Motifs In Macbeth

Shakespeare uses the title character of Macbeth to effectively develop the theme of guilt and conscience in his play. Several times in the play we see Macbeth’s character crumbling as a result of a guilty conscience. At

Blood, whether it be the color, smell, or importance is vital to life itself. However, almost exceeding the importance of physical blood is the imagery of blood found throughout William Shakespeare's, Macbeth. The continual presence of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth is constantly reminding the audience how significant the consequences of the characters actions are. The imagery of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth represents the guilt felt by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth due to their brutal actions, thus developing the theme ‘the corrupting power of unchecked ambition’. As their guilt grows, so does the importance of the blood imagery and how it haunts both characters, staining their soul.

The works of Shakespeare have transcended the ages. They remain as highly regarded today as ever, and will likely remain an invaluable teaching tool for years to come. Shakespeare employed multiple themes throughout his writing career. One of his more popular plays, Macbeth, has a very clear and defined theme. The story of Macbeth focuses not on crime but sin.

Blood coats the play Macbeth from the beginning to end. It plays an important part in this play and is mentioned over 40 times. (english) Blood itself is a source of life and shocking to see. The constant presence of blood in Macbeth repeatedly reminds the audience about how serious the consequences of the characters actions are. The blood remains on the hands of faces of the murderers. They are unable to remove the feel , or stain of the blood therefore showing their immense guilt. Just before he kills King Duncan,

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 relation, Shakespeare uses characters in order to raise the appeal of themes being presented. A character which has the largest influence on the play is Macbeth. Macbeth is someone who is tortured by the pain of the words of those around him. Macbeth is influenced heavily by the three witches who prophesize that he is going to

Blood is a perversion of nature, when there is blood, there is murder. After Macbeth murders Duncan, Macbeth has blood on his hands. There is physical blood on Macbeth’s hands which he can wash off with water. But, Macbeth goes on to say, “Will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hand?” (Shakespeare 2.2.58-59), showing there is guilt setting into his mind already and he cannot wash it from his now stained hands. No amount of water in the world would be able to ever wash away the blood that has been spilled on Macbeth’s conscience. Nothing can ever wash away the guilt of killing Duncan (Blood Symbolism in Macbeth by William Shakespeare). Even after Macbeth realizes that he cannot escape the guilt of killing Duncan, he continues, even to go on killing his best friend Banquo. Instead of killing Banquo himself, Macbeth has people go out and kill him. After Banquo is killed by murderers, Macbeth sees his ghost appear at dinner. Macbeth starts screaming at Banquo however no one else can see him. Macbeth sees Banquo and feels the guilt weighing down on his conscience. Macbeth becomes scared of Banquo. “It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood” (Shakespeare 3.4.22). The combination of the fear and insanity all adds to his guilt. “All causes shall give way. I am in blood. Stepp’d in so far that, should

Throughout the entire play, Macbeth, Shakespeare shows how Macbeth’s guilt negatively affected him emotionally as time went on. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth has a minor emotional breakdown after he kills King Duncan. This emotional breakdown shows the guilt that Macbeth felt, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” (ii.2.63-64.29). Shakespeare uses this analogy to show the magnitude of his crime and how that guilt can not wash off and go away easily. In the time period that Macbeth was in killing a king was a major crime, so him not being able to wash the blood away helps create the idea that Macbeth knows what he has done and feels the sin that he has committed.

To begin with, Shakespeare has very generously used blood imagery in Macbeth, which helps to develop the theme of guilt. Firstly, Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to kill King Duncan, and his hideous crime has stained him in a way that cannot be washed off. The blood imagery used in these lines shows the depth of Macbeth' guilt. He is so guilty that he says that washing his hands in the ocean will not remove the blood from his hands; however, the ocean itself will turn red because there is so much blood. In other words, Macbeth has to live with the guilt that will always make him picture blood on his hands, as they are stained for life. However, Lady Macbeth on the contrary, has no guilty.

One theme in William Shakespeare's Macbeth is their is consequences for your actions. A recurring motif that shakespeare uses is guilt and it represents how one's actions will always have consequences. “More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know, But the worst means for the worst.” (Shakespeare 46). The motif represents that idea that once you do something wrong or harmful to someone, it can never be undone.

William Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth,” explains the tales of a Scottish noble aiming to become the future King of Scotland. The Scottish noble, Macbeth, is driven by his selfish desires to murder King Duncan and steal his throne. Along the way, Macbeth’s guilt and paranoia begin to take over, causing him to make unacceptable decisions. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses several motifs to further explain his ideas. A motif is a recurring element or symbol that is seen

A ladder is often used for support and to link one’s steps to reach what is at the top. Like the ladder, motifs are often used to support and lead to themes within a piece of writing. This can be seen in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Shakespeare tends to use motifs to consistently highlight the messages in his play. Specifically, the motif of prophecies and hallucinations is used to repeatedly show that often times when circumstances are shown to be in favour of oneself, one becomes blinded from reality.

After Macbeth kills Duncan and the two guards he says, “I am afraid to think what I have done; / Look on't again I dare not” (Find Quote Location). Macbeth is afraid of what he has done, he feels guilty for his crimes almost immediately after he has committed them. Readers’ are able to relate to the emotion of guilt, this causes an understanding between the readers and Macbeth which causes them to sympathize with him. Macbeth shows the emotion of guilt once more when he sees the ghost of Banquo.

William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth, and how a prophecy told by three witches gave him enough courage to commit several murders all in the sake of his political ambition. In various scenes throughout the play we see guilt as a recurring theme affecting both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Act 2, scene 2—directly after the murder of King Duncan—Macbeth stumbles in with bloody hands and clear reaction of guilt as he says “What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (2.2.62-64). Shakespeare uses a few literary devices in this scene to convey Macbeth’s feeling of guilt. Firstly, he uses the metaphor that these hands in front of him will pluck out his eyes. He does not mean this literally but instead that he will go blind from looking at them much longer because they are covered in blood. Shakespeare then goes on to use exaggeration with the phrase “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” meaning that it would take a great ocean of the Roman god of the sea Neptune to wash the blood from his hand, not just any lake. Lastly Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question to emphasize the magnitude of guilt Macbeth is feeling. Macbeth asks himself if the whole ocean will wash the blood clean from his hands, and clearly it will not. This is because the blood on his hands is no only physical but metaphorical. Additionally there is the idea that he cannot wash this guilt away. In the next line Macbeth realizes that he cannot simply wash the blood away in the ocean and that if he did the “multitudinous seas” would “incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2.65-66). Essentially there is so much metaphorical blood on the hands of Macbeth that if he were to wash them in the ocean, it would turn the

William Shakespeare is considered an important figure due to his rich language that reflects on universal themes of human nature. Through the numerous plays and sonnets he composed, he has helped the ancient language to never cease and emulated these contemporary themes which are relatable to society. His sophisticated characters are significant to the modern era as they summarize and express different ranges of human emotions. Shakespeare, the mastermind behind the play Macbeth, creates a protagonist of great complexity. Like many of Shakespeare's other dramatic figures—Caesar, Hamlet, and Othello—Macbeth is an important protagonist in this play who presents many themes and character developments that are still conspicuous in today’s society.