Narration in Macbeth
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In a play such as Macbeth by William Shakespeare, there is no voice of a narrator to give the play a potentially biased feel or outlook. Because there is no "guide" to what the responses to the play should be, the writer of the play must use other techniques in his writing to incite the appropriate emotions and responses from the audience. Shakespeare uses comparable and contrasting characters and the characters' interaction and responses to each other to "guide" the audience's responses to the action and central character within the play.
The first two contrasting characters we encounter are Macbeth and Banquo. Though they both receive prophecies from the three witches, Macbeth is the only one to act upon them. He takes fate into his own hands to make his prophecy come true. As a result, Macbeth has Banquo murdered to ensure that no witnesses are able to thwart him. The actions by Macbeth lead the audience to dislike him because he has his friend, Banquo killed- Banquo, who did not do evil deeds in order to obtain his prophesized future.
The next two contrasting characters are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At the start, Macbeth was the one who was indecisive about murdering Duncan, the king; it was due to Lady Macbeth's insistence that the deed was pushed to fruition...