A Study Of The Major Dramatic Devices And Their Effects In Macbeth

For more than four centuries, Shakespeare and his works have been the focus of attraction of the world's literature. They have exerted a profound influence on the culture of the western countries. Beyond a doubt, they are worthy of study and research by the Chinese who are interested in the western literature and culture.Macbeth, written in 1606, is one of Shakespeare's four major famous tragedies. It is a story about an ambitious man. No other Shakespearean tragedies can compare with it in the play's intensity, swift movement, strong emotion and centralized plot. It is a play with special characteristic features. In most of the traditional European tragedies, from ancient Greek tragedies, Roman tragedies to renaissance tragedies, the protagonists are positive characters. Different from these, Macbeth's protagonist is a man who changes from positive to negative in his character. How can such a special person arouse the reader's pity and sympathy? How can it be a tragedy? The tragedy lies in that there are violent struggles between ambition and humanity, good and evil when Macbeth is plunged into sin and his inner remorse causes the reader's pity and sympathy. In order to sketch the characters successfully and gain the tragiceffects, Shakespeare uses a lot of special dramatic devices to reflect the inevitable conflicts of various self-contraditory values in human society. The paper aims to explore the dramatic devices and their effects in the play, and examine how Shakespeare, in aiming at its tragic effect, presents the vivid and life-like characters and their state of mind by means of the dramatic devices, such as supernatural, symbols, soliloquies, contrasts, and so on. It is hoped that the exploration of the play will facilitate a better appreciation of the characteristic features of "Macbeth" and a further understanding of the social value of this masterpiece of Shakespearean tragedy.