After Duncan’s Death, Shakespeare Creates an Inexorable Sense of Foreboding for Both Individual Characters and the State of Scotland. Explore the Varying Ways in Which This Sense of Foreboding Is Created

After Duncan’s death, Shakespeare creates an inexorable sense of foreboding for both individual characters and the state of Scotland. Explore the varying ways in which this sense of foreboding is created.
Shakespeare uses blood and violence to create an ominous sense of foreboding throughout Macbeth. Macbeth himself is constantly associated with brutal and alien characters. In the first scene, the witches discuss “meeting” with him and in the following scene, the Captain describes Macbeth as “unseaming” a “rebel” from the “nave to th’chaps”. This vivid image portrays Macbeth as a brutish executor of death. Shakespeare also manipulates the weather to reflect the increasingly sinister and menacing situation. There are motifs incorporated within the play, such as the reversal of nature, which add to the accumulation of suspense and anxiety. Lady Macbeth’s savage and rather masculine attitudes augment the sense of foreboding.
The play opens with the witches who immediately create a presentiment of darkness. They are unnerving because they do not obey iambic pentameter which feels uneasy and alien. Shakespeare uses occasional and uncomfortable rhyming couplets in places, often rhyming unusual words together such as “done” and “won”. These are unnerving but also help to show the witches embracing immorality. A sense of foreboding is created by the witches’ wilful play on words and their subversion of normal moral order– “fair is foul, and foul is fair”. Macbeth references the witches as he describes the weather as “foul and fair”, this further links him to the practically diabolic and “strange” witches and reminds the audience that Macbeth is ambitious yet aloof from other characters. This link is further supplemented by the mysterious and “supernatural” meeting between the witches, Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth yields to the witches’ suggestion that he will be “king hereafter” which implies that he is already thinking of the “insane” and “horrible” things he might do in order to be “king”. Shakespeare utilizes the witches to dismiss goodness and to unsettle and unnerve the audience, they immediately create a sense of foreboding.
There are detailed stage directions throughout Macbeth which describe various dramatic weather conditions such as “thunder and lightning”. Shakespeare does this at the beginning of the play to set a dark mood and to build suspense as well as a sense of imminent darkness. It also is useful in instantly drawing the audience into the play and establishes an ominous expectation through the pathetic fallacy. The weather represents disturbances in nature. Fleance also references the dark weather as “the moon is down” which evokes a sinister feeling. The audience are made conscious of nature being disturbed by “owls” who “shriek” and “crying crickets” just as Duncan is killed. Shakespeare suggests that by Macbeth’s “bloody” action, he has completely changed the natural order of the world and the unnatural occurrences in the natural realm mirror the savage murder.
Shakespeare often references “blood” and “daggers” as he uses them to represent the inevitable repercussions of Macbeth’s future actions. Macbeth’s soliloquy is a key moment for showing the audience his fears and uncertainty. However, we also see a more ambitious side to Macbeth, he is seduced by his “fatal visions” but is distracted by a “dagger” in his mind. A bell rings during Macbeth’s soliloquy which is used to suggest Macbeth’s summoning to “hell” yet he sees it as a “knell” for Duncan. Blood symbolises Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt and the crimes that have stained them. After Duncan’s death, the “blood” on their hands allows the audience to see their differing reactions to the crime they have committed. Lady Macbeth appears unaffected by the “deed” but Macbeth is “afraid to think on what” he has “done”. This scene’s tension and sense of foreboding is heightened by “knocks within” which are more frequent as Macbeth becomes more apprehensive.
Lady Macbeth is a fierce and fairly poisonous character who has far more certitude and confidence in Macbeth’s ascension to the throne. She dismisses Macbeth as too soft and too “full” of “human kindness”. Shakespeare makes Lady Macbeth so ferocious to contrast Macbeth’s lack of conviction and gravitas. To ensure that Duncan is murdered, Lady Macbeth knows that she has to convince Macbeth and she says that she will “pour” her “spirits” in Macbeth’s “ear”. The audience are conjointly unsure of Lady Macbeth’s true character as she develops a dual personality. She recommends that Macbeth also develops a double-character, saying that he should “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”. Lady Macbeth’s dual-character is seen again when she greets Duncan as “your majesty”, she shows her strength at beguiling and she is seen to be the epitome of civility and sub-ordination, talking of “service” and “honour”. Lady Macbeth draws parallels with the witches by calling on “spirits” and telling them to “take” her “milk for gall”. This image suggests Lady Macbeth is not a maternal character and forsakes everything associated with femininity and humanity. This unexpected strength adds to the sense of foreboding as the audience is certain that Lady Macbeth will eventually convince Macbeth to kill Duncan.
Shakespeare also associates Macbeth with “death” as he rhymes them together in a couplet, he does this to suggest Macbeth is an executor of death. This is a successful dramatic device used to continually remind and almost warn the audience of Macbeth’s capabilities and what he will do to Duncan. Before Duncan’s death, Macbeth attempts to hide his “deep desire” to kill in euphemism, stating “stars, hide your fires”, acknowledging his uncertainty. However, Macbeth is seduced by ambition and Lady Macbeth’s “promises”. Lady Macbeth’s duality heightens the sense of foreshadowing as the audience is uncertain of what she is capable of and we wonder what else she may do to aide Macbeth’s “rise” to power. The manipulation of nature is vital in showing the deep-rooted consequences of Macbeth’s actions and the references to “blood” and “daggers” add to the tension of the play and keep the audience captivated by the sinister plot. Shakespeare utilises all these literary devices to add to the accumulation of suspense throughout the play, even after Duncan’s death.