The Metrical Pattern of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was a playwright and poet who made a significant impact in the literary field because his works were, “…written on such basic human themes that they will endure for all time…”(Ashlee n.pag.). Born in 1564, Shakespeare lived under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and her successor, King James I of England, a man who heavily believed in Christianity and the idea of witchcraft. Some of Shakespeare’s most renowned works included Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Macbeth; a play where many references and compliments to king James were found. His writing style was distinct from other contemporary dramatists because he used a metrical pattern of unrhymed iambic pentameter …show more content…
After encountering three witches who present him with the prophecy of becoming king, he gradually deviates from his kind nature. With his wife’s insistency to take fate into his own hands, Macbeth kills the king, and becomes the successor. Infatuated with the idea of sustaining the royal throne for himself and next of kin, Macbeth grows cruel, greedy, and selfish, which eventually leads to his downfall. Shakespeare uses the decline and fall of the character, Macbeth, to convey the message that dire consequences follow after one attains a position or possession by immoral means such as going against The Divine Order or one’s own nature. The complexity of Macbeth questions the audience of whether he is a tragic hero, villain, or in …show more content…
Shakespeare was able to effectively communicate the message of the consequences that occur when greed and selfishness are the driving forces of an individual’s actions. He expressed this by using the spirit world to tamper in to the material world to justify the outcome of Macbeth’s poor conduct. As Macbeth ponders on committing homicide, he debates, “If th' assassination/Could trammel up the consequence, and catch/With his surcease, success: that but this blow/Might be the be-all and the end-all—here” (Shakespeare, 1.7.2-5). He deliberates that if all he had to do was kill the king with no problems ensuing, he would, but he knows there are bound to be consequences in his life and in the hereafter. He is, however willing to risk spiritual consequences for mortal success. In the end, Shakespeare decides to punish Macbeth in the mortal world and implicates it in the life after, effectively conveying his