ACT FIVE: #5 Language and Music
Scene Observations
Scene I:
[Language] In scene I about Lady Macbeth’s disturbed sleeping patterns as described through the dialogues of the gentlewoman, doctor and sleepwalking Lady Macbeth shows a number of dictions that describe sleep. Sleep can be defined as a natural process or a calming of state of mind. However Lady Macbeth (similar to Macbeth) could not sleep at all as a result of their crimes. This emphasize and extended talking about sleep gives a more focused topic as it is part of the theme. As the doctor said: “Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles” (Act 5 Scene I Line 59-60) means that unnatural actions such as sleepwalking (disturbs the nature of life) will cause unnatural troubles, which later on will be the suicide of Lady Macbeth. This acts as a foreshadow to the upcoming tragedies that are going to take place. Also, light is also played into focus in this scene as light is commonly viewed as holy, good or clean. By having a candle (light) by Lady Macbeth’s side indirectly tells the audience that there is conflict between good and bad within Lady Macbeth. She cannot sleep in the dark and need light meaning that she has the guilt of murder that she cannot overcome. These two frequently used diction and in forms of many characters show the importance to the theme of the play.
[Music] There is not a very notable use of iambic pentameter but there are however, many pausing punctuations in the dialogue of Lady Macbeth creating breaks. The effect of this is to show the inner struggle in her as she can’t even sort out her thoughts due to being so troubled by her shame. These dashes shortens and stops the flow of the sentence thus bringing focus to their points and show Lady Macbeth’s feelings.
Scene II:
[Language] An unnoticeable choice of diction can be seen here with references to “curing”. Scotland is currently in trouble under Macbeth’s ruling by defeating him, the citizens will be cured. Words like “purge”, “medicine” and “sickly” can be found in this scene between the two characters who speak similar amounts. As a reminder of the plays infamous quote “Fair is foul, foul is fair”, there are similar contradictory or comparison quotes said by Lenox and Angus. “Hang loose about him like a giant’s robe/ Upon a dwarfish thief” (Act 5 Scene II Line 21-22) and “To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds” (Act 5 Scene II Line 29-30) To both effect of the opposing phrases and words about curing comes to show the situation of England at that time and the results of Macbeth as king. Through the dialogue, we can see that they feel Macbeth is not worthy of being king and that Scotland needs a cleanse from his evil.
[Music] There are some iambic pentameter found in this scene although it does not seem to put any emphasizes on any part as this scene is a description of the situation and Macbeth. However, it does stresses the fact that Macbeth is not a good king and they must fight against him.
Scene III:
[Language] Macbeth is one of the main speaker in Scene III as he gets long and many talks in the scene in comparison to other characters. He talks many of reference to “body’ as in the beginning he comments on how white the servant’s face look. Whiteness can be seen as pure or goodness but in this case, it is fear. When fear is used to be compared as being white, then this creates a contradiction and that Shakespeare is trying to imply the fact that the good forces are coming to fight Macbeth and that is why they are be scared. Macbeth also talks about “curing” like last scene yet he does not acknowledge the root of all the illness is coming from. Lady Macbeth is troubled due to a sickness of the mind and Macbeth orders the doctor to cure her. This is a very big dramatic irony as we readers know why she is sick Act 5 Scene I. Not only that but he also talks about hanging. Indirectly this is a foreshadow as during hanging, it is commonly tied to wood/tree poles. By this meaning, the forest is moving foreshadowing that Macbeth’s coming to tragedy. By talking about the body and illness, this creates an image and reminds that Macbeth is still a human. He does not have any special powers to fight against fate and that he will die. Also through the dialogues, we can see that Macbeth has a clear authoritative role over the other characters and that when he gives orders, none replied or questioned him about it.
[Music] One interesting musical element used in this scene was a rhyming couplet said by Macbeth. He says: “I will not be afraid of death and bane/ Till Birnam Forest comes to Dusinane” (Act 5 Scene III Line 59-60) This is a very specific link between two objects and irony is seen here. By putting together death and the act of the moving forest as said by the apparitions, it foreshadows a death for Macbeth and due to the fact that it was Macbeth who said it, it gives a interesting change of point and onto Macbeth instead as if he doesn’t know what will happen next.
