How Does Macbeth Change Throughout The Play

English commentary

Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare in 1606 was written as a play to be performed before King James I and VI. So far in the play, Macbeth and Banquo have returned from fighting the invading Norwegians in Scotland. However, Macbeth had also recently received a fortune from 3 witches who prophesised 3 events which would eventually allow him to become king. In this scene, Macbeth sees the prophecy begin to take place as he is named ‘Thane of Cawdor’ by the king of Scotland. This commentary will discuss how Shakespeare was able to symbolise and emphasise the significance of this scene within the play through language, themes and imagery.

The themes of desire, murder and betrayal are frequently shown throughout this scene.

‘Stars hide your fires’ is a metaphor for Macbeth hiding his true feelings. Macbeth’s real emotions are the feelings that will eventually engulf him and lead him to kill the king. Macbeth must hide this dark passion as he recently had pledged his loyalty to the throne. Shakespeare uses this phrase to highlight the deceit and lies hidden by Macbeth towards the king. Stars is a metaphor for the eyes, and the eyes are the ‘window to the soul.’ The word ‘fires’ is further symbolising Macbeths determination to obtain the throne. Essentially, Macbeth must hide his adamance and eagerness to acquire the title of ‘king’. Furthermore, King Duncan says ‘my worthy Cawdor’ as Macbeth leaves. This statement by the king is immediately hailing Macbeth as the thane of Cawdor shortly after the previous Thane of Cawdor has died. This language implies that the relationship between Macbeth and the king is very strong and built on ‘trust’. The king is under the false impression that Macbeth is loyal to him, while he is actually only loyal to the throne. This emotive language may invoke sadness within the reader as it is apparent that despite being hailed by the king, Macbeth is still willing to murder him to achieve

Such as dark, powerful and sentimental imagery. In this scene Macbeth has a sudden change of heart as he discovers that the prophecy is coming true, to emphasise this change of heart, Shakespeare has incorporated dark, powerful imagery. Macbeth says ‘Which the eye fears when it is done’ at the end of a monologue where he tells the reader about his plan to kill the Prince, It is powerful as Macbeth knows what he is doing is wrong, he is fearful, despite having fought in a war, he is afraid of murdering someone that has close relations to him. This powerful imagery is then again incorporated when Macbeth says ‘Stars hide your fires’, this emotive quote from this scene highlights how Shakespeare desires for this scene to include powerful imagery to be a staple in the readers memory, to symbolise the turning point of the play. The sentimental imagery is implicated through King Duncan and Macbeths interactions, it is evident that King Duncan has the upmost respect for Macbeth as he immediately entrusts Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor. ‘My worthy Cawdor’, this statement has a clear emphasis on the word my. The word my depicts an image of trust between the two. This trust is only to be broken when Macbeth said ‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’, Macbeth illustrates to the audience how he is willing to give up any good in him to obtain power,