The theme of the play may be well summed up, in
the words of Mr. Hiecke, as : " the representation of
ambition as a fiendish living force, driving on an
heroic nature, that is possessed of high aims and
capable of the grandest deeds, yet restricted by exter-
nal barriers, to conspiracy against an anointed power,
an established hereditary royalty, on fealty to which
depends not only the prosperity of all, but the true,
genuine happiness of the conspirator himself ; hereby
dooming countless numbers to destruction, as well as
plunging the rebel himself into spiritual and, by the
final moral concatenation, into physical ruin, but by
these very means causing the power which has been
outraged to emerge all the more gloriously."



INTRODUCTION XXXV



METRICAL STRUCTURE

Macbeth, like the most of Shakespeare's plays, is
written in dramatic blank verse, and the typical meas-
ure is iambic pentameter, e.g. :

'* If thou I be'Bt sltfin, | and with | no strdke | of mine.
My wife | and chil | dren's ghosts | will haiint | me still."

— v., 7, 16, 16.
This measure is too monotonous and formal for con-
stant use, and Shakespeare exercised much license in
its use, especially since his plays were composed for
the ear rather than the eye, and therefore depended
for their effective presentation more upon the natural
rhythm than upon the strict observance of the rules
of metrical structure. He constantly introduced var
nations in the line chiefly, (1) by changing the posi-
tion of the accent; (2) by introducing trisyllabic and
monosyllabic feet, and (3) by decreasing the number
of feet.
Illustrations of some of the more important of these
variations are given below.
