Shakespeare Essay

Shakespeare Essay

Analyse act 3 scenes 4, discussing the dramatic and poetic techniques used. Explaining the purpose of this scene and its importance to the play as a whole.

The play 'Macbeth' is set in Scotland when the country was violent and unsettled. ‘Macbeth' was written when King James (VI) was on the throne he was the heir of Elizabeth. He was very concerned about with craft and believed that people were plotting against him. At the time there was conspiracy against him called the ‘Gunpowder plot'. This would blow up the houses of parliament if it were successful. The ply ‘Macbeth' includes plotting against the Kings. All the plots that are shown in the play backfire, because people thought the Kings were appointed by God and plots shouldn't be made against Kings.

In act 3 scene 4 the main technique used is dramatic irony. The audience knows that Macbeth has plotted to kill Banquo but the Lords in the scene do not know. At the start of the scene Shakespeare shows Macbeth giving orders to everyone leading them to their seats but chaos happens, this is ironic because it was thought that God chooses the Kings but Macbeth broke the order because he killed Duncan and became King.

Further into the scene Macbeth talk to the murdered and becomes happy and assured when he finds out that Banquo I dead, but when he finds out that Fleance is still alive his mood changes very quickly to worried, because he realises that Fleance may not be a problem now but later on he will be: ‘There the grown serpent lies; the worm that's fled hath nature that in time will venom breed.' This shows that his mood changes by when Shakespeare says; ‘But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd , confin'd.' Shakespeare uses alliteration to show how trapped he feels.

However, Lady Macbeth is not aware of Macbeth planning to murder Banquo and