VIOLENCE Flashcards
Key ideas VIOLENCE
Linked with relentless pursuit of ambition
The allure of power causes violence to be a means of fulfilling this desire
Shows psychological and social implications of tyranny
Motif of blood highlights consequences of murder
‘Disdaining fortune.. smoked with bloody execution: VIOLENCE
Smoked connotations- heat and hell,foreshadowing his malevolent nature he will face moral ramifications for.
•‘disdaining fortune’ his attempt to manipulate natural order-disruption of GCOB
•Syntax: symbiotic between downfall and tendency for violence
•fortune coming before execution foreshadows M’s acquisition of illegitimate title
‘I am in blood/stepped so far that should I wade no more,returning were as tedious’
•Motif of blood: Previously, blood was on his hands only, yet now it has enrobed his entire body, and his entire sense of being
•M’s response to fear and guilt has transitioned from being horrified to indulging further in heinous acts, murder is now his means to live
•’wade’ has biblical allusions- M’s metaphorical wading in blood exemplifies how he acknowledges his conscience is permanently stained with guilt
•similar to Cain In book of genesis, his irreversible act of murder of his brother Abel results in Punishment By God
‘Dash’d the brains out’
Plosives-brutal sound-mirrors brutal rejection of motherly instincts
•tendency for violence>motherhood, leading to her unapologetic willingness to extinguish human life
•juxtaposition:dash’d and brains reflects LM character
Despite seemingly fragile exterior, desire to instigate violence and chaos inside
•target vulnerable ‘brains’ of infants- extreme fragility of human existence, however ironic as brain becomes locus of her downfall
‘Bleed,bleed poor country’-Macduff
Personification: Macduff grieves Scotland,personifying the nation to show emotional bond and also the he sense of loss and despair that permeates scotland
•Macduff sorrow is emblematic of collective grief of nation-further highlights chaos caused by Macbeths tyranny
•repetition of bleed throughout- highlights Macduff despair about Scotlands progressive demise- encapsulating Macbeths misanthropic disposition
•Macduffs patriotism juxtaposes Macbeth, as he puts country into demise for personal gain