Scene IV:
[Language] In this scene the language and diction used is mostly directed on the strategies used to fight against the evil Macbeth. Malcolm is one of the main speaker here as he is one of the important characters. This comes to show the power Macduff has through the way he talks to soldiers. However, Macduff uses a lot of the word “we” and “let” as seen in line 4, 18 and 14. The word “let” gives an impression that Macduff is to lead forces to fight against Macbeth. This gives him the power as if without him, nothing will happen. This short scene also comes to show that the prophecy is correct as he orders the soldiers to camouflage under branches of Birnam Forest when moving forward creating the image of a moving forest.
[Music] The scene III is very smooth in words as many sentences are euphonious. For example: “What we shall say we have, and what we owe” (Act 5 Scene IV Line 18) has an alliteration. This creates smoothness and flow of the text. The effect of this is to emphasize the fact that as these were mostly said my Macduff, to show the capability of him in winning this war and leading the soldiers and forces to victory without many obstacles.
Scene V:
[Language] A more emphasize on Macbeth as he gets to speak more in this scene as well than the Messenger, we can see that he uses two specific types of words that are in-cooperated in his dialogue. First, he uses many words such as “fear” “slaugterous” and “direness” which gives the impression of gloominess. This not only reflect off his feelings of the situation as he is stuck and hopeless but he also later found out that Birnam forest seems to be moving as well. Second, he uses alot of words that have reference to “time” and this creates a long and short comparison between life. He talks about life after knowing Lady Macbeth died and he says that life is not worth living. This gives a even more gloomy effect to the situation as everything just seems to go downhill. Time, in a sense, can’t be controlled just like fate. And through the reference of time, it is an indirect way of saying how Macbeth can’t escape fate.
[Music] There does not seem to be a obvious iambic pentameter though there are many repetition of the word “tomorrow” in line 19. Again, this gives an emphasize and focus to the effects by using “time” in his speech. As said in above, it can be related with fate as time is what controls whether we live or not.
Scene VI:
[Language] As the battle continues, Malcolm commences to talk about getting prepared for the war. This short scene once again showcase the authority level that Malcolm has in Siward and Macduff. The choice of words that the three characters spoke was an interesting aspect that can show their personality. In lines 4, 7, 8, 9 includes words such as “us” “our” “we” and this is a plural acknowledgment to the characters and many other people. This can be used as a comparison from Macbeth as the diction here shows that they are fighting for everyone and for what was right. It gives a sense of loyalty and kindness of heart in the characters that are fighting against Macbeth.
[Music] In this short scene, a rhyming couplet can be found in line 9 and 10. “Make all our trumpets speak; give them all breath,/ Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death” said by Macduff. By rhyming breath and death, this creates a link between the two words. In this scene where the characters are prepared to fight, it shows through the two words that they will not fall until they gave them all and only death will stop them.
Scene VII:
[Language] The battle finally begins and Macbeth is faced with Young Siward who he fights and slain. Towards the beginning of this scene, Macbeth shows a controlled fear by explain his situation and how he is like a bear tied to a stake. Although a bear is a powerful creature, by being tied to a stake he cannot fight. In Shakespearean time, this was also a common sport where the bear is tortured to madness and eventually killed. By comparing himself to this situation, we can have another idea of what Macbeth is going through. Line 6 and 7 is short but confident dialogue by Young Siward who calls Macbeth being worse than the devil. “No; though thou call’st thyself a hotter name/ Than any is in hell.” By comparing Macbeth to be even more evil than the devil, this creates an image of evilness in him as it has become so overwhelmingly great that he surpasses the Devil. As the scene continues, Macbeth seems to be much more reassured as he killed the Young Siward by reconfirming the fact that he was born from a female and could not hurt him. The scene switches to Macduff and Siward who continues to find their way into the castle and locate Macbeth. The word “tyrant” has been used both in Macduff and Siward’s dialogue, especially Macduff’s as the word was capitalized emphasizing the meaning. Tyrant has been referred to as Macbeth for many times in the play and this further increases the point of Macbeth’s evil and his ruling. Fortune in line 22 is also an emphasize on luck that hoping Macduff can find Macbeth. This is another way of saying fate by capitalizing it as seen in other parts of the play where it has been capitalized as well.
[Music] Line 2, 12, 15 and 24 shows the presence of dashes ( – ) in the dialogue of Macbeth (twice), Macduff and Siward. This pause/break in the flow of the sentence creates a sense of confusion or chaos in a way. This is because of the fights and the beginning to an ending in tragedy.
