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Writing Style Used in Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

Shakespeare's style in "Macbeth," a psychological and verbal fusion, reflects the mental state of the
play's main characters.
Shakespeare's style in "Macbeth," according to Harold Bloom, fuses diction, syntax and characterization
into a partnership between a character's words and his evolving mental state from moment to moment.
Shakespeare does this through stylistic changes that reflect not only the mental degeneration of Macbeth
and his wife, but also the sanity of their underlings.
Macbeth's Metaphoric Leaps
"Macbeth" was stylistically liberating for Shakespeare according to Marjorie Garber, given how the play's
language mirrors character development. The wooden declamations of murderous protagonists such as
Titus Andronicus are gone. Macbeth instead presents a figurative word flow that leaps rider-like, horse to
horse: "Pity, like a naked newborn babe ... or heaven's cherubim hors'd upon the sightless couriers of the
air." As he disintegrates psychologically, Macbeth's metaphors become apostrophes: "Come seeling night,
scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day." Finally, all is visionary, metaphoric nihilism: "a tale told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury signifying nothing."
Lady Macbeth's Fragmentation
Shakespeare's style with Lady Macbeth depicts an even more frightening psychological decline. She
begins at the balance point of choice, and Shakespeare's parallel phrasing conveys this: "what thou
wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily." Her mental stability becomes fragmented after the murder of
Duncan: "What's done is done ... naught's had, all's spent." Her final descent into madness is reflected in
stylistic fragmentation: "One, two, why then 'tis time to do'it ... to bed, to bed!" Her last words reflect a
desperate, unsuccessful attempt to retain balance: "what's done cannot be undone," a syntactically
balanced sentence the content of which reflects insanity.
Style in Underlings
The cunning writing style Shakespeare employs particularly for the play's lower-class characters retains
balanced syntax in that simplest of archetypal character: the fool, or in "Macbeth's" case, the porter. His
delightful speech -- concerning the erectile dysfunction a drunkard suffers -- notes that drink "makes him
and it mars him, makes him stand to and not stand to." Even Macduff, lost in the deaths of his family,
retains balanced syntax: "not for their demerits, but for mine/fell slaughter on their souls." Finally, Malcolm
gives the Macbeths' ironic epitaph the balance they had forfeited; "this dead butcher and his fiend-like
queen" restores Scotland's monarchical balance.
Style Carries Audience
Shakespeare's particular stylistic genius was to reflect not only his characters' progression from one
mental state to another but to also harness, with diction and syntax, the minds of his audience. In a sense,
his words mentally carry us along with Macbeth, which may be how Shakespeare engages his audience's
sympathy for a six-fold murderer: through the vigor of a style that is both figuratively rich and
psychologically attuned.
1.Shakespeare's Characterization of Macbeth
The first thing the reader learns about Macbeth is his bravery on the battlefield, as reported by a wounded
captain. After three witches foretell that Macbeth will become king, his overwhelming ambition consumes
him and drives him to commit heinous acts. Throughout the plot, however, he is marked with self-doubt,
which at times is countered by his wife.
Bravery
Macbeth is known first for his great courage as a warrior. The wounded captains paints the picture of a
brave, capable soldier. It is this aspect of his manhood and masculinity that his wife, Lady Macbeth,
attacks when he expresses doubt about killing the king. At the end of the play, Macbeth returns to the
battlefield, participating again in the reckless warrior behavior that had made him esteemed.
Ambition
Perhaps the most noted characteristic of Macbeth that is responsible for his downfall is his ambition. It
consumes him and drives him to commit heinous, gruesome acts that he knows are wrong in order to gain
the crown and then maintain his power. The reader first learns about this aspect of his nature when the
three witches tell him he will become king. After Macbeth kills Duncan, it becomes easier for him to give in
to his desires and order the death of members of the Macduff family.
Self-Doubt
Macbeth's bravery and ambition are countered by his self-doubt. He is tormented by guilt after completing
his early crimes, such as killing Duncan, and while contemplating others. Lady Macbeth had to drive him
to kill Duncan as he floundered over the decision. Banquo's ghost appears and fills him with horror.
Throughout the story, the reader witnesses the contradiction of a man so driven by ambition that he
commits murder but who is also conscience-stricken.
Controlled by Fate?
The reader has the opportunity to consider Macbeth as a man controlled by outside forces. The three
witches not only knew that he will be king but predicted his downfall. This can suggest that Macbeth had
no control of his fate. The text describes Macbeth as being "rapt" in the witches' company and almost in a
dreamlike state after their encounters, suggesting that he was not acting through his own will. Trapped by
his actions, he is portrayed as feeling he has no alternative but to continue in his course.
2.The Role of Women in Macbeth
Lady Macbeth's quest for power leads her to madness.

