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Macbeth Play by Shakespeare: A Sociocultural Context

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Added on  2020-02-24

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MACBETH 6 MACBETH 1 Macbeth Name Institution Affiliation Sociocultural context The sociocultural in a play entails the behavioral setting of the characters and the community as an as a whole. In the Macbeth Play by Shakespeare, the sociocultural context is clearly illustrated in the 11th century whereby Scotland was faced with political mistrust and wars. It is also the time that witchcraft is highly practiced; senior members of the community seek witches to know their future political ambition as in the case of Macbeth who is greedy

Macbeth Play by Shakespeare: A Sociocultural Context

   Added on 2020-02-24

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Running head: MACBETH1MacbethNameInstitution Affiliation
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MACBETH21.Sociocultural contextThe sociocultural in a play entails the behavioral setting of the characters and the community as an as a whole. In the Macbeth Play by Shakespeare, the sociocultural context is clearly illustrated in the 11th century whereby Scotland was faced with political mistrust and wars. Furthermore, death was common in the kingdom with revenge originating from clans and families. It is also the time that witchcraft is highly practiced; senior members of the community seek witches to know their future political ambition as in the case of Macbeth who is greedy to unseat the king. During this setting witchcraft in the kingdom not strict to anyone caught engaging in witchcraft. In Shakespeare’s time, witchcraft was so common and was greatly believed in. The witches are considered to be powerful and are able to control theweather as they are witnessed by Macbeth when they vanish. Additionally, Banquo description of the witches is that of fear; he regards them as powerful and ugly. The cultural context of the witches is accompanied by supernatural powers (Calef, 1969). The social dimension of the kingdom is of naivety; when the king dies mysteriously no one bothers to investigate what happened. The community is easily fooled with the turn of events as Macbeth ambition is to kill in order to acquire power. Macbeth is also naive by letting the witches manipulate his mind to kill his predecessor. Greed for power is a social context that is clearly portrayed by Shakespeare. Macbeth’s wife will stop at nothing in the quest to acquire power. On the other hand another cultural dimension 2.Conventions of a tragic heroThe role of a tragic hero has clearly been portrayed by Shakespeare in this play. It should be noted that a tragic hero is a character who is considered to be of good character but in the long run flops into deviant behavior. His tremendous downfall comes at a time when the kindtreated him with high regard. For instance, in the kingdom, he was of honorable nature. After
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MACBETH3consulting the witches, Macbeth is happy that he has a bright future politically. His once noble character turns out to be an irrational person who thinks of nothing else but power. The ambition that he has blinded him from seeing the destructive path he has created (Gaines, 1976) . By listening to the advice of the witches and Lady Macbeth, it leads to his character’s demise. Macbeth’s tragic flaws make him be a disgrace to the Scottish people who remove him from power. In the long run, Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff.3.Figurative languageIn Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses figurative language to appeal to the viewers’ senses and convey a message in an imaginative way. These include similes, metaphors personification, alliteration, and assonance. In Act 1 Shakespeare uses a simile when the Sergeant reports to the King. `Doubtful it stood as two swimmers.' Another simile occurs in the play when Macbeth is in power by what Angus says. “.... Now does he feel his title hang loose about him like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief ?” This was to illustrate that his power was to be for a short while. Metaphor usage is in Act five by Macbeth. “Life is but a walking shadow a poor player that struts his power upon the stage” to mean that Life compared to an actor doing his lines on stage (Tarantelli, 2010). Biblical Allusion is used by the Sergeant “or memorizes another Golgotha” which was a place which Jesus was crucified to explain the army he had witnessed. Personification is used by Shakespeare in Act Four ‘new sorrows that strike heaven on the face. ‘4.Invited readingsInvited reading is the ability of a reader to read a text due to them having a background todo so. In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare the viewer has a clue Macbeth’s character trait right from the beginning in Act one. It is no doubt that in the humanity context anyone who commits evil pays for it. Shakespeare begins by illustrating Macbeth as a loyal servant to the
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