English Literature Macbeth

Is speaking in prose something that the lower class would normally or do? Or is it something that is looked as decentralising to Lady Macbeth's Masculine image?

Reply 1

Liqht

I got taught / told that prose is used for lower classes, so to distinguish people like the porter from those of more importance in the play : )

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

full-size-hustle

yeh, basically characters like the Porter talk in prose, which could allude to their inferiority, or it could alternatively be seen as being representative towards their irrationality, perhaps suggesting that those who talk in prose lack rational thought and should therefore be dismissed. Shakespeare draws a parallelism between the Porter and Lady Macbeth, presenting Lady Macbeth status as diminishing: equal to or even below the Porters status as a servant. Through her degraded status it could further typify her mental deterioration as she hallucinates, demanding "Out damned spot: Out I say!". Shakespeare could have done this as a warning towards those of the Jacobean Era audience, both towards patriarchy and regicide, illustrating the fatal consequences that come to those who defy the Divine right of king and the natural order within patriarchy.

I think I did a bit too much and it needs to be refined some more, but I hope it helped. Good luck for tomorrow :smile: