Metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken or written about as if it were another. Macbeth uses a metaphor in some famous lines spoken in scene 5. Look for the metaphor as you read.
Theme. A theme is a central idea in a literary work. As you read act 5, think about what the themes of the play are.
Exposition, Rising Action, Crisis, Falling Action, and Catastrophe. The exposition, rising action, crisis, falling action, and catastrophe are parts of a plot. The exposition sets the tone or mood, introduces the characters and the setting, and provides necessary background information. The rising action develops the conflict to a high point of intensity. The crisis, or turning point, is the point in the plot where something decisive happens to determine the future course of events and the eventual working out of the conflict. The crisis is often the same event as the climax, or high point of interest or suspense in the plot. The falling action is all the events that follow the climax. The catastrophe, in tragedy, is the event that marks the ultimate tragic fall of the central character. Often this event is the character’s death.
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Sources. A tragedy is a drama that tells the story of the fall of a person of high status. Along with Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. Shakespeare used Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland as the major source for his story. The Chronicles tell of the reign of a bloodthirsty, twelfth-century Scottish king named Macbeth. They also tell of the murder of the Scottish king Duff by Donwald. Shakespeare combined these two tales to create the storyline of his play for performance before King James I of England, who was descended from one of the characters in the play, Banquo. Shakespeare’s dark tale of a man’s ambition and treachery, written in 1605–1606, strikes a frighteningly familiar chord today, almost four centuries later.
Reading the Play. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a history, a chilling ghost story, and a psychological thriller. Few plays have ever matched it for sheer spectacle and suspense. As you read the play, remember that the script for a play is like a score for a piece of music. It comes alive when performed. To appreciate fully the experience of reading a play, you should visualize the scenes in your mind as they might appear on stage. Allow yourself to be drawn into the play’s dark, disturbing atmosphere. Thrill to its many witches, ghosts, and other apparitions. Follow the murky descent of the central character into a horror of his own making.
Try not to be overwhelmed by Shakespeare’s use of Elizabethan English. Read each scene through quickly to get the gist of it. Concentrate on seeing the scene in your mind and not on the details of the language. Then go back and read the scene carefully, using the footnotes. Soon you will find that you have grown accustomed to Shakespeare’s English and can appreciate its sometimes spine-tingling, sometimes noble beauty.
One technique that will help you to grasp the themes, or main ideas, of the play is to look for and think about recurring elements, or motifs. These include references to ambition; to equivocation, or double-talk; to blood; to madness; to sickness; to foul weather; to manliness (or lack thereof); and to disturbances in the natural order. As you read the play, note these elements, and think about how they are related to one another. Also bear in mind that James I, for whom the play was performed by Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men, was a staunch believer in demons and witches (about which he wrote a book) and in the Divine Right of Kings (the idea that kings gain their authority directly from God and, therefore, rule absolutely). To James, the overthrow or murder of a king would be an attack on the natural order of the universe.
What personal strength do you possess that could bring you success? What personal weakness do you possess that could prevent your success?
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