Use of blank verse:
Macbeth is, for the most part, written in blank verse. The basic unit of blank verse is a line in iambic pentameter without a rhyme scheme but, increasingly in his plays, Shakespeare's use of this line and the number of its syllables and stresses became freer.
A strict iambic pentameter has ten syllables with the stress falling on the even ones, for example, ‘And wakes it now to look so green and pale’. Shakespeare's verse is seldom as regular as this but the pattern is there below the changing surface giving regularity with flexibility. The sense and the punctuation do not stop dead at the end of lines but often cross into the following line, giving a feeling of the unevenness of spoken English. By grouping stressed syllables Shakespeare catches the emphasis and intensity of a character, for example,
“While night's black agents to their preys do rouse...”
where Macbeth's grim fascination with nastiness is brought out by the voice stress on ‘night's black agents’.
Use of rhymed couplets to suit situation and speaker:
Occasionally, Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets. A considerable number of scenes intimate their conclusion by this means but there are two other significant uses of rhyme. The Witches commonly speak in rhyme, often using a shorter line and a different stress pattern to give a sound of incantations and charms. More interesting is the fact that Macbeth uses rhyming couplets more often than any other character and more than the heroes of Shakespeare's other tragedies. It does seem that he has an affinity with the Witches.
Prose passages in appropriate places:
Prose in Shakespeare's plays often denotes the low social rank of a character, or it occurs in a situation which is abnormal, in some way, to the ordinary behaviour of the play. In Macbeth there are four situations where prose is used: Macbeth's letter to his wife, Act I, Scene v; the Porter scene, Act II, Scene iii, the conversation between Lady Macduff and her son, Act IV, Scene ii and the sleep - walking scene, Act V, Scene i. The letter being in prose requires no explanation. What have the other three scenes in common? They all present characters who seem artless or in a state of mind where verse would appear contrived. The Porter can ramble on in his rude, somewhat incoherent way because of the amount of alcohol still in him; the mother and her child, talking of birds and traitors and fathers soften from the formality of verse to the affectionate slackness of prose but revert to verse when strangers enter; in her sleep – walking, Lady Macbeth loses the customary controls of verse and talks ‘straight’ for the first time in the play and her attendants, lower in the social scale, can talk in verse only when she has departed.
Words and phrases relevant to the context:
Shakespeare's characters do not voice his opinions; they speak out of their drama tic situation. That is, to understand fully a speech or an exchange of dialogue it is necessary to hear the words in their context in the play. It is impossible to deduce what Shakespeare's attitude to life was from reading Macbeth's speech in Act V, Scene v beginning ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.’
Two examples from lesser characters in different parts of the play suffice to demonstrate how necessary it is to read these pieces with proper attention to their style and context. The first is from Act I, Scene ii where Duncan is receiving reports from the battle front. The Captain is introduced to us as a bloody man straight from the fight and he spends over forty lines describing the struggle of Macbeth against heavy odds. His style of reporting is breathless, lavish but crudely put together. He is weak from loss of blood and fatigue and his syntax in inelegant and transitions from one point to the next are sudden. But his manner is arresting- “Mark, King of Scotland, mark!”— and at least three dramatic functions are served well by his speech. One, the play moves off (from the short scene with the Witches) to a very exciting start; two, he comes across as the epitome of the honest, somewhat brutal soldier; three, and most important in the long term, he introduces us to Macbeth, a hero of the battle, brave but a slaughterer. Contrast the manner of speech of Rosse seven lines later, smoothly put together, restrained, telling what he had done for the cause of the King. The second example is the speech of Lenox in Act III, Scene VI. The studied quality of the syntax tells much about the general climate of secrecy and spying in Macbeth's country. Notice the rhetorical questions to which he provides a knowing answer. We can hear the dry ironic tone of voice of the character as he speaks. Nothing is stated directly but the speech is full of words of apparent opinion; ‘gracious’, ‘valiant’, ‘monstrous’, ‘damned’, ‘pious’, ‘nobly’, ‘wisely’, and so on. Macbeth's methods of deceit and sly viciousness have entered into the manner of speech of those around him. It is significant that Lenox is still serving Macbeth in Act IV, Scene I, where he says, “What's your grace's will?” and “No, my lord”, and “Ay, my good lord”.
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