Author: Christopher Waugh

Question- How does
Shakespeare exploit the conventions of
language and theatre to fill his play from the
crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty –
and moreover, why is this so essential to the
universal meaning of the play?

Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is a dark and powerful tragedy set in Scotland. The play is a showcase of the physiological and political effects put on the protagonist of the play Macbeth. When he chooses evil to fulfill his ambition. Shakespeare enriches this play through many powerful language devices and features. Throughout the play you delve into Macbeth’s slowly deteriorating and diminishing state of mind as he grasps for his ambition. The main story of the play is about a soldier (Macbeth) trying to seize his ambition of becoming king of Scotland through evil and tyranny. After which Macbeth kills the king he breaks the natural order spiraling the natural world in to chaos. Shakespeare uses language devices such as metaphors, personification, imagery and symbolism to enforce the universal theme for the play Macbeth, ambition. Ambition is most present in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s dialogue and is enhanced by Shakespeare’s ingenious figurative language features and devices ;but is shown in characters that play a smaller role as well.

In the beginning of the play Macbeth wants to become the reigning monarch of Scotland, but the way he achieves this ambition is through an evil output through committing treason and murdering the king. Before he murders the king he goes through a mental battle grieving and hallucinating. A example of this is”Is this a dagger I see before me” In this scene Macbeth pictures a dagger with its handle faced towards him and the blade towards Duncan. This quote is an example of creating imagery. ” I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on th’other ” Macbeth speaks these lines as he starts to doubt his plan to murder Duncan. He uses a complicated metaphor, a simile that compares his ambition to the experience of horse riding. He describes being unable to motivate himself to take action by creating the image of himself that he is a horse rider who cannot use his spurs to motivate his horse to move. In this case his horse is his ambition to become king and he is not mentally strong and lacks the drive to motivate his horse and finish the race. Once Macbeth becomes the king through murdering Duncan and his guards he is still unsettled and he rules Scotland with tyranny oppressing the people. “To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus” Macbeth speaks this line after he has become king, but continues to feel restless and insecure.

The three witch’s present the prospect that Macbeth was soon to be king in the early stages of the play. This is the trigger for him to pursue his ambition for the crown; how ever this driving ambition is faltered by Macbeth’s lack of mental strength to kill the king. Where Macbeth’s mental strength and drive lacks Lady Macbeth’s thrives. “Thou wouldst be great
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it ” Lady Macbeth speaks these lines as she looks upon Macbeth’s character. She thinks that he is unwilling to display the dire behavior required to seize his ambition. Shakespeare uses a variety of complex metaphors and language features to create a more vivid image of what Lady Macbeth has to say in this next quote. “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements. Come,you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts,unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topful of direst cruelty”. This quote uses strong imagery and metaphors to paint a picture of lady Macbeth’s current mindset. When lady Macbeth said “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements. Shakespeare uses many language features to show death is calling Duncan under lady Macbeth’s roof. Universally the raven is a symbol for death setting this metaphor up with imagery of death, as we look further the raven is hoarse and croaks. Giving death a hoarse or sore throat this is personifying death making death come across as a being with a rough and menacing sound when they speak. In the next line lady Macbeth proceeds to say the following “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the topful of direst cruelty” unsex meaning she has to become something non human a being without gender. A being full of purest cruelty of the upmost importance from crown to toe ,Dire cruelty. This is creating a very strong image and emphasis of her determination, almost physcotic. The crown usually meaning head however it is too fitting that they are talking about ascending to king to use the word crown that’s another glimpse into Shakespeare creating imagery within the play. The quote strengthens lady Macbeth’s character displaying her inner passion for Macbeth to take the crown Shakespeare lets your imagination drift and create your own image of her thought through his strong language devices and features.

After which Macbeth kills the rightful king Duncan, he breaks the natural order spiraling the natural world into chaos. This segment of the play uses a lot of imagery and dramatic devices. First presented by the old man he states “And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp” This quote states that times are dark both figuratively and literally. The travelling lamp is a metaphor for the sun, it’s being strangled by darkness. This is personification for darkness strangling out all of the light despite it being day. The Old man then goes onto say “A falcon, towering in her pride of place Was by a mousing owl hawked at, and killed.” This at first glance seems like just a factual statement but if you read between the lines its a great simile that uses clear symbolism. The mousing owl symbolizes Macbeth, the falcon towering in pride of place is Duncan the current king. The natural world reacts to Macbeth breaking the chain of monarchs through doing unnatural things. This is because a lower pecking order animals killing a higher pecking order animals such as Macbeth killing Duncan. Which is un-heared of and disrupts everything .

Throughout the play Macbeth, Shakespeare submerges into the depths of many figurative language features and devices. These features are most present in Macbeth and lady Macbeth’s dialogue. In the play Macbeth these language devices would have been essential because there was a lack of stage props. The rich language was the source of imagery replacing the props and complimenting the complex metaphors that painted a more vivid picture within the audiences imaginations. The language features are emphasized most in Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s dialogue because they referrer to ambition the universal theme of the play. The two most ambitious characters have the strongest and most ambitious language features within their dialogue. Macbeth’s obsession of ambition is his own downfall. Leading him to murder innocence and rule with tyranny. Ultimately its his own demise when Macduff returns with an army and slays Macbeth. In my opinion Macbeth the play is a genius peace of literary work and a powerful and physiological story that changes your outlook on life as a whole.