This analysis examines how Shakespeare presents Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 3, arguing that while he displays superficial bravery, his character has devolved into villainy, ultimately framing him as a tragic hero whose downfall stems from his ambition.
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Hello everybody welcome to this video
it's another in the student Exemplar
series we're looking at the M Beth
question act 5 scene3 extract bring me
no more reports let them fly all onwards
and the question was how far is MC Beth
presented as a hero so let's get right
into it in this speech MC Beth demands
bring me no more reports let them fly
all appearing unfaced by the threat of
the English army his bravery in the face
of danger could serve as evidence for
his heroic nature courage is a key
attribute of a hero and its importance
would have been Amplified in the
Elizabethan times men were expected to
be brave and it was an attractive
quality to have the audience is reminded
of this near the beginning of the play
When the THS talk highly of Brave MC
Beth and his battle prowess
alternatively whilst MC Beth's words
make him seem Brave almost arrogant
Shakespeare contrasts this with
structure to show that M Beth may be
more unsettled than he seems the enement
throughout the extract gives the
impression of rambling and suggests that
perhaps MC Beth is more unsettled and
panicked than he seemed at first this
idea of structure betraying MC Beth's
true fear is epitomized in N lines 10
and 11 he States the mind I sway by and
the heart I bear shall never sag with
doubt nor shake with fear the lines are
almost entirely in I Amit pentameter
which gives them a certain Rhythm
therefore the audience almost expects
these two lines to be a rhyming coulet
as is used on occasion throughout the
rest of the play however the final words
on each line bear and fear whilst
appearing like they should rhyme do not
when spoken aloud thus Shakespeare
contrasts with Beth's Brave words with
the breaking of the rhyme scheme perhaps
reflecting a contrast between how M Beth
wishes to appear brave but does not
actually feel this way in this way
Shakespeare suggests that Beth is no
longer Brave and therefore is not a hero
so in this part of the answer the
student has identified the nature of the
question about the hero linked to a
little bit about context and the
importance of Bravery in being a hero
and then written about how the language
contrasts the structure and perhaps
that's you know yet another example I
might add of the theme of appearances
versus reality that we see Within the
play Rather Shakespeare presents M Beth
is quite villainous in the extract so
you can see this idea has a this answer
has a conceptualized response it's got a
two-part line of argument firstly no M
Beth is not a hero and once we've
established he's not a her hero let's
look at what he actually is which is a
villain after a servant enters M Beth
cries the devil damn thee back thou
cream-faced loon the insult occurs as
the servant appears to have done nothing
wrong and so McBeth is portrayed as
malicious and irrational certainly not
heroic moreover the use of the noun
devil creates a link between M Beth and
the symbol of complete evil this would
have been especially shocking for a
God-fearing Elizabethan Audience by
stating the devil Dam black Shakespeare
presents M Beth to almost have the devil
his command which would have been a sure
sign of evil for the superstitious
elizabethans and arguably still is today
so what I love about this answer is the
way the student is just dripping in
little bits of context you know context
is six marks and so many students send
me questions saying how much should I
write about context and I think this is
a great example of just dripping in
little bits of
context however May Beth is certainly
not presented as a villain throughout
the whole of the play so this is the
wider text reference now remember you've
got to write about the extract and The
Wider text at the beginning Shakespeare
portrays him as quite heroic referred to
as Valor minion and brave McBeth whilst
perhaps still Brave the contrast is
clear between McBeth at the beginning
and him now he's lost the primary
attribute of a hero goodness and has
instead become a sort of courageous
villain so this bit my tongue then this
is um an interesting idea here because
if you're given an extract that is from
right at the end of the play I think
when you're looking at the wider text to
refer to it's it makes sense to look at
before it doesn't it the beginning of
the play so if you're given an extract
from the beginning it might make sense
to think about what how things have
changed in reference to that question by
the end and that's exactly what this
student is doing here therefore it could
be argued that Shakespeare presents much
Beth as a tragic hero instead a tragic
hero is one whose Fortune appears to be
increasing and until their fatal flaw
undermines them and becomes their
undoing but bet hamasha could be his
ambition his one evil deed of killing
Duncan to ascend to the throne Sparks
his evil spiraling out of control until
this point in the play where he appears
entirely Wicked This would explain what
Beth's Journey from hero to villain in
such a short space of time he brings
about his own downfall in summary while
Shakespeare portrays M Beth with some
heroic qualities in the extract at this
point in the play he definitely appears
more villainous than heroic however by
showing that bravery in the scene
Shakespeare draws parallels between MC
Beth in act one scene one and him now
and by doing so contrasts his heroism
and villainous qualities showcasing his
Arc as a tragic hero instead and serving
to have a cathartic effect on the
audience that you your fortune can
quickly reverse if you give into evil so
here's a nice mention of the idea of the
tragic hero and I think you know any
question that is about a hero would lend
itself to two different analyses number
one what we think of as a hero is a good
person but of course number two the idea
of a tragic hero and that's what the
students writing about here and that
would come under the fact that this is a
tragedy the genre of the play is a
tragedy and genre remember now comes
under AO3 context so writing about the
the tragedy aspect of MC Beth would be
seen as writing about context I think
this is a really good answer I think it
has language structure form analysis I
think it's got some lovely bits about
context uh links everything to the
writer's wider ideas and themes
challenging the audience really good
succinct but very very good please do
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