Macbeth
Macbeth
The Macbeth is a play that presents the leadership landscape fraught with the highs and downs of dishonest servants of the king. The extract represents the ideas of a leadership of Scotland where the prudent leadership finally supersedes dictatorship and tyranny. The extract is also awash with the concept of greed for power. Macbeth is willing to do anything to clinch and remain in the authority even when somebody has to die. Closely before the excerpt, we see Macbeth Killing Banquo, and King Duncan to take up the kinship position of Scotland (Bloom, 88).
In the extract, various themes stand out. To start with, there is the subject of loyalty and betrayal. Macduff display loyalty to the hereditary system of the Scotland system. He is among the high nobles and quickly sides with the two princes to unseat Macbeth. He flees to Scotland to assist Malcolm and Donalbain in gearing up for the campaign to oust Macbeth. In the extract we see him exchanging words with the Macbeth where he says ‘Then the yield, coward. ‘Here he is telling him to relinquish his power to Malcolm who is the rightful heir to the throne. This further proves Macduff’s loyalty. However, elsewhere in the play, we see Macbeth killing the king even after the king had promoted him to the position of the Thane of caw dar.This is a clear indication that Macbeth has betrayed the king. In the extract, he shows contempt to the rightful king by saying ‘I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet.’
There is also the theme of courage and fear. Macbeth being the king fears to lose his position. He is therefore, ready to wage war against Malcom’s men even after his people have been killed. His fear of losing his position in the leadership of Scotland gives him the courage to fight in the fierce battle between him and Prince Malcolm. In the extract, he says ‘yet I will try the last. Before my body. I throw my warlike shield. MacDuff, however, continues to be courageous and stands his ground in his spirited attempts to unseat the unjust Macduff (Shakespeare, 68).
The theme of vengeance is also inherent in the passage. MacDuff has vowed to avenge the death of his wife (Lady Macduff).In the excerpt, he says ‘My voice is my sword. Thou bloodier villain. Than terms can give thee out! …’this translates to the fact that he is so much ready to avenge his wife that his soul is bleeding and spoiling for the fight (Bloom, 56).
The extract has applied a myriad of linguistic techniques. First off, there is the use of metaphor in the excerpt. MacDuff says ‘turn hell-hound turn. Here Macduff has directly compared Macbeth with an unscrupulous dog that has no qualms hurting people. The metaphor shows the mean characteristic of Macbeth and his wife where the latter convinces the former to kill the king so that they take leadership by force. This indicates that Macduff prioritizes loyalty and that prudent leadership is important to him (Williams and Shakespeare, 173).
Secondly, there is the use of symbolism where Macduff says ‘and live to be the show and gaze o’ the’ time. We’ll have thee, as our rarer monsters are…’.Here Macduff uses the term show and gaze (freak show) to symbolize the manner in which Macbeth will be killed. This again shows that MacDuff prioritizes his family since he has avenged his wife and that he prioritizes the welfare of those that he serves. Symbolism is also visible in the words of the two characters. Macbeth says ‘I bear a charmed life, which must not yield. To one of woman born…’ and MacDuff says ‘Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb. Untimely ripped…’.This shows that myths and beliefs control the Scottish community, that leaders have been consecrated and they are therefore not susceptible to the harm by evil hands. This reveals that both characters prioritize self-defense and confidence and that community practices are so much important to them that they are ready to uphold them no matter what. Symbolism has been used elsewhere in the play where the witches that Macbeth visits tells him that he will be safe since he is not born of a woman and that he cannot be ousted since the Birnam Wood has not come to Dunsinane Castle as yet. This also puts Scotland among the kingdoms that are so much rooted in rituals and myths (Shakespeare, 68).
