Macbeth Themes

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

As ambition starts to take over Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins to lose power and is not included in the plans to kill Banquo. “Be innocent of knowledge dearest chuck” (III. ii. 47). Lady Macbeth begins to lose her control of Macbeth; she has no more power nor say in what should be done. This lack of power opens a spot for vulnerability by taking away the one thing that makes her feel useful. Macbeth then begins to share a little of his plan of Banquo’s murder without telling her exactly what he’s doing.“Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still./ Things bad begun make strong themselves ill” (III.ii. 56-57). Lady Macbeth is shocked at the words of her husband, as he elusively shows her a glimpse of his plan.

Macbeth is not condemned to his fate exclusively by his decision to murder Duncan but continues to make choices that result in his undoing after this point. These later decisions can, in fact, be seen as being more definitively Macbeth's own will, as they are made independent of Lady Macbeth's influence and, unlike Macbeth's first murder, in an attempt to avoid rather than achieve a prophecies completion. Macbeth organises Banquo's murder to fight

Recall the story of Snow White. The girl took a bite out of an apple because it looked delectable. Little did she know that it would knock her out and put her into a deep sleep. Think about the tale of Aladdin. He found this magic lamp which was to bring him an immense fortune, but his greed got the best of him and it ended up consuming him in the end. The Lion King, a young cub was exiled after his father’s death, only to return years later and take back his rightful throne. In Hercules, an evil god was given a prophecy by three fates and forced them to come true which resulted in his own undoing. Macbeth shares a template with a plethora of tales and stories, many of which have gained popularity in the Walt Disney Franchise. Whilst these narratives and the play may have different overall storylines and characters, the vital themes and character framework remain very similar to the core ideas of the 16th-century play.

This imagery is typical in a Shakespearean tragedy, where a dark atmosphere is important in developing character and understanding the play. Darkness is used in both a natural and metaphorical sense and symbolizes many things such as death, obfuscation, and evil. Through the use of the mysterious witches, and the natural darkness of night, Shakespeare effectively creates a dramatic atmosphere for the play. The witches are seen by Banquo and Macbeth to be unnatural and evil. Banquo describes them, “wither'd and so wild in their attire,That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth” (A1, S3). These witches appear in darkness at the beginning of the play and Macbeth calls the day, “so foul and fair a day I have not seen” (A1, S3). This is the atmosphere in which the “unnatural” witches tell of a prophecy which goes against the natural laws of the world. Some very key scenes where great evil is done, happen under the cover of night, in a naturally dark environment. It is dark when Macbeth has the vision of a dagger, Duncan and Banquo are both murdered under cover of darkness, and Lady Macbeth sleep walks in the middle of the night even though she has a fear of darkness. Darkness is used to cover up guilty crimes, and to accentuate the sense of danger. Duncan is first murdered while he sleeps. Macbeth was hesitant to do this, until Lady Macbeth presented a way in which it could be done, and blamed on someone else. Macbeth murders Duncan in the middle of the

Another way that the theme of ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ proffers itself is through the deception of King Duncan by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This deception is even worse because of Duncan’s trust in Macbeth, so as Lady Macbeth quotes; ‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.’ Duncan is not suspicious because as Macbeth quotes in his soliloquy; ‘He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’ It is doubly ironic that Duncan should trust and praise Macbeth so highly when he says to Lady Macbeth; ‘See, see, our honor’d hostess! The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you how you shall bid God ‘ild us for your pains, and thank us for your trouble;’ and also that Duncan should replace a

Every one of Shakespeare 's plays are heavily imbedded with motifs. A motif is any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature. (motif) I chose to examine the play Macbeth. It is a very intense play full of violence, betrayal, and even the supernatural. It is well known to be saturated with themes and motifs that are repeated throughout the play. These motifs are important because they often foreshadow events on the play. They also create a atmosphere that helps shape the events of the play. I am going to focus on two motifs that seem to play a heavy role in the storyline of Macbeth. The two I have chose to focus on are the motifs of blood and nature. Since Macbeth is know for its violence blood is a very important part of the play. Nature also is representative of things to come and upsetting the natural balance of things. These are only a fraction of motifs that are present in this tragic play.

A motif is a repeating symbol that takes on a figurative meaning. A motif can be an object, a color, the weather, or even an idea or a concept. Motifs are usually used to establish a certain mood or a theme, and they have a symbolic meaning. For example, in a fairy tale, some motifs would be: the handsome prince, the wicked witch, talking animals, and magic fairies. Another example would be the song “Beasts of England” in Animal Farm by George Orwell, and it is a motif that mainly serves as propaganda to the animals. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, motifs are seen all throughout the book, like the motif of blood and how it represents guilt. The motifs of blood, sleep, and birds affect the character development and relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth evil is conveyed in many ways through characters, themes and settings. Many themes are explored in detail contributing hugely to the sense of evil with characters being used along with these themes to create evil within the characters. These themes and characters are shown in different settings at different times consequently affecting the mood and atmosphere of the play.

