Witchcraft, ambition and corrupting power are just a few of the constant themes in the Shakespearian tragedy, “Macbeth.” These themes are illustrated by Shakespeare’s use of language features such as metaphor, iambic pentameter (or lack thereof) and apparitions, which are a more surreal aspect of the text and may be seen only by the protagonist, Macbeth. These three themes combined show the effects of a mind dominated by power and lead to the complete deterioration of Macbeth’s mind, leaving him “fall’n to the sere, the yellow leaf.”

Throughout the play, as Macbeth’s mind begins to deteriorate, he begins to see apparitions either summoned by the witches or from his ever-growing guilt. Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger, dripping with blood, hovering in the air before him. He is written to say “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not and yet I see thee still.” He questions if this dagger is a tangible object, or a “dagger of the mind, a false creation” which was brought about due to his mind being drowned in guilt. This shows us that Macbeth’s mind has deteriorated to the point that he is seeing objects that are not actually present anywhere other than in his subconscious mind. Macbeth sees yet another apparition after he was informed of Banquo’d death, which he organised. Banquo was one of Macbeth’s closest friends, and to kill him left Macbeth’s mind almost strangled with guilt. This caused Macbeth’s mind to summon the ghost of Banquo. “Avaunt, and quit my sight. Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold. Thou hast no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with” was Macbeth’s unsuccessful attempt to get the ghost to leave, as he is aware it is just a figure that his guilt for the death of Banquo has summoned. The last of the apparitions seen by Macbeth are not summoned by his guilt, but by the witches themselves, and leave Macbeth with a false sense of guilt. First, an “armed head” said ‘beware Macduff, the Thane of Fife.” The next was a “bloody child,”and left Macbeth with the words “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” And the last of the three apparitions, a “crowned child,” says that “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” All three of these apparitions left Macbeth with a false sense of security. He was manipulated to believe that he was not able to be defeated and was more or less invincible, as he believed none of the prophesies were able to come true. Eventually, after the prophesies proved to be true, his mind was left defeated.

Another language feature employed by Shakespeare to emphasise the deterioration of Macbeth’s mind was metaphor. “I have liv’d long enough: my way of life has fall’n to the sere, the yellow leaf” is just one example of this. This is a metaphor comparing Macbeth’s mind to a fallen autumn leaf left to wither away on the ground with “none of that which should accompany old age, as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends.” This shows his realisation of the deterioration of his mind. He also considers his life to be “a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” This is a comparison between his life and the life of an actor, who performs the best they in the little time they have on stage, until the end of the play – or life, as Shakespeare is implying. This suggests that life lacks substance and that Macbeth’s mind is close to the end near death.

Another language feature employed by Shakespeare is iambic pentameter.  Iambic pentameter consists of 5 ‘iambs’, one short or distressed syllable and one long or stressed syllable. In most Shakespearian plays, Macbeth included, the majority of noble characters are written to speak in iambic pentameter, and therefore represents the social status of a character. Throughout the play Macbeth has always been a noble character. He has gone from “Thane of Glamis” to “Thane of Cawdor” and finally to King, the highest of all noble titles. Nearer to the end of the play, his use of iambic pentameter begins to falter. An example of this is in the quote “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in at this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time,” which ends in a weak foot. This suggests that Macbeth’s mind is deteriorating because he had began to lose the ability to speak in noble speech, which he should as he is king.

In the play “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses language features to show the change in the protagonist’s mental state. These language features: apparitions, metaphor and iambic pentameter, show that his mind has been overtaken by guilt and his mental state has almost completely deteriorated due to the many dark deeds he had committed. This left him “fall’n to the sere, the yellow leaf,” and haunted by murderous thoughts which emphasises the fact that in reality, blind ambition and greed for power is destructive to ones mental state.