Lady Macbeth represents a powerful, influential woman who allows her desire to see her husband gain the
throne dictate her decisions. She's responsible for suggesting that Macbeth kill Duncan to become the
king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth doesn't play a stereotypical female role and is more concerned with
politics and power than with childrearing or maintaining her estate. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to
demonstrate the control that ambitious, manipulative, seductive women hold over their husbands.
Eventually, her guilt over the murders of Banquo, Duncan, Lady Macduff and Macduff's children leads her
to madness and suicide. Lady Macbeth drives the plot by showing the tragic fruits of corruption.
The Three Witches
The three witches play an evil, mystical role in the play. They have the ability to see into the future and
predict that Macbeth will become the king of Scotland. Their prophesies jump-start Macbeth's murderous
ways. Shakespeare gives the witches supernatural abilities but forces the audience to consider whether
they dictate Macbeth's outcome or if Macbeth seals his own fate -- raising the question of free will. The
witches are creepy, manipulative and evil and enjoy watching Macbeth fail as a husband, friend and
leader. They set a moody, pessimistic tone for the play and foreshadow Macbeth's impending doom.
Lady Macduff
Lady Macduff is Lady Macbeth's opposite. She's a loyal, devoted mother who prioritizes the raising of her
children. She rebukes her husband for leaving the family to pursue vengeance on Macbeth for killing
Duncan. Lady Macduff knows that two wrongs don't make a right and desperately wants to save her
family, knowing that Macbeth is intent on killing them all. Shakespeare uses this female figure to show
positive traits -- devotion, goodness, high moral standing, unselfishness and inner strength. Lady
Macduff's strong mental state provides a stark contrast to Lady Macbeth's increasing madness.
Hecate
Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, plays a minor role in the play, but Shakespeare uses her to incorporate
mysticism and supernatural elements into the story. She helps the three witches concoct and implement
their plans to ruin Macbeth and is likely their controller. Shakespeare might want the audience to question
the motives of the Greek gods -- to suggest they don't always have the best interests of humans in mind.
Hecate foreshadows Macbeth's downfall when she says, "Security is mortals' chiefest enemy.
3.Characters Who Embody the Values of Masculinity in "Macbeth
"Macbeth" shows how masculine values can cause a man's rise to power or his utter demise.
William Shakespeares Macbeth was written in 1606. Macbeth, a brave warrior, is given a prophecy by
three witches that he will be king of Scotland. This news leads Macbeth to seize the throne using devious
and bloody means, showing how power corrupts a man. The play establishes a theme of masculinity,
which is traditionally defined by ideas of physical strength, assertiveness, loyalty and power or success.
Both male and female characters exhibit these traits in deviant and heroic ways.
Macbeth
Macbeth is easily manipulated by his masculinity. He is a war hero who faced an army with his friend
Banquo. As a result, his violent deeds are glorified by King Duncan. Once given the prophecy, however,
Macbeth shows a lust for power. Ambition, typically seen as a virtuous quality, becomes his downfall as he
focuses on becoming king. As Macbeth secretly kills Duncan and his close allies, his ego and paranoia
drive him insane. Macbeth represents usually positive attributes of masculinity gone wrong.
Macduf
While he is considered the antagonist, Macduff actually turns out to be the hero. Macduff is a faithful thane
to Duncan and is suspicious about his murder. He embodies the qualities of patriotism and loyalty because
he strives to make Scotland a great country. He is also vengeful after his family is slaughtered by
Macbeths orders. Macduff gets revenge when he beheads Macbeth, thus restoring order to his country.
Lady Macbeth
Macbeths wife shows several masculine characteristics. When Lady Macbeth hears about her husband's
prophecy, she asks demonic spirits to unsex me here,/And fill me top-full/Of direst cruelty. Her
covetousness for power leads her to plan a brutal and violent regicide. She pushes Macbeth into murder
by convincing him that he is not a man unless he kills Duncan. Shakespeare challenges readers'
assumptions about femininity by having Lady Macbeth embody many masculine values.
Banquo
Banquo is Macbeths friend and a Scottish thane. Banquo fights alongside Macbeth and is renowned for his
bravery and martial skill. He is the only other character to receive a prophecy from the witches. Banquo
openly challenges the witches and does not automatically believe their predictions. Though he is
suspicious of Macbeth after Duncans murder, Banquo shows loyalty to his friend. Unfortunately, Macbeth
is paranoid of Banquo and has him assassinated. Banquo's last deed of saving his son's life exemplifies his
heroic loyalty.
Malcolm
Malcolm is King Duncans son and true heir to the throne. The king's murder is pinned on Malcolm, so he
flees to England to build an army against Macbeth. Malcolm is a leader and is respected by his people.
During a moment of weakness, he shares with Macduff his hesitance to become king, since he is lust-filled
and greedy. Macduff convinces him otherwise, which inspires Malcolm to lead the army against Macbeths
forces. When Malcolm takes his place on the throne, he shows honor to his loyal thanes by making them
earls.
The Three Witches

