William shakespeare

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Requirements of the assignment:

Write a short analysis of Lady Macbeth's soliloquy in act 1, scene 5 from "The raven himself is hoarse (...) hold, hold!" (page 21). In your analysis, you must focus on the use of language: What is remarkable about Lady Macbeth's language in this soliloquy?

In your analysis, you must use at least two literary terms and three short quotes (from 3 to 6 words).

Then you must discuss the effect of this particular use of language.

How does the language affect the reader / audience?

You must write your analysis individually, although you can discuss it with classmates. But the assignments you hand in must be written individually.

The assignment must be between 15 and 25 lines.

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Macbeth Act 1 scene 5.

"The raven himself is hoarse (...) hold, hold!" (page 21)

Lady Macbeth's soliloquy

The analysis is about Lady Macbeth's soliloquy in act 1 scene 5 from "The raven himself is hoarse (...) hold, hold!". Before the soliloquy, Lady Macbeth has been informed by a messenger that "The king comes here to-night"(Act 1 Scene 5).Lady Macbeth is a powerful female character, the way she speaks and the fact that we meet her alone in the scene, giving us an insight to her inner thoughts.

In the soliloquy, she calls upon the spirits to take away her features that make her a woman and make her blood thick. "That tend on mortal thoughts (...) And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers."(Act 1 Scene 5).

In the soliloquy, there is used a lot of different literary devices.

There is used Alliteration in the sentence "And take my blood for gall, you murd'ring ministers,"(Act 1 Scene 5).

In "The raven himself is hoarse, that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements." (Act 1 Scene 5), Lady Macbeth uses personification by giving the raven human qualities. It also acts as a form of foreshadowing. The raven is usually associated with darkness, destruction and evil. It foreshadows the regicide that is to occur.

The way she speaks is classical Shakespearean language. The way the literary devices is used makes the reader want to look deeper into the sentence. Shakespeare often used soliloquies to project the character's most inner thoughts to the audience. When we read Lady Macbeth's soliloquy it is the first time we're introduced to her, and it gives us an insight into who she is as a character.