Grade 9 Essay used in the real exam that achieved full marks. Includes introduction, 8 main body paragraphs and a conclusion - adaptable to any question for Macbeth - hits the top level of all Assessment Objectives and perfect to use for remembering Grade 9 points or as an essay in itself to achiev...
Shakespeare explores THEME in Macbeth through Macbeth’s temptation, ambition,
bloodlust and downfall as well as Lady Macbeth’s lack of fear driving her to a frenzy of
paranoia and guilt. Shakespeare effectively uses this motif to add to the purpose of this play
being a cautionary tale in order to gain favour and patronage of the current King James I.
Macbeth’s euphemistic language at the beginning of the play both highlights his fear of his
own hamartia as well as foreshadowing the dire consequences of said hamartia. Macbeth
wishes that political ‘warfare’ was more like military warfare: “If it were done when ‘tis
done, then twere well / It were done quickly” - the euphemisms portray his fear of his own
‘vaulting ambition’. The repetition of the ‘dun’ sound could suggest Macbeth’s steadily
increasing heart rate from talking about killing Duncan and the consequences it would have.
In this same soliloquy, Macbeth repeats the idea of retribution “To plague the inventor” and
“poison’d chalice”. The chalice is a vessel for drinking wine - this oxymoron shocks the
audience as they realise the magnitude of desecrating such a sacred object. This alludes to
the widespread belief at the time: the Great Chain of Being and Macbeth disrupting that in
the same way he does to the chalice, not only is he committing high treason by regicide, but
is also going directly against God. This image effectively demonstrates the potential
cataclysmic effect that bloodlust can bring despite Macbeth’s acknowledgement and fear of
it, foreshadowing the future murders that he commits. Overall, this soliloquy is a complex
inner conflict and microcosm foreshadowing the rest of the play within Macbeth between his
morality and nobleness conveyed at the very beginning of the play and his fear, guilt and
bloodlust that leads to his tragic downfall.
Sleep symbolises innocence, purity and peace of mind and Shakespeare uses this motif to
creatively express THEME as he acknowledges these consequences when he says
“Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep - the
innocent sleep”. In this example, the lack of sleep could be viewed by a contemporary
audience as a form of divine punishment. The repetition of “sleep” reinforces the significant
impact that the consequences of his violent acts are having on him already and how his
tragic downfall due to his hamartia is already evident to the audience. This demonstrates
that the battle between Macbeth’s fear of his ambition and Macbeth’s fear of not becoming
king has already been lost as he is succumbing to the dire impacts of regicide. Sleep
symbolises THEME and insinuates THEME to emphasise the damaging effects of
temptation and the supernatural which King James was largely interested in. Shakespeare
uses Macbeth as a symbol of the consequences of not fearing witches and the supernatural.
Later in the play, in Act 3, it is clear that Macbeth’s fears of not becoming king and bearing a
‘fruitless crown’ have superseded his fears of the consequences of his violent actions when
he plans the assassination of Banquo. This idea was previously called upon in Macbeth’s
soliloquy when he says “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/And falls on the
other”. The use of dactylic metre containing one stressed syllable followed by two
unstressed syllables which effectively evokes the galloping of a horse. Not only does this
personify the perseverance of Macbeth’s ambition and foreshadows his downfall, but the
galloping of the horse is reminiscent of how Banquo dies while horse riding. Ultimately, this
provides an intriguing link between language and structure which emphasises Macbeth’s
journey along a path of fierce desire until swerving off into a path of fatal destruction. LINK
TO THEME.
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