The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in Jacobean England, is a play that explores guilt, murder, mental health, death and the very workings of the universe itself. Universally, the dark play is recognised as one of Shakespeare’s greatest works for good reason: its discussions around the short span of human life and the consequences of the human condition have remained relevant and true for centuries. The story follows the tale of a seasoned Scottish nobleman and accomplished solider, Macbeth, who is visited by a group of three metaphysical forces who make a prophecy that, in his lifetime, he will ascend to the throne. Macbeth, over the course of the play, obsesses over the ideas of these metaphysical creatures to the point of his own demise. To show the crumbling of his innermost self confidence and mental stability, Shakespeare employed a number of key language and theatrical techniques to turn Macbeth’s fictional story into one of historical significance. These ideas are shown particularly well in Act 5, Scene 3, in which Macbeth’s obsessions lead him into micromanaging all of the events around him.

Throughout the course of the play, along with the collapse of the natural order of his world, Macbeth’s mental state can be observed to steadily wither away as a result of his actions. By Act 5, Scene 3, Macbeth’s dire ambition has lead him to a point of no return, in which he will fight to the end even if that prohibits him from, “that which should accompany old age, as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends.” However, when Macbeth speaks to the doctor on the failing mental health of his wife, he shows that his strong, vaulting ambition has lead him into a dark state of mind. Shakespeare used a number of language techniques to show the effects of Macbeth’s guilt ridden brain, including strong metaphors. When he demands why the doctor cannot just, “pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,” he is providing a very deep, complex insight into what he truly believes. This metaphor shows us that Shakespeare is considering how a traumatic event has been left to develop and sink its roots inside of Lady Macbeth’s mind, leaving unfixable damage behind in her memory. It provides the imagery that if the doctor were to attempt to pluck this weed from her mind, it would draw would draw out more than just the roots, in turn causing more damage. It is interesting to note that the metaphor shows that Macbeth relates his wife’s illness to her crucial part in the murder of Duncan (showing Shakespeare’s observations into what we call post traumatic stress disorder). On top of that, the metaphor also makes a direct link to Macbeth’s paranoia on the witches’ prophecy that Birnam wood must move to Dunsinane hill for Macbeth to be vanquished. When Hecate’s apparition showed him the prophecy, Macbeth originally dismissed it, exclaiming, “who can impress the forest, bid the tree / Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good!” But when he now uses words such as ‘rooted sorrow’ in Act 5, Scene 3, we can see that despite the security given to him by Hecate, he keeps coming back to this strange statement. Shakespeare here is demonstrating the idea that contextually, a cycle of paranoia is wearing down Macbeth’s integrity as a human being.

Despite his best efforts, it can be easily observed by the audience that however hard Macbeth tries to hide his inner turmoil, his harrowing guilt has taken effect. The signs of his failing integrity is showing under his guise of masculinity and to show this, Shakespeare has commanded use of meter as another device to reflect just that. In most of Shakespeare’s works, meter can be a key to unlock the minds of his characters. Iambic pentameter was a form of meter commonly used by the playwright in his works to signify a stable emotional state of mind, or high status. Despite his status as King of Scotland, Macbeth’s state of mind falls into disrepair throughout the play, and his use of iambic pentameter begins to show imperfections and gaps to reflect this. During Macbeth’s demands to the doctor to cure his wife in Act 5, Scene 3, six out of his seven lines fail to meet the category of iambic pentameter. “Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff,” is a perfect example of a line in which Macbeth is using a variety of rich metaphors and imagery, but is failing to use his regular iambic pentameter in his speech. Shakespeare has very cleverly used this contrast of language techniques to show the point of uncertainty that Macbeth is at as a character. At this point of the play, he is seen wishing for his wife’s ‘rooted sorrows’ to be plucked from her mind, but also is desperate for the trees of Birnam wood to remain firmly rooted in their place. In the same scene he also orders his soldiers to, “hang those that talk of fear,” when he is internally just fearful of Macduff and the coming onslaught. The fact that Macbeth is using such unstable rhythm in his speech is enough for one to see that Macbeth’s vision of the world is beginning to be blurred, and his insights into reality are fading as a result of his obsession with the metaphysical forces that caused the character’s trajectory into his doom.

Throughout this scene in particular, Shakespeare also exploits a great number of dramatic techniques, showing, to great effect, how Macbeth’s vision of reality is blurring. One such technique commonly used throughout Shakespeare’s texts and modern plays alike is the idea of ‘spoken thought.’ This convention of drama is the idea that the character is speaking, directly or indirectly, to the audience about their thoughts in real time with the onstage action. In Act 5, Scene 3, spoken thought is a technique woven deeply into the fabric of Macbeth’s torn mental state. After he demands the servant leaves him and calls upon Seyton, Macbeth opens up, speaking on how his own actions have cursed his future, “This push / Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now. I have lived long enough: my way of life / Is fallen into sear.” One can observe here that even though Macbeth knows that he has even lost the respect of those closest to him, his ambitious nature still allows him to believe that putting up a fight could allow him to remain King. It is this ambitious nature that drives Macbeth to his doom, the same fate he struggles to look face to face with here. Shakespeare’s use of spoken thought can also be observed when Macbeth speaks to the doctor to cure his wife of her ‘thick coming fancies’ and sleeplessness. Here he speaks (in metaphor) from his heart in what he believes of his predicament, desperate to micromanage all around him for one final push. It is clear that, while Macbeth’s encounter with the metaphysical set the course of the play, it was his own human nature that brought him to despair, and ultimately death. For the audience, Shakespeare’s use of spoken thought shows Macbeth as what he is: a human. This highlights for the audience the notion that any other human with such ideas as this planted into their heads would not be guided by their conscience, but by the inner beast that lies in the human condition.

Ultimately, ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ contains not only a story so dark that uttering its name holds a superstition among thespians and theatre-makers, but also enacts vital discussion on who we are as human beings in the grand scheme of the universe. All in all, the tragedy is one which allows for great analysis into the mind, showing how human emotional and social intellect can often make room for great destruction to ensue in its path. Shakespeare’s exploitations of language and theatre are so profound that even with centuries past, his works have stood the test of time, meaning something new for each generation re-telling them. There is certainly a reason for that. Throughout the play, Shakespeare did not only give the play life with a use of rich, complex ideas, but also through this thorough deployment of language and theatre conventions. For the audience, Shakespeare’s complex use of such tools shows insights beyond those of the characters and into the playwright’s own musings on the human condition, and how insignificant human life is in the scheme of the universe. In the end we, as audience members, are reminded as Macbeth’s life ends that, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more.”