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"On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth" is an essay in Shakespearean criticism by the English author Thomas De Quincey, first published in the October 1823 edition of The London Magazine. It is No. II in his ongoing series "Notes from the Pocket-Book of a Late Opium Eater" which are signed, "X.Y.Z.". [ 1 ]
Macbeth was a favourite of the seventeenth-century diarist Samuel Pepys, who saw the play on 5 November 1664 ("admirably acted"), 28 December 1666 ("most excellently acted"), ten days later on 7 January 1667 ("though I saw it lately, yet [it] appears a most excellent play in all respects"), on 19 April 1667 ("one of the best plays for a stage ...
Nymphs and fairies are generally viewed as beautiful and youthful, but Shakespeare's three witches in Macbeth are ugly, dark, and bizarre. It is believed that he made the change to heighten the suspense and darkness of the play. [6] However, the Chronicles lacked any descriptions of Macbeth's character, so Shakespeare improvised on several ...
In the discussion of Macbeth, it is Macbeth's unity of character that is significant. [302] In many chapters, he emphasises the dominant mood, a unifying theme, the "character" of the play as a whole. [303] In, again, Macbeth, the entire play "is done upon a stronger and more systematic principle of contrast than any other of Shakespear's plays."
Wilson is soon caught because he has returned to his boarding house, despite stealing over a hundred pounds. He hangs himself in gaol. The essay concludes with a brief summary of the M'Keans' murder of a servant girl during a home invasion. They panic when a boy flees the house and abandon their robbery attempt. They are soon caught and executed.
Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character and the heroic main protagonist in William Shakespeare's Macbeth (c.1603–1607) that is loosely based on history. Macduff, a legendary hero, plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act.
Lady Macbeth is a powerful presence in the play, most notably in the first two acts. Following the murder of King Duncan, however, her role in the plot diminishes. She becomes an uninvolved spectator to Macbeth's plotting and a nervous hostess at a banquet dominated by her husband's hallucinations.
King Duncan is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Macbeth. He is the father of two youthful sons (Malcolm and Donalbain), and the victim of a well-plotted regicide in a power grab by his trusted captain Macbeth.