Symbolism in Macbeth: Dagger, Ghosts, and Threes Essay

Hecate accurately predicts and sets in motion future events to her liking. After the battle in Act I, the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!...” (Doc A), using their prophecies to awaken Macbeth’s bloodthirsty and greedy nature. Throughout the play, Hecate uses her witches to cultivate Macbeth’s ambition, inciting him to “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth” (Doc D). A literary analysis aptly states that “The witches bring dark thoughts into being and give flesh to the forbidden and unacknowledged demons of the unconscious from which no one is free” (Cohen 7). Guiding the plot without consequence, Hecate is granted the ultimate

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is

In Act I, the three witches visit Macbeth and Banquo on the heath. The witches make three predictions; Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor, he will be King, and Banquo’s sons will be king but not Banquo. Even though the witches did make these prophecies, Macbeth’s fate was

In this scene we see Macbeth in shock seeing Banquo’s ghost. Fear is shown through Macbeth’s words to make this scene dramatic. When Macbeth questions the guest “which of you have done this?” fear is shown which creates suspicion amongst the guest through his disorientated state of mind. He questions because he thinks it is not real and it must be a prank created by the guest. When Macbeth replies to Banquo’s ghost by saying “Thou Canst say I did it never shake thy gory locks at me” this is dramatic as it shows the audience that only Macbeth can see the ghost which creates dramatic tension because the guest are confuse. Fear and guilt is shown through Macbeth’s words as he is rejecting the fact that he was the murderer which is ironic as the audience is fully aware of how Banquo’s death was caused. Macbeth fear is shown when he says “I am cabined, cribbed, confined bound in to saucy doubts and fear” The repetition of harsh jarring “c” sound makes it dramatic as it shows Macbeth trapped in his own guilt. Shakespeare specially chooses to use alliteration to make this scene dramatic on stage and for the audience to easily understand his state of mind. His full extent of fear is shown later on as he would rather fight a “Russian bear” “armed rhinoceros or the hyrcan tiger” Shakespeare uses images of powerful and majestic animals to show the extent of his fear making this scene dramatic. The hyrcan tiger is a

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth undergoes many emotional and psychological changes. Shakespeare uses motifs and numbers to show Lady Macbeth is stoic and unrepentant in the beginning, but becomes desperate for death by the end because she is frantic and overcome with guilt.

The three witches or “weird sisters”, are only one of the contributions to Macbeth's destruction and downfall. The prophecies that the witches make are merely temptations for Macbeth. The weird sisters never tell Macbeth what to do with these suggestions, leaving him curious and in disbelief about what the witches have to say. The witches make predictions about the future of Macbeths kingship: "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (I.III.50). Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor increases his thirst for ambition and eventually drives him into demise. They also tell Macbeth that no man born of woman can kill him, making Macbeth believe that he is invincible. "The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" (lV.I.81-83). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take the prophecies too rigorous and try to put them into action immediately. The prophecies predicted by the witches do result in the end, however not exactly how either of them imagined.

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.

The Throne of Blood is a film that attempts to recreate Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth." This tale is one of greed, deception, and backstabbing traitors. It is the tale of a man prophesized to be king. Once king, he wants more and tries to get what he wants. However, his `trustworthy' friend stabs the king in the back and eventually dies himself. In the end, all that is left is a bunch of dead guys and a castle without a king; pretty tragic if you ask me.

One would question the credibility of the enigmatic apparitions within Macbeth's renowned Act IV, Scene i. Shakespeare gains the audience's acceptance of the three mystically summoned apparitions through methodically foreshadowing a supernatural event is about to occur. Each stance of Shakespeare's foreshadowing -- cauldron potions, Hecate, the second witch's awareness of MacBeth, and stage direction -- contributes to the believability of the apparitions' appearance in the play.

Blood is something that we need to live. So it is clearly understood when Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood to represent murder, betrayal, and death, to show all of the evil that was going on. It is a symbol that was used the most in the play Macbeth, and had different meanings.

     Shakespeare used clothing both symbolically and as a vehicle of character definition. Clothes were often used in Macbeth's case to symbolize his titles.  Symbolic clothing is identified when Ross tells Macbeth of his new title Thane of Cawdor when Macbeth does not know of the Thane's treason,

Firstly, Hecate is considered the queen of the witches and is the greatest agent of Fate in the play, because of this, Macbeth does not have the ability to act on his own because he opposes a force greater than himself. Hecate refers to herself as the witches “mistress of charms” (III. v. 6). Through this the audience learns that Hecate is in control of the supernatural realm, which ultimately has control of the natural realm. Secondly, Hecate tells the witches exactly how to ensure that Macbeth meets a timely and tragic death.

The scene shows the three witches lack of consideration of the outcome of their prophecy as they did not consult with their higher power, Hecate over whether they should tell Macbeth of his prophecy. Their thoughtless actions caused for many deaths and much corruption amongst themselves and the entire country of Scotland. The witches’ gain of power furthermore corrupted them as they did not tell Macbeth his full prophecy. When the witches first tell Macbeth of his fate the first witch states, “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!” (1.3. 48-50) This is then followed by the second witch claiming “all hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” and finally the third witch states, “All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” the prophecy given can be seen as false as they suggest that Macbeth is to be king for a long time when they state “hereafter”

know that blood would become her worst enemy, in the long run, so as a

     The Three Witches are the ones who introduce the paradox that runs throughout the play. The theme affects these characters because although they speak of the future, they do not seem to affect the course of it. They are the agents of fate because they only speak of the truth of what will happen. Macbeth refers to the Witches as the Weird Sisters. In fact the word "Weird" comes from an old English word