Macbeth Rhetorical Devices

The example 2 is an act 3 scene 1 line 65 the quote “Upon my head placed a fruitless crown”. This quote is telling us how macbeth is greedy, for his position/power of being king. This quote is

Macbeth, like many of Shakespeare’s creations, is a tragedy, but this one isn’t about young tragic love like Romeo and Juliet but about a man hungry for power, driven to commit the act of murder. The play Macbeth uses many rhetorical devices such as repetition, tone, metaphor, and lastly pathos. These rhetorical devices are used to extend the feeling of sadness and loss that Macbeth feels but also to show moments of weakness and insanity. These rhetorical devices are used all throughout the play of Macbeth but in this essay, I will be focusing on their use of them in act 5, scene 5. This scene is played right before the conclusion of the play it is also after we find out about the death of Lady Macbeth.

I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw” (Act 2 Scene 2 39-44). The quote mentions Macbeth visualizing a dagger before, which symbolizes the bloody path he is taking and is a result of his guilty conscience. Although at

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is shown to be a conflicted character who goes through inner turmoil due to cravance for more power; his decision to kill King Duncan is developed by the use of the themes of murder, anxiety, and determination. The theme of murder is portrayed by the use of diction and sentence structure. In the lines 13-15, Macbeth states, “ I see thee still/ And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood/ Which was not so before.”

He hath honour’d me of late” (1.7.31-32) EV4: “Sleep no more; Macbeth does murder sleep” (2.2.34-36) EV5: “O, yet I do repent me of my fury That I did kill them” ( 2.3.105-106) Topic Sentence 2: However, in Act 3, Macbeth relentlessly pursues unassailable power through ruthless butchery, a contrast exposing the absence of his moral compass. EV1: “There is none but he Whose being I do fear” (3.1.53-54) “in such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near’st of life” (3.1.114-116) EV2: “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Though know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives” (3.2.36-38) EV3: “The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums

Macbeth come across the three witches, there they state, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (Act 1, Scene 3). In reply to the three witches, Macbeth demanded “stay you imperfect speakers! Tell me more”. With just these few statements announced, Macbeth’s thirst for power and glory arises and is clearly seen.

Macbeth by William Shakesphere, has numerous allusions throughout the entire play. Two examples would be, “His silver skin laced with his golden blood.” and, “We have scorched the snake, not killed it.” Both allusions have many important meanings that help develop the plot, characters, and meanings of the play as a whole.

Thesis statement: In Lady Macbeth's speech convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan in Act I Scene vii, the speaker's persuasive tactics, the audience's knowledge of Macbeth's character, and the effective use of rhetorical appeals and literary devices contribute to the powerful rhetorical situation. Lady Macbeth employs the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos and utilizes the literary device of manipulation to convince Macbeth of the necessity and righteousness of regicide. Body Paragraph 1: Speaker, Audience, and Rhetorical Situation Lady Macbeth's speech in Act I Scene vii presents a crucial moment in the play as she persuades Macbeth to commit regicide. The speaker, Lady Macbeth, is a determined and ambitious character who seeks power and control.

He speaks of "the dunnest smoke of hell" and "the very stones prate of [his] whereabouts," which creates a sense of foreboding and suggests that Macbeth is aware of the moral ambiguity of his actions. The dagger itself is described as being "a false creation / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain," which suggests that Macbeth is struggling with his conscience and is not entirely convinced that his actions are justified. However, the fact that the dagger is illuminated by the moonlight suggests that there is still a glimmer of light within Macbeth, a sense of doubt that he is unable to ignore. Another significant use of light and dark imagery occurs in Act II, Scene 3, when Macbeth returns to his chambers after killing Duncan.

If the stars shine their light, his “black and deep desire” will be revealed to everyone. Because he knows that what he is about to do is immoral and no one should hear about it, Macbeth is compos mentis. “The eye wink at the hand” refer to Macbeth’s wanting to blind his eyes so that he will not have to see the actions he will be making. Macbeth have an emotional conflict because he knows he might regret his actions later on and he is afraid to see the outcome. Due to the concerns he is having, Macbeth is still sane because he thinks about it before committing the actions.

He just wants the whole thing to be over, and quickly. The repetition places emphasis upon this, and upon the fact that he is truly considering murdering Duncan to the point where he is envisioning how to do it. Another rhetorical device used in this speech is alliteration. When envisioning the death of Duncan, Macbeth refers to it as “surcease success” (I, 7, 4).

In Macbeth’s speech in Act 5, Scene 5, he uses repetition to create a grim tone which mirrors the speech’s message surrounding the cyclical nature of life and time. This is seen when he repeats “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,” which illustrates the unfeeling passage of time that continues whether individuals are prepared or not (5.5.19). This also shows the cyclical nature of life and time because by repeating tomorrow shows similarity between the days. Instead of showing the progression of time through three unique phrases, Macbeth deliberately chooses to repeat tomorrow to show how one day comes just the same as the next in a cycle. This monotonous continuation of time also accuses ambition as being a vain human pursuit as, eventually,

Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 5 after hearing about Lady Macbeth’s death acts as a reinstitution of Macbeth’s trace of humanity, he reflects upon his own actions and life itself. Macbeth’s melancholy lamentation over Lady Macbeth’s death reveals the disorientation of time caused by his actions. Although his desires are fulfilled, he realizes in the soliloquy that everything he has done is futile. In the soliloquy, Macbeth brought up the the idea of time.

This is an example of a paradox from the text. The purpose of this paradox is to stress how Macbeth is when he was committing the murder. The hallucination of the dagger feared him making him confused of himself. Besides paradox, Shakespeare also uses metaphor as comparison between two unlike object to create a more intense figure in the reader’s mind such as “A dagger of the mind, a false creation” (2.1.46) and “Nature seems dead” (2.1.58). “Nature seems dead” (2.1.58) is also a hyperbole found in the text with the purpose to emphasize on how nature has become still and that it seems to be dead.

Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold, thou hast no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with.” (3.1.93-6). Meanwhile the guests, oblivious to Banquo’s ghost, take in the scene and wonder at their new king’s hysterics. There is stark contrast between the courageous soldier described at the beginning of the play and the paranoid shell of a man he has become, and seeing Macbeth portrayed this way is a cue for the audience’s