Irony And Vampirism In Macbeth

Throughout the Play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a man who goes through different characteristical shifts. With the clear use of different analytical techniques in the play macbeth, It makes it easier for us, the readers to deeply follow along from beginning to end. The two techniques that set this play apart from its close competitors are the use of irony and vampirism. These two techniques thoughtfully mentioned in the play macbeth are also related to the Book How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. After reading chapter 26 “It’s he serious? And other Ironies”, and Chapter 3 “Nice to eat you: acts of Vampires” from Foster’s book, I got to know these two techniques, making it easier for me to point

Foster through Chapter 26 “It’s he serious? And other Ironies” in How to read literature, successfully analyzes the technique of irony to its entirety, by stating brief examples of irony used in previous well known books. One of the examples that foster uses to explain irony deals with ancient Greek comedy. It’s about a character known as the eiron who was ignorant and weak called the alazon. Alazon is described as the character who “doesn’t know that he doesn't know”(page 257). What happens, is that eiron spends most the time verbally ridiculing, humiliating, undercutting and generally getting the best of the alazon, who doesn’t get it. According to Foster, irony works because the audience picks up on clues and understands things that characters of the play aren’t able to. This example of irony by Foster, closely relates to numerous scenes in the play Macbeth. In the play macbeth there is irony practically everywhere, though there are a couple scenes that stand out for their use of this skillful technique. The one scene that uses irony is when King Duncan finds that a man was a traitor and gives Macbeth the title Thane of Cawdor believing he is a good man in Act 1, scene 2 page 353. What though the audience knows, that he doesn’t is that Macbeth will kill him and take over his throne. Another memorable example deals with the invitation of Duncan over to Macbeth’s quarters to eats with them, where he believes that macbeth is a kind man and a good friend. But as soon as Duncan falls asleep, Macbeth stabs him and kills him for once and for all in act 2, scene 1 page 368. This is an ironic because once again, the audience knew what was coming despite of Duncan’s