Lady Macbeth has many faces and the given extract shows the truest of them all. Shakespeare makes Act1 Scene 5 a striking introduction to Lady Macbeth as her words fit with the theme of witchcraft-and supernatural- as well as deceit. Macbeth is a tragedy that was thought to be performed in 1606- an era when witchcraft was prevalent. Lady Macbeth is a dynamic character and Shakespeare makes this extract so striking by using elements of language, structure and mood.
Using language, Shakespeare is able to make this extract so fascinating in terms of introducing Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth greets her husband –Macbeth- by referring to him with both his titles of Thane as well as chillingly mimicking the witches with the phrase ‘all-hail hereafter’.
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When this scene started, there have been accounts of thunder-again, a reference to the three witches at the beginning of the play-which would have foreshadowed Duncan’s death as well as the thunderous nature of Lady Macbeth- overcast and malicious to those unprepared for it. The ‘raven himself is hoarse’ , as Lady Macbeth comments, and ravens have connotations with death and witchcraft, especially black magic and the summoning of villainous spirits. This sets the overcast mood and is a striking introduction to Lady Macbeth as the audience would now immediately associate her with such darkness and not light- another theme of the play (light vs dark). The fact that she has been associated with magic, more specifically black magic, may be portraying her ambition and her willingness to stop at nothing for it, as another association with ravens is power. Furthermore, it immediately causes the audience to not trust her as well as become suspicious of her, thus also connecting with the underlying theme of appearances can be deceiving. We also see Lady Macbeth alone, giving us an insight to her personal thoughts, her true nature and that is striking as it can compared to a black hole- willing to stop at nothing and ready to consume whatever comes across its