Literary Devices Objective: Students will review important literary devices present in Macbeth for the upcoming test.

Allusion • Reference to a person, place, event, etc., which is not part of the story • Expects the reader to recognize it • Example: The farmer and the equivocator (2.3)•Members of the gunpowder plot

• Example: “A little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then!” (2.2.86)•Allusion to Pilate in the Bible

Comic Relief • Insertion of humor following a scene of

tragedy or excitement

Foils • A character whose qualities or actions

emphasize the qualities or actions of the main character

• Provides a strong contrast

Foreshadowing • Use of hints or clues• Suggests what action is to come• Creates interest• Builds suspense• Example: Weather at the opening of the play• Example: The prophecies of the witches and apparitions

Irony • Dramatic Irony• Audience or reader knows more about a character’s situation than the character does/Character’s understanding is flawed

• Structural Irony • Use of a naïve hero, whose incorrect perceptions differ from reader’s correct ones

• Verbal Irony• Discrepancy between what is said and what is meant; sarcasm

• Example: “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses”-King Duncan (1.6.1).

Metaphor • Comparison of two unalike things• Does NOT use “like” or “as”• Example: “There the grown serpent lies; the

worm that's fled”-Macbeth (3.4.32).

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Motif • Situation, idea, or image that is

repeated over and over again• Significance in stories or plays• Example: Hallucinations/Visions•Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

• Example: Violence and murder •Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff

• Example: Prophecies •Witches

Personification • Giving a personal nature or human

characteristics to something nonhuman

• Representation of an abstract quality with human traits

• Example: “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires”-Macbeth (1.4.57).

Simile • Comparison between two different things• Comparison uses “like” or “as”• Example: "This is the sergeant who like a good and hardy soldier fought ‘gainst my captivity”-Malcolm (1.2.5).• Example: “Doubtful it stood; As two spent swimmers, that do cling together and choke their art”-Captain (1.2.8).

Symbols• Object, person, or place that has a meaning

in itself• Stands for something bigger than itself• Usually an idea or concept

• Something concrete that stands for the abstract