Explore Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of the regicide

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth is shown in various dramatic
ways. A foremost example of this is the fact that the murder is only revealed by report, and the
actual deed would not be portrayed on stage. The ways in which this death is reported are also
noteworthy, as there is panic and surprise surrounding this report, and how the characters enter and
exit the stage.

The first way in which Shakespeare makes the murder of Duncan seem dramatic is the absence of
the actual murder taking place on stage, with such significant build-up in previous scenes. The idea
of murder has been on Macbeth’s mind for a long time, and it has been subject to multiple
soliloquies by the time of the actual regicide, and hence the audience is also very aware of the
murder being imminent. The fact that Macbeth has never been referring to the deed directly, but
instead using euphemisms such as ‘deed’ also suggests that he is concerned about it, building it up
even further. The last lines before the deed taking place are ‘I go and it is done,’ and then Macbeth
enters the next scene with ‘two bloody daggers’. Shakespeare may have excluded the regicide for
multiple reasons, but it certainly increases the drama of the act, and it also fits in with the theme of
acts only being reported and not seen throughout the play. The actual word murder or its synonyms
are also rarely used by other characters, so in this way, the murder seems also to be directly avoided
in speech, showing its importance and its surprise from everyone. Examples of this in Act 2 Scene 3
are Macduff referring to the murder as ‘thee’ and using the metaphor of Duncan’s body being a
building, to avoid direct use of the word, although he does say ‘murder’ once. Ultimately, this
shrouds the murder in mystery and drama.

At the beginning of the extract, Lennox open with 'Goes the King hence today?'. This line suggests
that Lennox is entirely oblivious to what has happened and that the day appears to be perfectly
ordinary. However, the mood is darkened in Lennox's next lines as he describes the goings-on in his
surroundings last night. He calls it 'unruly' and describes 'lamentations', 'screams of death', 'accents
terrible' and the 'obscure bird', and reference to the ill-omen of the screeching owl that Macbeth
was afraid of in a previous scene. In this way, the mood clearly changes, and there is a pathetic
fallacy with nature reflecting the horror of the deed. This is the first indication in the scene that
something is amiss, and such a long description of what had happened builds up the imminent
announcement. After this, Macbeth is clearly still nervous about the murder, for he gives the
tentative response of ‘Twas a rough night’. This phrase is incredibly short in contrast to the long
speech Lennox has just given and indicates that Macbeth is still tense and concerned about being
found out. The effect of this is that the audience is uncertain as to whether Macbeth will be found
out, or not, surrounding the conversation with uncertainty.

After Lennox’s reply, Macduff comes back onto the stage, announcing what had happened. Although
the only stage direction is ‘Enter’, he most likely would have been running onto the stage to create a
sense of panic, and shouting as he comes in. He cries out ‘O horror, horror, horror’ to begin to tell
what has happened, and the repetition creates a tone of panic, emphasises it but also gives a sense
of disbelief about what has happened. After the normal conversation between Macbeth and Lennox,
Macduff running on shouting would have been a significant surprise and a contrast, which would
give a further sense of the panic on stage. In the next line he says that his ‘tongue…cannot conceive’
the murder, which shows that it is both very unexpected and is leaving Macduff lost for words.
Before the entrance, the metre of iambic pentameter had been adhered to relatively strictly, but
after it the metre is lost for the next few lines. This creates a sense of confusion, and this is followed
by Macbeth and Lennox asking in unison, ‘What’s the matter?’, and then later ‘Mean you his
majesty?’ and ‘What is’t you say, the life?’. These dramatic questions create a sense of shock and
disbelief, but Macbeth also grows in his role of hiding the deed. In doing so, he is following Lady
Macbeth’s command to look like an ‘innocent flower’ but to be the ‘serpent under it’. Macduff then
compares Duncan’s body to ‘Lord’s anointed temple’, being ransacked, an indication of how kind
and faithful he was, and saying that that killing Duncan is essentially blasphemy, which would have
been quite shocking for the religious audiences at the time.

After Macbeth and Lennox leave, Macduff continues, and in this remaining speech he uses four
exclamation marks. These, along with the short sentences, ‘Awake, awake!’, ‘Ring the alarum bell!’,
and ‘Murder and treason!’, show a sense of panic, again increasing the level of drama shown in this
scene. The use of the ‘alarum bell’ and the stage direction ‘Bell rings’ also echoes its use to bring
Macbeth to kill Duncan in the previous scene, finishing that section in the same way that it started.
Then Macduff goes on to compare sleep to death, saying that it is ‘death’s counterpart’, which
would have again created a sense of surprise and shock.

Perhaps the most interesting way that Shakespeare creates drama in this scene is the development
of Macbeth’s character. At the start of the scene, he appears uncertain about how to act, with the
line ‘Twas a rough night’ showing his nervousness and tension. However, after Macduff announces
the murder, Macbeth begins to act naturally and act like a man stopping at nothing to get the
throne. He acts essentially identically to Lennox, who is entirely innocent, and in this way manages
to remove all suspicion from him in the other characters’ eyes. This progression would have been
interesting and dramatic to watch, as Macbeth’s character develops and there is uncertainty about
whether he will pull it off.

Fin Brickman U4Z