An analysis of the role women play in Macbeth.

1. Brooklynn Westover
Engl 382: Shakespeare
Professor Kerr
January 16, 2014
Macbeth Rhetoric Analysis
In act II scene I, Macbeth gives a soliloquy about a dagger that he imagines before killing
Duncan. There are many things that happen in this soliloquy, so instead of going really deep with
one or two ideas I am going to touch the surface of a few different ideas, in chronological order.
First, Macbeth says “Art thou not, fatal vision sensible”. The word fatal is a pun. Fatal can mean
causing death, which would make sense since the dagger will lead to Duncan’s death. However,
fatal can also mean fate. In this case the fate of an imaginary dagger appearing to Macbeth and
the fate of what is going to happen. These two different meanings have a positive connotation
and a negative one; this leaves ambiguity for the reader. Secondly, about half way through the
soliloquy Shakespeare creates a harsher sound he does this by using a lot of alliteration with d’s
and b’s: “blade”, “dudgeon” “gouts”, “blood”, “bloody”, “business”, “dead”, “wicked”,
“dreams”, “abuse”, “murder”. This alliteration creates a harsher sound, which is appropriate
since it is a very dark scene, in the middle of the night accruing before a murder. Not only does
Shakespeare create this harsh sound, but he also uses harsh words like “blood” and “wicked”,
etc. While talking about sound and alliteration, it is also interesting that in the line where
Macbeth states: “hearing not my steps which way they walk for fear” he uses softer sounds and
alliteration. During this phrase he is talking about not being heard, and being as quiet as possible.
Macbeth’s words parallel his actions. Using softer sounds and softer consonants (repeating w’s
and h’s) creates a lighter sound just like Macbeth is doing literally at that same moment.
Thirdly, Macbeth alludes to two different people in this speech. First being Pale Hecate, a
woman magician who performs human sacrifices. And secondly, Tarquin, from The Rape of
Lucrece, who also performs his dirty deeds in the middle of the night. These two allusions create
perfect parallels to Macbeth. Lastly, the entire scene is foreshadowing. Although the reader
knows that Macbeth is going to murder Duncan, the bloody dagger represents the bloody mess
that there will be. Not only on Macbeth’s hands, but also on Lady Macbeth as well, and the
bloody mess they can’t wash from their hands.