Scene VIII:
[Language] The final scene of where Macbeth is slain by Macduff. In this scene, we see many words that have references to “blood”. Words such as: gashes, blood, bloodier, bleed. To the significance of these dictions, it further increases the intensity of the battle within them. Line 27 continues to use the word “tryant” and is said by Macduff which further emphasizes the point of how Macbeth is corrupted. During their fight, Macbeth learns that Macduff was not “woman born” (line 13) but instead, Macduff was “untimely ripped” which meant that he was not naturally born from a woman. In the play, the importance of nature/fantasy has come into play once again as it was technically not possible to not be born from a woman. However, this further increase the fascination of the play as Shakespeare was able to successfully incorporate this element into the book. After learning that Macduff was not born from a woman, Macbeth suddenly fears but he did not let it take over him. Knowing his fate, he still continues to fight like a man. “I will not yield/ To kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet” (Line 27-28). Macbeth continues on fighting Macduff knowing that the apparitions’/witches’ prophecy had came true. This gives a sense of honor to him as if he was a man and can overcome his fear. This is ironic as after knowing that he can’t change fate, his fear was in control and he can “overcome” it in a sense by continue to fight. Unlike before, whenever there was incidents that remind him of guilt causing fear or someone/something such as the murderers’ failing comes to show that he could not handle the fear at all. In this scene, he seems to be able to fight back knowing he will die.
[Music] Once again there are no special or notable uses of words or rhyme to create a flow/impression in the sentences. However, there are fairly uses of punctuation such as commas, semicolons, colons, question marks and dashes, especially in the first few lines of Macbeth. I do not think that this disrupts the flow of the sentence but in fact, further emphasizes the short and blunt after the punctuation used. I believe that as this is one of the most important scene in the act and it showcase the downfall/death of Macbeth, Shakespeare wants to give weight on every sentence the characters speak to direct a stronger and impacting meaning/point.
Scene IX:
[Language] As the last scene of the entire play, Macbeth is finally slain. In the first half of the scene, there was great many diction that has reference to “manhood” or “manliness” This is mainly from the dialogue between Siward, Malcolm and Rosse where they discuss about the whereabouts of Young Siward. Words and phrases such as: a soldier’s debt, man, but like a man he died, worth. After Macduff comes in with Macbeth’s head, he immediately acknowledge Malcolm as King of Scotland and followed by other characters who do so as well after seeing the head. As the first thing that Macduff says, it really gives in emphasizes of the fact that Malcolm and other characters have won the battle in victory and honor. Also, it directs the authority and respect of the king to Malcolm as well showing a new change in era. As Malcolm ends the play with a long speech, he talks many about time and planting. The significance of time is that time cannot be stopped, similar to fate, and that the only way a person can stop time or fate is by death. By talking about time, he begins to open a new era for the kingdom and as if that evil is now gone through the death of Macbeth.
[Music] As the story ends, we can deeply analyze the final speech/dialogue which was said by Malcolm. There seems to be an iambic pentameter in his speech as it can signify or represent the new king in an organized and strong way when he speaks. This gives an impression of order and control and that it was quite smooth in a way to show that Scotland is finally in peace. The flow of the speech gave in to this effect, “So thanks to all at once, and to each one” (Line 40) is an example of this euphonious manner.
Act Analysis
Act 5 Scene 1 Line 28-32
Out damned spot! out i say! – one; two; why then ‘t is time to do’t – hell is murky. – fie, my lord, fie! a soldier and afeard? – what need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? – yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
Act 5 Scene 5 Line 38-52
If thou speak’st false,
Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive,
Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be smooth,
I care not if thou dost for me as much. –
I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt th’ equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth: “Fear not, till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane”; – and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane. – Arm, arm, and out!
If this which he avouches does appear,
There is nor flying hence, nor tarrying here.
I ‘gin to be awaery fo the sun,
And wish th’estate o’th’ world were now undone. –
Ring the alarum bell! – Blow, wind! come, wrack!
At least we’ll die with harness on our back.
One specific example that can clear and visually show the difference between the two contrasting passages showing music. Although there seems to be many punctuations in the passages through the uses of commas, full stop, dashes, exclamation marks and question marks, that is one similarity to consider. However, the first passage that was said by Lady Macbeth is one continuous sentence and there was no break in it whatsoever unlike the second passage said by Macbeth. There seems to be a very strong indication that although both are in despair and are struggling with their emotions, the continuous and breaking sentence structure gives an effect. For the second passage, not only will it show a iambic pentameter but also when Macbeth finishes one line, he may put into action keeping in mind that this is a play. However for Lady Macbeth, her speech is continuous and does not stop indicating that she is stuck in a position and does not move. This help emphasize the trapped condition that Lady Macbeth is in and that further on emphasize on the meaning of the passage as there are no actions in between to distract the audience from her speech. However for Macbeth, the separations of lines further help in the authoritative role as he is a general and that he is processing thoughts. The moving forest really strikes him and the use of punctuations although gives impression that he is stuttering, also shows that he is fearing or unsure what will come next.
