<span>Macbeth speaks these words after the discovery of Duncan’s slain body. The words are an example of verbal irony. Verbal irony occurs when a character says one thing which other characters interpret in one particular way, but the audience knows a truth the characters do not. When Macbeth says, “Had I but died an hour before this chance,/I had lived a blessed time,” the noblemen gathered around take him to mean that he is so upset and grieved by Duncan’s death that he would rather have died himself than lived to see such a horrible thing happen. The audience knows this is not a correct interpretation because Macbeth is the murderer, but the characters in the play do not.In addition, if Macbeth had died an hour before Duncan was killed, Duncan would still be alive. Macbeth would be in heaven instead of becoming a living murderer condemned to hell, as Shakespeare’s audience would have believed.</span>
