is presented as a deeper, more permanent rest. He also addresses the abrupt nature of death, calling it the “knell [t]hat summons thee to heaven or to hell” (ln 32). Macbeth also compares mortality to the sound of a struck bell, which is abrupt, yet lasting, reverbing long after the initial strike. In this remark, Macbeth recognizes not only how quickly Duncan died, but

Macbeth is talking to himself and gazing at Duncan. He keeps thinking that he sees he blood from him on the knife and is Hallucinating at the thought of killing. Then after realizing what he has to do. He then kills Duncan. When upset at his thoughts In Act Two scene 1, Macbeth explains, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw.” This quote shows Macbeth’s struggle to kill duncan. That he is so uneasy and upset about killing him. The dagger represent his downfall of his ambition. His ambition to become king and in order to do so, he has to sacrifice everyone’s life just to climb to the top. The dager showcases a choice he has to make. While the witches prophecy showed he will king but didn’t tell how. He has to make the decision to do it or

William Faulkner based his novel The Sound of the Fury off of a soliloquy in the Shakespeare play, Macbeth. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

This is the biggest foreshadowing of the whole play. Macbeth’s conflict is intensified by finding out that “the eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland; which honor must not unaccompanied invest him only, but signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine on all deservers” Macbeth(1.4.38-42). By finding this out, he is stricken by the news. “That is a step on which I must fall down or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies; stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires” Macbeth(1.4.48-51). This shows how big of an obstacle this is for Macbeth by his anger and frustration, that he is holding inside

Not only the nature outside of the castle, but also the good in nature is affected by his wicked idea of usurpation of the throne. The growing evil deeds penetrate both Duncan’s and Macbeth’s sleep, not only implying the end of Duncan’s life, but also foreshadowing Macbeth’s unrestful future. While Duncan’s safety is unassured, Macbeth’s peaceful life is also disturbed. By having the unnatural thought of murdering the king, Macbeth has brought natural life to an end. Contrasting the unnatural soliloquy with nature, Shakespeare not only indicates Duncan’s fate, but also foreshadows Macbeth’s unnatural life experiences following the

It can be seen in my performance of Macbeth’s speech in Act 3, Scene 1, that once Macbeth knows he is destined to be succeeded on the throne by Banquo's sons, he becomes determined to disrupt the prediction and prove fate wrong because he refuses to accept a “fruitless crown”, i.e. he refuses to accept that he doesn’t have a son of his own to succeed him. Throughout my interpretation of this speech, I demonstrated the fear, frustration and anger that Macbeth would have felt in this moment. I modulated my tone and actions in order to convey all of the different emotions that were rushing through Macbeth while giving this speech.

Macbeth subconsciously knows that he may have to kill Duncan in order to pursue the third prophecy, as it is Duncan who is presently king, and the only way for Macbeth to obtain Duncan’s title is if Duncan were to die and lose his title. In this scenario, Macbeth has thoughts of himself being the cause of Duncan’s death, in order to have Duncan’s title passed on to him. Macbeth is soon outraged to discover that Duncan has announced his son Malcolm as the future King of Scotland, Prince of Cumberland, as Malcolm now stands in his way of pursuing the actualization of the third prophecy. When Lady Macbeth receives news of the witches’ three prophecies and the fulfillment of the second prophecy, the enormity of her ambition to make Macbeth become King of Scotland leads her into plotting out the murder of Duncan. When Macbeth hears of Lady Macbeth’s plans to kill Duncan, he is at first unwilling to go through such horrific and drastic measures in order to obtain a royal title. Macbeth gives reasons during his soliloquy as to why he shouldn’t kill Duncan, and then says:

[6] Macbeth’s comments go beyond the obvious, and common theme of appearance versus reality: the illusion of the dagger, to expand on the conflicting thoughts he experiences: the necessity of Duncan’s death. [7] An example of effective and witty wordplay, “or art thou but a dagger of the mind” (II.i.52-53), the dagger, the root of his paranoid and anxious nature, signifies Macbeth’s internal struggle by exemplifying the impact such a simple object can have on one’s mental