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Macbeth by William Shakespeare Study Guide7 chapters | 101 lessons | 2 flashcard sets
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Free 5-day trialJennifer has taught high school English for eight years and has a master's degree in curriculum and assessment.
We are all too familiar with the concept of irony; it is in many of our popular television shows. The television show Breaking Bad is full of irony. We know that Hank, a DEA agent, is actually looking for his brother-in-law when he tries to find the source of drugs; he has no idea that his brother-in-law, Walter White, is the brains of the whole operation.
The audience's knowledge of this, despite the ignorance of one of our main characters, draws us in and leaves us feeling anxious for a resolution. Similarly, William Shakespeare's Macbeth uses irony as a way to develop the characters' situations and add suspense to the plot. Let's take a look at how this is achieved.
The example described in the introduction is an example of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is a type of irony where the audience is aware of something that some of the characters in the story are unaware of. The situation surrounding Duncan's death, Lady Macbeth's guilt, and Macbeth's insanity are all examples of dramatic irony because we have witnessed Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan out and commit the act of murder.
After Macbeth and Banquo have visited the witches, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophesy that he will be king one day. Lady Macbeth immediately starts plotting and tries to convince Macbeth that he needs to kill King Duncan so that Macbeth can be crowned king. Macbeth initially refuses and states that he will speak with her later.
We know that Lady Macbeth is motivated to murder the king. When King Duncan arrives, he says: 'See, see, our honoured hostess! The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you how you shall bid God 'ield us for your pains, and thank us for your trouble.' This is ironic because King Duncan is apologizing for intruding on the home of his dear friends.
We know, however, that he is not intruding because if he had not come to stay at their home, Macbeth would not be able to murder him as easily; Lady Macbeth's plan would not work. In essence, Duncan is thanking Lady Macbeth for providing him a lovely place to be murdered in.
One of the most famous lines of the play is one of Lady Macbeth's lines: 'Out, damned spot; out, I say.' Lady Macbeth's doctor and a gentlewoman who waits on Lady Macbeth are watching her try to wash her hands. They dismiss this as madness because her husband has also been behaving erratically. We know, though, that she is trying to wash her hands of the crimes that she has been a part of, specifically the death of King Duncan.
When Banquo's ghost comes to visit the dinner table at the Macbeth home, we are able to see him, but the other characters, besides Macbeth, cannot. We know that Macbeth has murdered his friend and that his friend is now haunting him. We understand why Macbeth is shouting at the chair at the dinner table because we can see Banquo sitting there.
The other characters at dinner have no idea what is going on, and think that Macbeth has lost his mind. Before the lords leave for the evening, Lennox states, 'Good night, and better health attend his majesty,' meaning that the king needs to get some rest since he is seeing things that the others are not.
Situational irony is when the unexpected happens in a play or literary work. In Macbeth, we see this with the prophecies of the witches. Macbeth is led to believe that he will be king and nobody can murder him or take him from the throne. When we reach the ending of the novel, we understand that the prophecies did come true, just not in the way we expect them to.
When Macbeth visits the witches for the second time in the play, they warn him of Macduff's upcoming rebellion. They claim that he will not be murdered by any man born of woman, and that he will not vanquish his crown until Burnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is filled with a sense of invincibility because he feels that the last prophecy is impossible: 'That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earth-bound root?' We are left wondering how the story of Macbeth will become a tragedy.
The irony is that the prophecies do come true, exactly as the witches stated. The army uses trees to hide themselves and approach Macbeth's castle. Macbeth is killed by Macduff who reveals to him that he was born by Cesarean section: 'Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, and thou opposed to being of no woman borne, yet I will try the last.' We are surprised to see that the witches were correct, and Macbeth is fated to die at the hands of another man.
Irony is a useful literary device that makes a story more appealing to us. The irony in the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, builds the suspense and enhances our understanding of the characters in the play. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, or when the audience knows something the characters do not, to show the flaws in the other characters' understanding of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. He also uses it to show the unfortunate situation of King Duncan. Additionally, Shakespeare uses situational irony, or when the unexpected happens, to keep the audience wondering how the prophecies of the witches will play out for Macbeth at the end of the play.
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Macbeth by William Shakespeare Study Guide7 chapters | 101 lessons | 2 flashcard sets