Assignment 101: Macbeth : Shakespeare's use of the Soliloquy

 Assignment 101: Macbeth : Shakespeare's use of the Soliloquy

This blog is a part of an assignment for the paper 101, Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods, Sem - 1, 2023.

Assignment 101: Macbeth : Shakespeare's use of the Soliloquy

This blog is a part of an assignment for the paper 101, Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods, Sem - 1, 2023.

Macbeth : Shakespeare's use of the Soliloquy

Table of Contents:

• Personal Information

• Assignment Details

• Abstract

• Keywords

• Introduction

• Macbeth's Soliloquies : Windows to his Soul

• First Soliloquy : It's Significance

• Second Soliloquy

• Third Soliloquy

• Fourth Soliloquy

• Last Soliloquies

• Lady Macbeth : Her Soliloquy

• Conclusion

• Reference

Personal Information :

Name : Reshma Yunusbhai Bilakhiya

Batch : M.A. Sem - 1(2023 - 2024)

Enrollment no : 5108230008

E - mail address : reshmabilakhiya21@gmail.com

Roll no: 27

Assignment Details :

•  Topic : Macbeth : Shakespeare's use of 

• the Soliloquy.

• Paper & Subject code : 101 : Literature 

• of the Elizabethan & Restoration 

• Periods & 22392.

• Submitted to : Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar

• Date of Submission : 1st December, 

• 2023

Abstract :

In 'Macbeth' Shakespeare strategically employs Soliloquies as a narrative tool to illuminate the internal Struggles and moral dilemmas of Characters, particularly Macbeth. These introspective monologues provide a window into Macbeth's evolving psyche, offering the audience a nuanced understanding of his descent into darkness. Through the artful use of Soliloquies, Shakespeare masterfully explores the complexities of human nature, enriching the Play with Psychological depth engaging the audience in a profound examination of the Character's inner World's.

Keywords :

Soliloquies, Psychological depth, Ambition, Inner World,s, Self - talk.

Introduction : 

Shakespeare uses something cool in 'Macbeth' called Soliloquies. It's like when Characters talk to themselves on stage, letting us peek into their private thoughts. These solo moments, especially with Macbeth, show us how the Characters feel deep inside. It's not just about the story; it's like a secret passage into their minds. These Soliloquies in 'Macbeth' are like a backstage pass, giving us a special look at the Characters' feelings and making the Play way more interesting.

Macbeth's Soliloquies : Windows to His Soul :

Macbeth is the only tragedy of Shakespeare in which the the tragic hero turns a villain and yet he retains our sympathy upto the very end. Even when Macbeth makes Scotland bleed as a result of his career of blood, he does not entirely lose our sympathy. This feat of dramatic art has been achieved by giving us a peep into his soul and thus showing to us his inner agony and spiritual torture. This insight into his soul is given to us through his various Soliloquies at different stages of his career of murder and bloodshed. Thus his soliloquies are the windows through which we get a glimpse of his inner suffering and realise that, though a villain he may be, he has also much good in him which fails to assert itself owing to circumstances beyond his control.

First Soliloquy : It's Significance

The first real Soliloquy of Macbeth comes in Act 1, scene (7). It reveals, on the one hand, Macbeth's desire to be a King and also a desire to achieve the crown by murder, but also that he is afraid of the pricks of his conscience, and not so much of the penalties of law or the punishment in the other world. It reveals Macbeth's sensitive conscience. He cannot murder his own King _ a King who is good, virtuous and generous, a King who is guest, a King who has done no harm to him but has rewarded him with honour and title. It shows that Macbeth is gifted with poetic imagination and his imagination works through pictures. His imagination is the handmaid of his conscience. This Soliloquy places Macbeth on a much higher level than Lady Macbeth, who is more ambitious than her husband, more cruel and more monstrous, and She has no sense of decency or justice or pity.

Second Soliloquy 

The next Soliloquy of Macbeth, comes in scene 1 of Act (2), just before the murder. Macbeth suffers from hallucination. The thought of the crime he is about to commit has driven him almost to the verge of lunacy. He sees that dagger with which he is going to murder King Duncan. Such hallucinations come to the conscientious souls that are about to commit a great crime for the first time in their life. This Soliloquy reveals the struggle which is still going on in the mind of Macbeth: and it, therefore, gives a further glimpse into the Character of Macbeth.

Third Soliloquy

In his Soliloquy which occurs in scene 1, of Act (3), of the Play, Macbeth prepares himself for the murder of Banquo because he cannot bear the idea that Banquo's sons should be Kings. Besides, Macbeth feels insecure so long as Banquo and his son are alive; and therefore, he decides to get both the father and son murdered as soon as possible. The Soliloquy reveals Macbeth's fear and insecurity which prevents sleep and tortures his soul, as well as his degradation.

Fourth Soliloquy 

In his Soliloquy, at the end of Act (4), scene 2, Macbeth expresses his determination not to lose a single moment in putting his thought to action that is, to order at once for the massacre of the family of Macduff to have his revenge upon Macduff. This Soliloquy reveals his motif for the commission of further crimes.

Last Soliloquies

Macbeth's last two Soliloquies beginning. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow," and "I have lived long enough" reveal Macbeth's frustration and disillusionment. He realises that his life has fallen into the scar, and that he has lost all the good things of life.

Lady Macbeth: Her Soliloquy

Though most of the Soliloquies in the play belong to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, too utters one important Soliloquy, just after receiving the news that Duncan is to be her guest that night. She calls upon the murdering ministers, the powers of darkness, to unsex her, and the very violence of this invocation is a measure of the womanly instincts that have to be suppressed. The violence done to nature in such suppression results in complete nervous break - down and we witness the terrible spectacle of the sleep-walking scene.

Conclusion :

Thus the combined effect of the Soliloquies of Macbeth is that we acquire a better knowledge of what is happening to his soul. It is through the use of the Soliloquy that his inner struggles and frustrations have been revealed. We realise his essential nobility and also that he has been pushed into his career of crime by his vaulting ambition, his poetic imagination, and the combined solicitations and exhortations of these equivocating friends the witches and his "Fiend- like Queen." For this Lady Macbeth also is referred to as "the fourth witch" of the play.

In short,the Soliloquy is a potent means of self - revelation and the dramatist has made good use of it in the present play. It is largely through the use of the Soliloquy that what is essentially a melodramatic story of crime and bloodshed has been raised to the level of one the greatest tragedies of the world.

Reference : 

Gupta, Anupam. “Shakespeare Macbeth.” Study - Guide - Notes Shakespeare Macbeth (Objective Type Questions - Answers, by Tilak Bharath Raghukul, Ninth 2002 ed., Rama Brothers, 2002, pp. 1–198. 

Pages - 1,175 

Image - 1

Thank You!!!