Macbeth Irony

MACBETH & DRAMATIC IRONY

The story of Macbeth written by the infamous William Shakespeare is an excellent storyline known and taught as a great piece of literature. Even after the creation of this tale almost 400 years ago, this wonderful written work is still admired and known all over the world. It is an adventure of a noble and truthful hero who is overcome by the lust for power and by greed. His aroused hunger for authority and supremacy leads to him losing his path and turning to the way of malice. The play progresses, as this character plays deeper and deeper into Satan's evil hand. Through the growth of this malevolent character, the story grows and develops as well. Each and every move this character makes affects someone directly or indirectly, making him the centrepiece of the play. Shakespeare uses many literary devices in the play including dramatic ones to contribute to the advancement of the story and its characters. One of the most used dramatic devices in this play is dramatic irony. This mechanism predicts the events that are to occur by giving the audience a foresight of something that has not yet taken place but will eventually be fulfilled. Through the audience's knowledge of trials and tribulations for different characters, the story becomes even more mysterious and interesting. Dramatic irony is used so often in the play that almost every major event like war and death is foretold, the theme is further developed and the audience is kept in suspense and anxiety. Such events occurred when Macbeth was crowned Thane of Cawdor, when regicide was committed against King Duncan by Macbeth, when the porter of Macbeth's home pretended to be the gatekeeper of hell and also when Macbeth ordered his servants to kill Macduff. These parts not only grow the characters' roles but also make the story even more exciting and leave the audience hungry for more action. They also introduce us to the themes of the play such as the deadly strength of unbridled ambition and even differences between brutal tyranny and fair monarchy. Every one of these scenes is significant because they develop Macbeth's character and expand the storyline and theme of the play.

Power is a very important factor of everyday life. Throughout the ages, from kings to presidents, and even before that mankind has always been the thirst of power. They always wanted to gain more control over respect, authority and strength. This never- ending battle even happens today throughout the world. If you look at the crises in Serbia where different Serbs are fighting to gain power and even in Sudan where Arabs are slaughtering the blacks to gain control. These events prove that mankind has not completely evolved to a higher status than that at which it was at before. In the play through dramatic irony, the audience is aware that the King pronounces Macbeth thane of Cawdor. Ross is shown in the story as a nobleman of the king who announces Macbeth "an earnest of a greater honour, he bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor," (I, iii, 109-110). This dramatic irony showed that Macbeth was promised thane of Cawdor even before he knew about it and his power grew even more. Even the witches in their first encounter with Macbeth welcome by "all hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor," (I, iii, 51-52). These pieces of dramatic irony back up the theme of ambition and control. By showing that once Macbeth has a taste of more power, like the Serbs and Arabs, he will become obsessed with it. He will hunt for power as a vampire hunts for blood under the blanked of the night sky. Here dramatic irony shows his increase in power and growing ambition, which leads to a complete change in his lifestyle and results in his final doom.

In this story, most characters seem very sure of themselves and their power. This makes the story very exhilarating because in almost every part of the play, when characters are at full control, they get completely washed away by fate's cruel actions. In the beginning of the play, Malcolm was declared heir of Duncan and future King, but fate had different plans. Duncan was on top of his kingdom but Macbeth's actions completely changed the empire and a new king took control of the throne. These changes in ranks of characters are hidden in some scenes in which certain objects camouflage truths and secrets. One such object was Macbeth's castle that hid the dreadful destiny of King Duncan. Duncan thought of the castle as if it had "a pleasant seat." He added that "the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself" into his gentle senses," (I, vi, 1-3). He did not anticipate the castle and it's sweet setting to be nothing but a prop to foolishly guide him into Macbeth's hand. Lady Macbeth also proved to be such an object when Duncan declared her "our hounour'd hostess!" (I, vi, 12) without realizing that she would be the counselor in this crime. This act of regicide by Macbeth was also foretold by dramatic irony when the sister witches greeted him with "all hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter," (I, iii, 53). This scene is not only significant because of evidence from the play but also from events that occurred in reality. This play was first performed for King James I of England who about a year before the performance was involved in an incident where Catholics tried to kill him and destroy the English parliament, making this scene very important. The dramatic irony