called over-acting. Then with Macduff's reply refusing to tell her what has happened for "The repetition in a woman's ear Would murder as it fell," one can not help but ignore the serious tone of the scene to laugh at the irony of his choice of words. The lady then plays her innocence more by replying in alarm to Macduff's telling Banquo of the murder,Lady Macbeth: "Woe, alas! What in our house?" (II,iii,92) Possibly the most enjoyed form of irony in the play is verbal. For example, the exit of Macbeth at his final visit to the weird sisters where the first witch wryly comments on Macbeth's forgetting to thank them with,First Witch: "That this great king may kindly sayOur duties did his welcome pay." (IV,i,132)Another example in the speech in which Lennox ponders the strange evens which have unfolded since the banquet,Lennox: "And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late;Whom, you may say, if 't please you, Fleance kill'd For Fleance fled..." (III,vi,5)The irony in this line is perfectly completed by the inclusion of an almost humourous example of alliteration at it's end. The work is filled with many examples of situational irony, such as the mysterious appearance of a third murderer in Act III, Scene III. It seems a strange chance that such a mysterious element happens in the third scene of the third act when one considers the symbolic meaning of the number "three" to the play. I will discuss the significance of this number later. However the best example of situational irony in Macbeth is without doubt the way in which the strange sisters' prophecies unfold. Macbeth was given the illusion of being immortal when he was told by the second apparition that he would "no man of woman born" shall harm him (IV,i,80). This illusion was amplified with the third apparition's promise:Third Apparition: "Macbeth shall never be vanquish'd be until Great Birham Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him." (IV,i,92)Shakespeare has, in this ...
