Tragedy


starts to doubt the witches: ‘I pull in resolution, and begin To doubt the equivocation of the fiend That lies like truth’ (Act 5, Sc 5)


As the play progresses Macbeth sees that the witches’ promises were equivocal and buoyed him with false confidence. This recognition however comes too late for him to change his future. In Act 5, Scene 5 Macbeth recognises the pointlessness of his own ambition. ‘Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.’


He imagines life as a puffed-up actor who ‘struts and frets’ vainly but ‘then is heard no more’. He labels the excitable passions of humanity as merely the ‘sound and fury’ of a tale, ‘Signifying nothing’. In this soliloquy Macbeth also recognises that death is unavoidable. Just as a candle inevitably


burns out, life must come to an end. His pride and ambition saw him try to resist Fate by attempting to murder Fleance in Act 3, Scene 3. As the play draws to its close, Macbeth understands that Fate cannot be beaten and death cannot be escaped. His wisdom about his situation is all the more tragic as he is powerless to change the course he has embarked upon. This arouses great sympathy in the audience.


Inspires Pity and Fear It is vital in a tragedy that the audience feels pity for the tragic hero. Pity helps to create the feeling of loss at the end of the play. Despite Macbeth’s repeated acts of villainy and his increasingly murderous reign, he evokes pity


in the audience. The initial presentation of Macbeth as a courageous and noble soldier means that the audience is well disposed towards him from the beginning. Through the reports given by the bleeding sergeant and Ross, Shakespeare stressesMacbeth’s courage (Act 1, Sc 2). LikeDuncan, the audience at this stage trusts Macbeth and is encouraged to admire his bravery. The audience recognises his potential as a noble individual and his downfall is therefore all the more tragic. Macbeth succumbs to his own tragic flaw and this inspires pity. The audience pities a man


who has destroyed himself through his own moral blindness.Without forgiving him for the murder of Duncan, the audience understands Macbeth as a man overwhelmed by his excessive ambition and spurred on by the witches and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth suffers greatly throughout the play. His anxiety, deep sense of guilt, paranoia and


eventual world-weariness combine to create a pitiful figure wracked by regret (see Tragic Reversal and Tragic Recognition on page 140). Because of the pity that Macbeth inspires, his eventual death creates a sense of tragic loss. His function in the play is to illustrate how a good man can easily turn astray. Although his villainous actions are condemned, the audience can’t help but feel thatMacbeth’s potential for goodwas never realised – the tragedy is therefore felt all the more. At the end of Macbeth, the audience also experiences fear for themselves. If a figure with


potential for greatness such asMacbeth can be destroyed by his own flawed humanity, then anybody can be potentially undone. This disquieting idea excites fear in the audience and serves as a moral warning.


141


Macbeth After Macbeth hears a report that BirnamWood has actually moved, his confidence slips and he


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192