ACT FOUR: #4 Plot
Scene Observations
Scene I:
This act starts off with 3 witches dancing and concocting substances in their cauldrons. Macbeth appears and consults them to further understand about the prophecy. Three Apparitions are called upon to tell Macbeth about the future. The first Apparition is a armed head and tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. The second Apparition is a bloody child that tells him that no one will harm Macbeth. The third one is a crowned child with a tree in his hand claiming that Macbeth will not be vanquished until “Greate Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill/ Shall come against him” (A4 S1 L93-94) Macbeth then demands to know more and have his questions answered. To play with his boldness, they sent in a row of eight kings with the last one holding a mirror and Banquo’s ghost following behind. Macbeth then becomes fearful and decided that he will act immediately from his thoughts from now on. One can really see Macbeth’s transformation in this scene as he was more demanding than before. As audience, we learnt from before that the witches and Hecate are planning to play with his mind by giving him too much confidence and see him fall driven by his greed and desires as seen in act 3 secene 5. This may lead the audience to ponder upon whether the witches are for real or was just joking.
Scene II:
Scene II is a simple ironic but humorous scene. Majority of the dialogue is between Lady Macduff and her son. They discuss about Macduff and how the child is now “fatherless”. Upon asked how will the child live, he replied that he will be like the birds, a significat symbolism being played here. They later talk about how Macduff is a traitor (in Lady Macduff’s point of view from what she knows) and the child asks what is a traitor. It was ironic as Macduff was not a traitor and far from it. He left the country so that he can fight back against Macbeth like a hero. However, the next scene later explains the reason for Macduff’s leave. The order of the scene was shown to express what normal people with no clear idea of the situation would think logically. Ironically after a comedic conversation, murderers on Macbeth’s orders come in and kills them both. The killing was done off set and was not shown — just like other scenes when murdering occur.
Scene III:
After the murder of Lady Macbeth and her child, the scene switches to Macduff and his conversation with Malcolm. They discuss about their current situation and Macbeth’s control of the country. Macduff then wants to fight back against Macbeth and Malcolm tries to test Macduff’s loyalty by claiming he is not fit to be king and many other immoral desires. To which Macduff argues that Malcolm had gotten away and was smart enough not to fall into Macbeth’s traps. Rosse later comes into the scene and tells them news about Scotland. He also had trouble trying to Macduff that Lady Macduff and his child had been killed. Macduff was speechless at first but he immediately decides that he shall take fight back Macbeth. The killing of his wife and child was shown on the previous scene to create irony and also dramatic irony as we know what Rosse was trying to say. Macduff then immediately reacts to the news and therefore ends the scene by having a motivation to bring Macbeth down — following the theme of tragedy.
Act Analysis
According to Freytag’s conception of dramatic structure, he/wikipedia claims that “During the falling action [in act 4], or resolution, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.” I do not think that Act 4 fits into Freytag’s Dramatic structure because no sides were particularly winning or loosing. Instead, it seems like Macbeth is winning in power-wise and Macduff had fled as well. The antagonist is also just revealed as it was not exactly clear from before and technicaly it is Macduff. However, the long term conflict was always Macbeth against himself as evilness takes over him slowly. There was some suspense in act 4 however, such as the scenes with the witches. There is suspense to what will happen later as the three Apparitions told Macbeth about the future. No final outcome of the conflict was made certain just yet as in the last scene Macduff finally decides that he will fight back Macbeth. Therefore, I do not think that Shakespeare followed dramatic structure or the Freytag’s dramatic structure does not work for Macbeth.
If there was an extra scene in the play, I would like to see more of Macduff’s side as a way to develop character. It is up to these few acts that his character finally comes to light but it would be more interesting to know more about him. This extra scene may be after scene III and is a monologue of his thoughts about Macbeth and the situation. It can show a side to him to the audience and can form a opposition side in the story as the good vs. bad. Macduff will later be an important character in the final act so I believe that by having an extra scene of him, it will give a round and understanding of the characters and story.
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