Macbeth - Foreshadowing Using Animals :: essays research papers

Thesis Statement: Throughout the play of Macbeth, Shakespeare chooses to use animals to portray foreshadowing, to develop character and to evoke a wide variety of emotions from the audience. A) Dramatic Purpose #1 To Characterize to show the development of a person/character. helps the audience to understand the true personalities of characters (not what their portrayed to be to others). 1. a) "... Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, / The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger; / Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves / Shall never tremble ..." (Act 3, Scene 4, Lines 123-125). Macbeth is speaking to Lady Macbeth about Banquo's ghost he says that if any of these fierce animals should come near him, he would never be scared. Macbeth doesn't want Banquo to be in any part of his life, that's why why he killed him. Now that he's come back as a ghost (he's trembling/scared that Banquo will never leave him alone) the use of these fierce creatures compared to Banquo shows that Macbeth may be regretting the murder of Banquo. Shows he's not as strong as he portrays himself to be, he's a coward inside, he can't face up to what he's done. b) "... As sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion." (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 39).the soldier is speaking of Macbeth and Banquo. just as an eagle easily defeats the sparrow or the lion easily defeats the hare, Macbeth and Banquo defeated their opponents. this is portraying one as an eagle and the other as a lion. either way, there was no competition between Macbeth and Banquo and their enemies. Shows the characters of Macbeth and Banquo and how fierce they really are. the lion and the eagle are fierce animals, whereas the sparrow and the hare are very weak. They can easily be killed. c) "I come, Graymalkin. Paddock calls; --anon." (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 11-12). the witches companions, demons, are familiar spirits who are calling the witches. Graymalkin is a cat and Paddock is a toad. shows the witches are ones who believe in evil spirits, as most witches are portrayed as. shows they have foretelling knowledge - evil spirits, cats, they vanish. Shakespeare uses a cat as a spirit, as cats are significant to witches a toad portrays their ugliness, as described earlier. B) Dramatic Purpose #2 To Create Emotions to make the audience's sympathies lie where the dramatist wants them to lie.