Motif Motifs In Macbeth

When doctor visited Lady Macbeth because she is sleepwalking. Doctor ask how is condition of Lady Macbeth to Gentlewoman who is taking care of Lady Macbeth. Gentlewoman said that Lady Macbeth often rubs her hand as if she is washing something. Lady Macbeth is talking to herself and trying to get spot off her hand. Lady Macbeth says, “What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him” (V.i.27-30). Lady Macbeth calculated that Macbeth will not kill anyone after he becomes king. She never thought Macbeth will become bloodthirsty and keep killing people.All the killings Macbeth did leads Lady Macbeth to be guilty of her provoking Macbeth to kill the king at beginning. Lady Macbeth also says to doctor “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?—What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting” (V.i.30-33). Lady Macbeth is also guilty because Macbeth killed Macduff’s family. Macbeth does not listen to her like he used to. She was the one who initiated Macbeth to kill someone at beginning which is why Macbeth started killing people. Lady Macbeth did not want any more blood on her hands. All the guilt driven her to insanity which eventually leads her to suicide. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as weak person at the end of the play because she isn’t strong enough to make her husband listen to her like she used and loses into insanity due to

There are many different themes displayed in Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth. Many of these themes play with nature, the supernatural, and fate. From ghosts to horses eating each other the play uses symbolism, language, and characters to portray these themes. During the play the audience learns of several themes such as ambition, guilt, fate versus free will, nature versus the unnatural, and how things are not always as they seem.

In Macbeth there are five main themes and they are: Fate versus free will, nature versus the natural, ambition, guilt, and last but not least, things are not what they seem. These themes are seen throughout the entire play, and here are some examples of these themes.

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 Macbeth the motif dream is used to convey a mood of violence and the motif blood is used to convey a mood of shock. In Macbeth, the motif dream is used to convey the mood of violence. This quote took place when Macbeth was talking to himself and contemplating what he would soon end up doing, which was to kill the king.

After watching Lady Macbeth try scrubbing blood off her hands and speaking about the murders, her doctor was appalled. He said the only way to cure her was to watch her, remove all sharp objects from around her, and to seek God. There was nothing he could do. Lady Macbeth had to cure herself (Mac. 5. 48, 60-65). During the time period that Macbeth was written, there was none of the medications we have in today’s time. Even if her doctor could have done something about her sickness, there would not be very much he could

Lady Macbeth seems confident that they will not be caught nor feel any guilt because they will be lavished as king and queen. At first, she stated that water would wash the blood off of their hands, yet her guilt over the murder of one man was enough to drive her to insanity. Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk and the doctor overhears her muttering to herself, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! What, will these hands ne'er be clean? (Act 5, Scene 1, Line 25, 31).” This quote shows that she never could escape the guilt of murdering sleep and it troubled her even during her slumber. After many sleepless nights, Lady Macbeth eventually commits suicide before the fall of Macbeth from power. Because of her tortuous last days and obvious regret, it is believed that Lady Macbeth was adequately punished for her actions.

Lady Macbeth starts to sleep-walk and talk in her sleep for several nights. During her sleepwalking, she reveals the details of the murders for which she and Macbeth have been responsible for. ‘I tell you again, Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out on his grave.’ (Act 5, Scene 1, pg 94 lines 44-46). Lady Macbeth wants to undo the death of Duncan; change the past but she knows that she can’t. ‘What’s done cannot be undone’ (Act 5, scene 1, pg 92, lines 56-60). She sees blood on her hands, but she cannot remove the imaginary ere blood, ‘out damned spot! Out I say!’ (Act 5, scene 1, pg 92, line 30). She cannot remove the smell of blood ‘here’s the smell of the blood still./ All perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’ (Act 5, scene 1, pg 92, lines 43, 44) Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking shows that she can’t escape her guilty conscience even when she is sleeping. The significance of Lady Macbeth’s hand washing is that she can’t remove the guilty thought of the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth eventually ends her own life, which is an unanticipated

Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the motif ‘sight’ represents a terrible event or murder; coinciding with the event, while also highlighting Macbeth’s lack of accountability for the crimes.

The unnatural motif and blood motif connects to the overall dark mood of this scene due to the hallucinations and bloody imagery that occurs in this scene.

Act 2 Macbeth Motif During Act 2 of Macbeth, one motif in this section of Macbeth used two different patterns in the motif to give one description of one pattern and the other to describe who the pattern from the first applies to. The reason this motif relates to Macbeth because he is the one talking in the quote, also in the quote he is talking to himself in soliloquy. The first part of the motif is what qualities it describes. After Macbeth hallucinates the dagger in front of him he starts talking to himself about how he has started to dream about unnatural occurrences such as nature dying around him.

The motif is sleep/dreams which relates to the characterization and mood that the audience feels as scary, mysterious, and that the mood is overwhelming. The motif sleep/dreams relates to the characterization and mood that is overwhelming to the audience. When Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth and says “I laid their daggers ready: he could not miss em…. My fathers as he slept, I had done it.” (Macbeth 2.1 13-21). The quote relates to the thesis being overwhelming because Macbeth is speaking to Lady Macbeth about the murder of the king which gives a sense of them being overwhelmed. Also, when Macduff is speaking to Lady Macbeth he says, “Shake off this downy sleep death’s counterfeit, And look on death itself. Up, up, and see, The great doom’s

In the following Act 3 and Scene 4 this is evident because Macbeth’s guilty conscience has started to really take a toll on him and that’s when he finally sees Banquo’s

Yet, he also recognizes that if he were to disturb the natural time and progression of events in this “bank and shoal of time” (I.vii.6), he would be jeopardizing his future, for he would “still have judgment here” (I.vii.8). As Macbeth ponders whether or not to kill his king in order to try to become king himself, his main hesitations arise from the fact that, if he does kill Duncan, he will be consumed by guilt and will suffer judgment and consequences in both this world and in the afterlife. Paralleling Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, Macbeth’s uncertainty about the afterlife and what will arise from his mortal actions cause him to desire to “proceed no further in this business” (31). Thus, Macbeth’s attention on the afterlife reveals his state of mind relative to time at this point in the play as he focuses on the future while debating whether to essentially overleap time and make himself King of Scotland, or wait and see if the witches’ prophecy will come true. However, in regards to the prophecies, the witches never mention when anything will take place. Thus, Macbeth is left with an internal struggle as he ponders whether to let nature run its course and hopefully become king naturally, or whether to disturb the normal order of the world and overrun the natural progression of time to ensure his crowning. Although Macbeth concludes at the end of