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Poetic Terms and MacBeth

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Consonance is almost exactly like Assonance, except instead of a vowel sound, it is a consonant sound appearing within the word.

"As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies,

That keep her from her rest.

               Cure her of that:

Canst thou minister to a mind diseas'd,

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,

Raze out the written troubles of the brain,

And with some sweet oblivious antidote

Clense the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff

Which weighs upon the heart?" V, iii, 38-45.

MacBeth is talking about his sick wife, who is bothered with nightmares that keep her up at night.  When the internal 'N' sound is repeated, it signifies that MacBeth is serious, and does not want the doctor's mind to wander away from what he is saying, so hopefully the repitition will catch his attention.


"He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself." W. Shakespeare.

Cristen Kleindienst, English 11, Block A2, Mr. Brisebois, May 2005.