Motifs In Macbeth

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.

This is said by Macbeth because this is his new title. He was given the position “Thane of Cawdor” and admits that the “greatest” is “behind” meaning that there is no need to fear because he is rightfully the best fit for this position. This could foreshadow his tragic downfall later in the play because the witches were correct

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.

Throughout history, writers have developed a plethora of literary devices.  This allows them to essentially spice up their writing, or make it more interesting to the reader.  One of the most commonly used and talked about literary devices is theme; theme is a specific idea or lesson that an author is trying to get across.  Just a few examples are, ambition, guilt, things may not always be what they seem, or even nature verses the unnatural.  In fact, these are common themes used by one of the greatest play writes of all time, Shakespeare.  All throughout arguably his most renowned play, Macbeth, we see Shakespeare use each of the four previously listed themes.

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.

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.

The book Macbeth written by Shakespeare. Macbeth takes you through twists and turns but also teaches a very important lesson that people should take away form it after they read the book. Also shows many different themes such as Guilt, Nature v. Unnatural, Things are not what they always seem, and Ambition.

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.

The motif, sleep, creates a mood of confusion. When Macbeth was wailing in the middle of the night that the king is dead which woke the other men up. “O horror, horror, horror!/ tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee/ confusion now hath made his masterpiece most sacrilegious murder hath broken ope (2.3.73-77).” Lennox and Macduff have seen king Duncan in his chambers dead and they are mortified, the men are perplexed on how the king was killed by guards around his chambers. When the other men tumble out of bed and see the king, the men are disgusted by their sight. “Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit,/ and look on

In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Macbeth tries to gain power by making the witches theory true. In the play Macbeth one of the major themes that can be derived from the play is when Lady Macbeth and the witches convinced Macbeth to kill King Duncan while his was in there house. This is supported by the three motifs which is blood, gender, and power. The motif blood is symbolizes life, death, and injury. This particular motif supports the theme in the following way due to Macbeth killing King Duncan with the dagger after they eat dinner and have a celebration in Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s house.

The motif sleep is symbolic of death, or rest after the day. This particular motif supports the theme because Macbeth can no longer do this with a clear conscious and the former king Duncan will forever be doing this. In the Act 2 scene 1, the quote, “Now o'er the one half-world Nature seems

When it comes down to it, humans are mammals, and there are some animalistic traits that every mammal shares. The story of Macbeth by Shakespeare includes a theme that is the epitome of a trait that all mammals share, weak versus strong. Through the use of metaphors including birds, the symbolism of Macbeth as an owl throughout the story, and the juxtaposition between birds, weak versus strong is represented by the motif of birds in Macbeth. Birds are incorporated into other literary elements that Shakespeare utilizes, showing the true depth of his writing.

4. Example: “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than              man. Nor time nor place did then adhere, and yet you would make both.              They have made themselves, and that their fitness now unmake you. I              have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks              me” (1.7. 56-63).