While they do not take part in the main action, the three witches play an essential role in Macbeth. The
witches show power in the ability to prophesy and use it to their benefit. The prophecies they give
Macbeth lead him to drastic actions. The witches are given masculine features; as Banquo tells them, You
should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/That you are so. Their abuse of power to
manipulate and their physical appearance show they too possess masculine traits.
4.Where Does Macbeth Show Pride
Macbeth's tragic pride begins with the witches' prophecy.
Pride may not be a characteristic that comes readily to mind when considering Macbeth. His pride in
Scotland vanishes when the witches predict his kingship, an act which initiates another kind of pride; his
pride in battle is long past when the play begins. However, he shows streaks of pride as a ruler, as a dupe
of the supernatural and as an Aristotelian tragic figure.
Early in the play, there are glimmers of Macbeth's pride as a husband, when calls his wife "dearest partner
of greatness" and as a subject, when he tells Duncan "the loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself." But in Act
3, once he kills Duncan to take his place as king, Macbeth speaks of "my Genius" and begs fate to
"champion me to the utterance." He also uses the royal "we" when he speaks of "our innocent self" in Act
1, and again when he flatters his guests in Act 3: "Ourself will mingle with society and play the humble
host." Kingly pride rules him entirely.
Supernatural Pride
Once the witches pronounce that "none of woman born" can hurt him, Macbeth's pride in his supposed
supernatural powers infects his very sanity. Harold Bloom notes that Macbeth has the self-pride to defy all
nature "as he imagines it"; certainly Macbeth imagines his immortal nature with pure hubris, which
Aristotle considered a god-defying pride. "I cannot taint with fear," he cries when his soldiers desert him in
Act 5; he later declares, "I will not be afraid of death and bane," and "swords I smile at, weapons laugh to
scorn / Brandished by man that's of a woman born."
Aristotelian Pride
Aristotelian hubris in a tragic hero gives way to catharsis, the emotional cleansing that ends a tragedy,
and here Macbeth achieves a dignified, human sense of pride. Defeated and hopeless, he announces to
Macduff that "I will not yield.... / Yet will I try the last.... / Lay on, Macduff, and damn'd be him that first
cries 'Hold, enough!'" In this remarkable pronouncement, his last words, Macbeth recovers his pride both
as man and warrior, declares his ability to fight in the face of despair and takes away any chance of shame
and surrender.
Recovery of Human Pride
In "Shakespeare After All," Marjorie Garber calls Macbeth's end-game confrontation with mortality a "real
recovery," indicating that Shakespeare has manifested, in one character, glimpses of several kinds of
pride: the hubris that first hurls us into sin and error, the false pride that keeps us secure in our evil, and
finally the recovering, human pride of self in the face of death, our ultimate redemption. This true sense of
pride casts out the others, redeeming Macbeth at least to some extent.
5 What Positive & Negative Efects of Ambition Does the Play "Macbeth" Illustrate?
Macbeth is ambitious long before the witches appear.
"I have no spur," says Macbeth in Shakespeare's Scottish play, "but only vaulting ambition, which
o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other" (2.1. 25-28). Ambition as both theme and motive is the play's spur
also, as Shakespeare illustrates both the positive and negative effects of ambition in the different ways his
characters handle it.
Macbeth's ambition to be king poisons his outlook before the play even begins. Harold Bloom speaks of
the thane's "proleptic imagination": when the witches' prophesy of his promotion comes true, he
immediately sees King Duncan dead (1.3.51-52). The murder that follows is almost superfluous; in
Macbeth's imagination, he has already killed Duncan. Similarly, when Lady Macbeth hears of his promotion
in a letter (1.5.40-54), she unhesitatingly calls on the powers of darkness to increase her feminine cruelty;
she knows she must persuade her husband to murder, not exactly a wifely duty.
Negative to Nihilistic
The scenes that follow reinforce the effects of the Macbeths' ambitious negativity: we never see them
swear a pact -- it may have been pledged years before -- but Lady Macbeth declares she would "dash the
brains out" of an infant had she sworn as Macbeth apparently has (2.1.54-59). Their deep-seated ambition
infects their entire marriage; "negative" hardly begins to describe their nihilistic loss of normal intimacy,
parenthood and satisfaction as they reject "golden opinions" from others (2.1.32). They proceed to
madness, death and the epitaphs of "dead butcher and his fiendlike queen."
Cowardly to Courageous
The hungrily negative effects of the Macbeths' ambition are fairly obvious; less straightforward is the
positively charged ambition of young Malcolm. He does not begin promisingly, running like a rabbit when
murder takes his father's crown (3.3.135-139); however, by Act IV he is raising an army to take back his
country and throne, saying "Macbeth is ripe for shaking" (4.3.237-238). The effects of his positive ambition
are noteworthy: he allies himself with King Edward of England, whose royal touch is holy and healing
(4.3.149-152).
A Country's Love or Hate

The most telling point that compares Macbeth's negativity with Malcolm's positive effect is the result of
their interviews with underlings. Macbeth, to inspire two murderers, lies about the innocent Banquo
(3.1.75-82); Malcolm, to test Macduff's loyalty, lies about himself before revealing the truth (4.3.57-135).
Macbeth dies surrounded by enemies; all England rises to assist Malcolm. The love, or hate, of an entire
country is the most pronounced example of the effects of positive and negative ambition.

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