Although some might say that Scotland is a great country, in reality, it is filled with lies, evil, and blood. Through the Tragedy of Macbeth, a popular theme that keeps appearing is the will of desire. In the play, the main character Macbeth gets blinded by the desire to become king which leads him to do evil and savage things. In Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character Macbeth displays a vivid theme of desire to become a king which eventually leads him to do savage things like murder King Duncan, kill Banquo and also destroy Macduff's family.

Macbeth's conscience attempts overthink and re-consider his attention of the murder he is about to commit, it's understood in this scene that Macbeth is warned of his actions and the horror he might face after its results. Macbeth understands that his vision may be a result of overthinking about the situation which means he is aware that the dagger might just be an illusion, it has a great impact on him and feels greatly disturbed by it. Macbeth is afraid to carry out his plan, however, he is not able to get the idea out of his mind. This suggests he will be overwhelmed by the act, he shows that he does not have any power over his own thinking regarding the act. Another Imagery shown in this scene is darkness, which is associated with evil or fear. "Moves like a ghost"51-56, this shows that all evil presences are occurring this night, “There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out.”4-5, this quote supports that there are no stars in the sky tonight. The imagery of darkness shows that there was no light in the sky that night, therefore, there was an overwhelming amount of evil presence. This imagery could foreshadow the dark and evil act that was about to be committed to the audience. The imagery helps the audience get a better picture of the dark movements they are about to witness, that link into the planned murder of Duncan. Sleep is another major symbol in the scene, there was an interesting quote that Macbeth mentioned: “Nature seems

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair," a quote from the play that is said by the witches in Act 1, Scene 1. This quote shows us the evil within the witches. Throughout the play, whenever we encounter the witches the mood changes to dark and gloomy. They are very mischievous and this has a lot to do with their supernatural powers. One of the most noticeable differences between them and the other characters are that they speak in rhyme, this shows how different they are compared to the other characters.. The witches use Macbeth's vulnerability to manipulate his life by using their powers to destruct his mind and everything he once was. The first encounter between Macbeth, Banquo and the witches (Act 1, Scene 3), Macbeth brushes off what they have to tell him but Banquo thinks they should listen to them and is not frightened at all. Macbeth then becomes afraid of the witches and their powers, at first he never believed them, but once he sees that their sayings are coming true, such as towards the end when he sees the forest starting to come against him (Act 5, Scene 5), he starts to realize that they have mislead him and took him to his own death. The witches cause both Macbeth’s rise to power and the fall to his death. Through the influence of the Weird Sisters’ prophecies, Macbeth transforms from a noble military general into a ruthless tyrant overcome with madness for power, eventually leading to the death of Macbeth.

Among all those who influenced him, Lady Macbeth was the only one to support him from by his side, killing all doubts of her husband that would prevent their success and potentially prevent Macbeth’s downfall. Before Duncan is killed, Macbeth was doubtful about his capabilities to murder someone he looks up to, proclaiming “We will proceed no further in this business:/… [These honours should] be worn now in their newest gloss,/ Not cast aside so soon” (1.7.33-37), he was not at all ready to undergo the plan. Shortly afterward, Lady Macbeth insults his manhood and successfully convinces Macbeth to forget his doubts. If Lady Macbeth was not present in the situation, Macbeth would have been left to become a nervous wreck, hurting his chances of safely getting through their plan and preventing his downfall from continuing. However, Lady Macbeth’s support comes in more forms than disparaging insults. During the banquet for Macbeth’s crowning, Macbeth worries about Banquo’s suspicions, feeling

Shakespeare uses lightness and darkness in Macbeth to represent contrast between good versus evil. Society tends to picture daytime as joyous and safe, while perceiving night as scary and dangerous. The contrast is pivotal in the play. For example, Shakespeare includes lightness and darkness, or more specifically day and night, after Macbeth murders King Duncan. Macbeth’s cousin Ross notices that “by th’ clock 'tis day, and yet the dark night strangles the travelling lamp”. Observing the conditions, he wonders “is’t night’s predominance or the day’s shame that darkness does the face of earth entomb when living light should kiss it?” (Act 2, Scene 4 7-12). While it is daytime, darkness fills the sky. In Shakespeare’s