Mecbeth play design - Essay Example

Costumes enhances the central message in Macbeth Costumes are fundamental design elements in plays. It refers to the attire of the actors in a set. Costumes perform numerous roles in a play thus enhancing the message in a play, as is the case in Macbeth. Macbeth is one of the most iconic of William Shakespeare’s work. The tragedy portrays the political, economic and psychological effects of choosing evil in society to front personal ambitions. Clothes are important items in the society owing to their role in covering nudity thus upholding the social values.

Despite this primary objective, costumes often enhance the messages in play by enhancing the context for a scene thus enhancing the effectiveness of the entire play as the discussion portrays. Macbeth has numerous characters all of who play specific roles that enhance the success of the play. The coordination of the characters contributed to the central message in the play. This relies on numerous features key among which is the characters’ costumes. Written in the late 1500s the costumes must help place the play in the particular society.

Setting is vital in enhancing the message in the play since it validates the claims of the author. Specific themes are appropriate in particular settings. Among themes Shakespeare addresses in the play is witchcraft. The subject remains underexplored in the contemporary society in which scientific inventions continue to make life easier. Placing the play in the early English society thus validates the theme since witchcraft and magic was rampant at the time. Costumes therefore play the integral role of placing the action in the play in specific society.

The characters must dress specific costumes that portray the prevailing styles at the time. The costumes of the characters readily place the play to a specific time in history a feature that validates the author’s claims. The characters dress unique clothes that do not only portray their varied roles in the play but also uniformly place them in a specific period in the history of the country, a key feature that validates the plot of the play (Garber 41). The unique attire places the play in the early Scottish culture.

Additionally, costumes helps identity the characters. Each of the numerous characters in the play dress differently and in accordance to their roles. The first scene for example opens up with two witches meeting Macbeth. The costumes readily distinguish the witches from Macbeth and the trend continues in all the succeeding scenes in the play. Costumes also help set the various characters apart thereby enhancing both the plat and the message in the play. Class remains a fundamental factor of stratification in the society.

Costumes help portray the class difference among the characters. Lady Macbeth and King Duncan among other royalties in the play dress differently. Their costumes display the flamboyancy and wealth associated with such individuals. This varies with the attires of numerous other characters portrayed in the play. As explained earlier, the witches dress differently and so are the sergeants in the play. This implies that besides showing the social class costumes help portray the career among other fundamental feature of a character in a play.

Work citedGarber, Marjorie B. Profiling Shakespeare. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.