Alitteration

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth includes numerous examples of alliteration, which means that adjacent words begin with the same letter. One example is the witches chanting that “fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.12). Alliteration gives a nice ring to this central phrase while also underlining its importance in the play. 

Lady Macbeth also uses alliteration several times in her soliloquy on her husband’s gentle nature, such as on the letters “w” and “h”: “What thou wouldst highly, / That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, / And yet wouldst wrongly win.” (1.5.20-22). Again, Shakespeare is using alliteration to draw attention to central phrases in the play. 

Alliteration also has the added advantage of making it easier for the actors to ...