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Dialogue Analysis

Dialogue can imply theme

What is the purpose of dialogue?

Pay attention to dialogue that may indicate the overarching idea or message of a story. Example of dialogue that implies theme:

MACBETH

Whence is that knocking?

How is't with me, when every noise appals me?

What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,

Making the green one red. (Act II scene ii)

In this scene that follows Duncan's murder, Macbeth is already haunted by the guilt he immediately realizes he possesses. He sees his guilt (symbolized by the physical blood on his hands) as so all-encompassing that it could color all of the oceans of the world. This helps to imply one of the messages of the story: the haunting power of guilt, and the inability to truly hide from the emotional (and physical) consequences of our actions.

→ Dialogue advances plot.

→ Dialogue develops character.

→ Dialogue can ground the story in a specific setting.

→ Dialogue can help reveal the theme of a story.

DIALOGUE includes any written or spoken conversation. A monologue or soliloquy can often be considered dialogue, too. While dialogue is always an important element to consider, it takes on a special importance when we analyze a work of drama such as Shakespeare's Macbeth.

What should I consider when I choose a direct dialogue quote for an example?

What does this reveal about the speaker?

What is the speaker's tone?

Who is the speaker addressing?

Does this character speak for the author?

Is this character being honest?

What is this character trying to achieve through this statement?

Dialogue can portray setting

How does dialogue advance plot?

Dialogue advances plot by developing conflict, revealing information, and propelling the momentum of the story. Example of dialogue that advances plot:

DUNCAN: No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive

Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,

And with his former title greet Macbeth.

ROSS: I'll see it done.

DUNCAN: What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. (ACT I scene ii)

In this scene, dialogue reveals that the former thane of Cawdor will be executed for treason, and Macbeth will be given his lands and title.

Dialogue can ground the story in a specific setting. This is particularly important in a work of drama, in which a playwright may not be able to rely on narration, description, and other tools of fiction. Example:

ROSS

Ah, good father,

Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act,

Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock, 'tis day,

And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:

Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame,

That darkness does the face of earth entomb,

When living light should kiss it? (Act II scene iv)

There is vivid, figurative language-filled commentary on the weather (and nature in general) throughout this play. The frequently unusual and violent actions of the weather often reflect the violent, "unnatural" acts of the characters.

How does dialogue develop character?

Dialogue develops character through the vocabulary characters choose, what they reveal, and how they treat others. Example of dialogue that develops character:

LADY MACBETH: Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?

And wakes it now, to look so green and pale

At what it did so freely? From this time

Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard

To be the same in thine own act and valour

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,

And live a coward in thine own esteem... (Act I scene vii)

Macbeth has just said that they should "proceed no further" in their plan to murder Duncan. In this speech, Lady Macbeth berates her husband for his hesitance and what she interprets as "coward" tendencies. This reveals her confident, ambitious, often callous nature - and her contempt for her husband's hesitancy. Her willingness to confidently commit murder here can be compared and contrasted with her attitudes and emotions later in the play!

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