Macbeth SHakespeare

Essay by rvanbussum November 2013

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Ryan Van Bussum

Per 2 Lit

Ms Dolan

Macbeth Essay

Macbeth is a play written by the great William Shakespeare, in which a tragic hero by the name of Macbeth is overwhelmed with power, and stops at nothing to get what he wants. Macbeth receives a fortune that tells him he will become king, and he is so obsessed with the idea, that instead of letting it happen, he takes matters into his own hands. He kills his cousin, best friend, an innocent family, and even causes his wife to commit suicide, just to try and get the position on the thrown that he always wanted. By the end of the play Macbeth realizes that all of his efforts were for nothing, and he is murdered, knowing that he brutally murdered many people, simply to be a king for only a couple of months.

This play has a very dark tone with the characters, setting, and storyline all being haunting and ominous.

Shakespeare adds to this tone by giving the setting, plot, and characters a dark, and even Draconian feel. Shakespeare also adds to this affect by the language that he uses, embracing words that are harsh, brutal, and often mysterious and macabre.

Shakespeare often sets the tone by placing the scene in a ghostly and unnatural setting. There are ominous forests, and he brings in the readers other senses with the howling wind through the windows of Macbeth's castle before the murder of Duncan. "Thunder and lightning. Enter three witches. 'When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" (Macbeth. 1.1) With the formidable sensations induced by the setting, the unpleasant characters and the sinister plot, the overall feeling of the play is disturbing. The emotions that Shakespeare provokes are very unsettling...