Third, the excerpt has also applied imagery. This is evident when Macbeth says ‘My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already. ‘This presents an image of the frantic moves that Macbeth makes to take the throne. This reveals that Macbeth prioritizes his needs and could even kill to meet them. It also shows that leadership is important to him. Imagery has been used in the instance where the writer says that Lady Macbeth was being ‘plagued with fits of sleepwalking.’ This shows the guilty that was haunting both Macbeth and his wife having killed the king and Banquo. Lastly, there is pattern use of soliloquy by Macbeth especially when he says ‘Why should I play the Roman fool and die on mine own sword…’He Says this even when MacDuff seems not interested in what he says. This is confirmed by the latter’s rejoinder ‘Turn, hellhound, turn!’. This soliloquy brings into light Macbeth’s determination to remain in power even when his life is on the line. Macduff also uses monologue when he says ‘I have no words. My voice is my sword. ‘By this, he means that he will only use the language that Macbeth understands: killing. It shows how Macduff is spoiling for vengeance as the least he could do to pay tribute to his slain wife (Williams and Shakespeare, 140).
When it comes to the emotions expressed by the characters we see that Macbeth conveys the emotions of fear and courage. Fear because his leadership is on the verge of being overthrown and courage because he is ready to protect his foothold in the leadership of Scotland. Macbeth uses the words ‘…born of a woman…’ and ‘…sword…’ Throughout the scene 5.He uses the phrase ‘…born of a woman…’ to show that he cannot be easily killed by any man as the witches advised him. Secondly, he uses the word ‘…sword…’ to show how he got into power and how ready he is to protect his throne. Nevertheless, he does not use this words throughout the play but only uses them when at a fiery exchange of bitter conversations with Siward and MacDuff. Even then, his emotions betray his words. He says that he won’t die like a Roman soldier as Macduff enters but later says that he is not going to fight him. This shows that there is a difference between how he talks and his actual emotions. His frenzied emotions elicit anger from Macduff who says that he will talk less and do more. This means that he is ready to overthrow Macbeth through his sword. The frantic emotive outbursts from the words of Macbeth shows that Macduff and Malcolm are now in control and he is trying to get leverage in the leadership of Scotland by killing Macduff and defying Prince Malcolm. As seen elsewhere, Macbeth’s harsh tone is only used when he is trying to defend his position as the king. Nonetheless, when King Duncan promotes him, he is very humble and subservient until his wife advises him otherwise (Shakespeare, 33).
By saying that the sword will converse on his behalf, MacDuff elicits fear in the audience. One may wonder how else a sword could speak other than killing. Macbeth says that a man born of a woman is a weakling, the audience is left in suspense wondering in what other way one can come into this world other than being born of a woman whether naturally or through the C-section. The response of the audience to Macbeth and Macduff fluctuate throughout the play. This is because the enmity between the two only sets in when Macbeth kills the king and Lady MacDuff. At some instances, Macduff’s words create repulsions and humor at the same time when he says that he is not born of a woman but was quickly cut off mother’s womb before she could bear him naturally. The humor is in the fact that he claims he is not born of a woman and the repulsion hangs in the realization that he intends to kill Macbeth. Also, such theatric actions as moaning and celebrating would create the emotional response from the audience and the characters (Williams and Shakespeare, 172).
Soliloquy causes the audience to feel embarrassed since they can hear the innermost thinking of the actor. Also, it helps the audience understand why a character behaves in a particular manner. In this scene, Irony plays out when Macbeth says he cannot yield yet he is not willing to fight MacDuff. Also, it is evident when Macduff says that they will kill Macbeth, put him in a public place and write ‘see the tyrant’ just above his head. The irony is in the reality that by then Macbeth will be dead and a corpse can never be a tyranny. This shows Macduff’s commitment to oust Macbeth (Williams and Shakespeare, 150).
In conclusion, the excerpt is laden with such themes as vengeance, fear, courage, loyalty and betrayal which indicate the warlike political landscape in Scotland after the death of the king. It has applied various stylistic devices that make it a must-read publication. Additionally, it represents the error when leadership was not democratic, and only the strong would take up the high political dockets. Lastly, it also reveals the existence of the traitor who would do anything to assume power forcefully. However, it underscores the fact nothing good would come from greedy and ruthless leadership.
Works Cited
Harold Bloom (Ed.). William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. InfoBase Publishing, 2005.Pg. 56-88
William Shakespeare, William Proctor Williams. Macbeth. Sourcebooks, Inc, 2006.Pg.139-173
William Shakespeare. Macbeth. Capstone, 2011.Pg. 27-68.