Macbeth violence

The violence in Macbeth is so excessive that it ceases to have any effect on the audience. Explore

Gothic literature opens up explorations of violence. Whilst Macbeth conforms to the key gothic feature, it could be argued that Shakespeare often uses the violence in excess, desensitising the audience and taking away the desired effect.

The structure of Macbeth introduces the audience firstly to legitimate violence, through to illegitimate violence and finally a loss of control. The beginning of the play sees “noble” Macbeth rewarded for “unseeming” a man “from the nave to the chops” in battle, whilst this violence may be controversial among a modern audience, it would have been condoned by a jacobean audience. Macbeth’s meeting with the witches can be seen as a pivotal point in the play, as it is here the the violence takes a sinister turn. Shakespeare structures the play so that a majority of the killings are performed off stage, whilst this does not necessarily conform to the idea of ‘excessive violence’ the audience are introduced to inordinate violence through the reactions of the characters. Shakespeare shows the audience how things are going to change with Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me here” monologue. She states “come to my womans breasts and take my milk for gall”, the speech sees Lady Macbeth want to strip herself of symbols of nurture and womanhood, it could be argued that this acts as a pivotal point to set the reader up for the murders, as killing and violence is often associated with masculinity. Lady Macbeth is acting extreme, and shows that she is willing to do whatever necessary to seize the throne, critics may suggest that is is the preparation given to the audience that means the violence ‘ceases too have any effect’ rather that the ‘excess’ of the violence in the play.

The language used in Macbeth enables the introduction of excess violence and also highlights the loss of control experienced by both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Whilst at the