Showing posts with label Porter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Porter. Show all posts

Monday, March 2, 2009

charaterization of the porter

Although the porter in act II only appears once in the play MacBeth, he is a very significant character. The porter acts as comic relief right after the intense murder scene of Duncan. His drunken banter is funny so it lightens the mood a bit but at the same time creates tension because it is a delay in the real plot of the story. This rambling is also ironic because he is imagining himself as the gatekeeper of hell replying, “Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?” (II.iii.3) to the knocking at the door, dispite the fact he is unaware of the murder of the king. Shakespear compares the castle to hell because of all the evil occurances going on.