WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S

MACBETH

Literary Devices

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning

Employs figures of speech such

as similes, metaphors, personification

and hyperbole

All language intended to not be

taken literally

PERSONIFICATION

Definition: To assign human qualities to something that isn’t human.

Example: "Sleep that

knits up the ravell'd

sleave of care,” (II.ii.48)

METAPHORDefinition: Comparison between two unlike things

Example: "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.” (V.5)

SIMILE

Definition: Comparison of two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”

Example: "Doubtful it

stood;/As two spent

swimmers, that do cling

together/And choke their

art.” (II.3)

ANALOGY Definition: an extended comparison showing

the similarities between two things.

Example: Macbeth equates life to “a walking

shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour

upon the stage and then is heard no more.” Essentially, life to Macbeth was a mere play, a grand stage to which he scripted each and everyday

ALLUSION

Definition: An indirect reference to

another person, place, or event in

literature, history, art, or music.

Example: "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" (II.2)

MONOLOGUE Definition: A long uninterrupted

speech

given by one character to the other

characters.

Examples:

MACBETH: Is this a dagger which I see before me...

SOLILOQUYDefinition: A speech in which a character is

alone on stage and expresses thoughts out loud

Examples: The raven himself is hoarse… (Lady Macbeth Act I Scene 5)

Is this a dagger which I see before me… (Macbeth Act II Sc 2)

If it were done when ‘tis done… (Macbeth Act I Scene 7)

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow… (Macbeth Act V Scene 5)

Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5)

ASIDEWords spoken by a character

in a play usually in an

undertone and not

intended to be heard

by all.

EPITHETDefinition: a miniature portrait that identifies a person or thing by highlighting a prominent characteristic of that

person or thing.

Example: “boundless hero” (IV.3)

METER -IAMBIC PENTAMETER

Definition of meter: The pattern of syllables in a poem.

Notes: Iambic Pentameter is one form of meter.

An iamb’s emphasis is unstressed, stressed

Pentameter (Penta = 5) refers to the fact that there are five feet, or sets of syllables (stressed/unstressed) in the line. That makes ten syllables in total.

EXAMPLE OF IAMBIC PENTAMETER

Example: “Two house- (1)

holds both (2)

a-like (3)

in dig- (4)

ni-ty” (5)

COUPLETTwo (like a couple) consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.

Example: In Act I scene II,

"Go pronounce his present death,

And with his former title greet Macbeth"

"I'll see it done."

"What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won."

REPETITION/ALLITERATIONDefinition: Repetition- The repeating of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of literature.

Example:

“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of

Glamis!

All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

.

ALLITERATIONType of Repetition - Alliteration is the repetition of a particular sound in the beginning syllables in a series of words or phrases.

Example:

“Fair is foul, foul is fair”

RHYME

Definition: A word answering in sound to another word.

Example: The witches’ speak in rhymed speech which make them like caricatures of the supernatural. They speak in rhyming couplets throughout - “Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” (4.1.10–11)

DIALOGUEDefinition: A conversation between two or more people

Example: Gentlewoman It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands: I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour.

LADY MACBETH Yet here's a spot.

Doctor Hark! she speaks: I will set down what comes

from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.

LADY MACBETH Out, damned spot! out, I say!

FORESHADOWING Definition: The use of clues or hints

to suggest what action is to come.

Example: The bloody battle in Act 1

foreshadows the bloody murders later on;

and when Macbeth thinks he hears a voice

while killing Duncan.

DRAMATIC IRONYDefinition: Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows more than the characters. 

Examples: We know that Macbeth has been named the new Thane of Cawdor before he knows it. 

When Ross delivers the news to Macbeth, we know that part of the witches' prophecy has come true. 

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are plotting to kill Duncan. 

In Act 4 with the murder of Macduff's wife and children and servants; we know long before Macduff is aware of it.  When Ross first declares to Macduff that his family is "at peace," the reader knows what that phrase really means.  We know the heartbreaking news Ross will deliver to Macduff.

IMAGERYDefinition: Language that appeals to any sense (sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell) or any combination of these.

Example:

Blood and gore

OXYMORONDefinition: A figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory (opposite) terms

Examples: Act 1 Scene 1 Page 274 Line 12-13: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

It’s impossible how fair can be foul when fair is

equal or mild and foul is gross and rotten. Its

significance is that the witches delight in the confusion of

good and bad, beauty and ugliness.

FOILDefinition: character who sets off another

character by contrast.

Example: Banquo and Macbeth both meet the witches and hear their prophesies. Macbeth, however, becomes power hungry after hearing the news, and tries to make it come true. Banquo does think about the witches' prophesy, but he doesn't actively attempt to influence his fate. Banquo has a lot more honor than Macbeth and is not violent or evil.

TRAGEDY Common Features of the Shakespeare TragediesThe fatal flaw. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are all fundamentally flawed. It is this weakness that ultimately leads to their downfall.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Shakespeare tragedies often focus on the fall of a nobleman. By presenting the audience with a man with excessive wealth or power, his eventual downfall is all the more tragic.

External pressures. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often fall victim to external pressures. Fate, evil spirits and manipulative characters all play a hand in the hero’s downfall.

TRAGIC HEROMacbeth fought honorably for Duncan against the invading forces at the beginning of Act I. He is noted for his bravery on the battlefield which is why Duncan makes him Thane of Cawdor.

His tragic flaw is that he allows his wife

to manipulate his ambitious desires. His

downfall is when he turns his back on honor

and murders his colleagues and king.