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The natural world is rebelling against the act of regicide. ”sacrilegious murder” – the word choice of sacrilegious suggests the significance and holiness of Duncan.

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s outward public response shows no remorse.  This can be seen when Macbeth declares: “There’s nothing serious in mortality. All is but toys”.

Macbeth: “violent love” this juxtaposition highlights Macbeth’s duplicitous nature and inner turmoil. Interestingly the negative aspect is placed first, perhaps showing that evil is overtaking the goodness in Macbeth.

Very quickly after the murder of Duncan we see
Macbeth’s ‘prophecy’ (“that we but teach bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th’ inventor”0 come true as already more victims of the murder are being identified: those of Duncan’s chamber.

Duncan:

“silver skin” – sibilance of s, soft sound highlights the beauty of Duncan, the metaphor of “silver skin” Just as silver is a precious metal, expensive and uncommon so Duncan is being described as precious, of great value and rare.

The metaphor of his golden blood shows, just as gold is….so Duncan is ..

Duncan is several times associated with gold.

“his gash’d stabs look’d like a breach in nature”.

The word choice of “gash’d” means a cut however it suggests a large injury, the product of great violence and suggests severe damage to the body.

This simile highlights the horrendous impact of Macbeth’s violence on Duncan’s body.

This quote highlights Macbeth’s propensity for violence, shows the level of his depravity and shows his use of gratuitous violence. This in turn gives us an insight into Macbeth’s true character.

The repetition of the word “breech”.

What is interesting also is the repetition of “love”. Is this a sign of Macbeth’s inner conflict or does it suggest that he is thinking of his love for his wife – which is one of the reasons he has committed this “breech”.

The repeated references to “blood” pervades the text furthering the tragic element of the play. Also it is a word used by many characters showing the bloody effects are far reaching.