imagery and symbolism in macbeth

As a classroom activity, students could track the rich symbolism William Shakespeare uses throughout Macbeth. It symbolises her flickering hope against the evil she has evoked beyond her control. In this essay one will look at how shakespeare uses imagery, soliloquies, and symbolism in Macbeth. Teaching him this she says, “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” The play basically repeats this particular vice in human beings to show us how it drives us into the tragic downfall in life. This also applies to the other visions the witches conjure for Macbeth: he sees them as a sign of his invincibility and acts accordingly, but they actually anticipate his demise. When Macbeth ascends to the throne, his unworthiness is displayed through the imagery of clothing like “new honors come upon him like strange garments, cleave not to their mould but with the aid of use.”. The play's main themes—loyalty, guilt, innocence, and fate—all deal with the central idea of ambition and its consequences. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use the imagery of water whenever they try to think of the possibility of purifying them of their evil crimes. Every time something evil is done, there comes a hint of light being blown out such as the murder of Duncan and presumed suicide of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s ambition, however, soon spirals out of control. Similarly, Shakespeare uses imagery and symbolism to illustrate the concepts of innocence and guilt. Blood also becomes a symbol of fear when Macbeth says after Banquo’s ghost is gone that “blood will have blood.” When both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth despair over their incapacity to wash the blood from their hands, it symbolises their inability to get over the guilt which haunts their conscience.Â, Finally, Macbeth realises that he can’t retreat from the misdeeds he has begun and uses the image of blood to say, “I am in blood stepp’d so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.”. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. However, when Duncan names Malcolm his heir, Macbeth comes to the conclusion that he must kill King Duncan in order to become king himself. Blood eventually also affects Lady Macbeth, who, in her sleepwalking scene, wants to clean blood from her hands. Guide students through the imagery in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Acts 1 and 2. When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at the banquet, Lady Macbeth remarks that he lacks “the season of all natures, sleep.” Eventually, her sleep becomes disturbed as well. Blood is always closely linked to violence, but over the course of Macbeth blood comes to symbolize something else: guilt. Macbeth himself uses the imagery of stars and their light for his inner conflict when he says, “stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.” When Lady Macbeth starts disintegrating under the weight of her guilt, she enters the scene holding a candle. Devoid of any morality, it ultimately causes Macbeth’s downfall. Images, Imagery, Symbols, and Symbolism in Macbeth Essay Essay on Images, Imagery, Symbols, and Symbolism in Macbeth. He goes on to compare sleep to a soothing bath after a day of hard work, and to the main course of a feast, feeling that when he murdered his king in his sleep, he murdered sleep itself. in Classics from the Catholic University of Milan, where she studied Greek, Old Norse, and Old English. He feels that his power is threatened to a point where it can only be preserved through murdering his suspected enemies. Nature. William Shakespeare, the author of Macbeth, uses an array of symbolism and motifs in Macbeth. Checkout English Summary's free educational tools and dictionaries. Although the pair were comrades in arms, after he becomes king, Macbeth remembers that the witches predicted that Banquo’s descendants would ultimately be crowned kings of Scotland. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt caused them to act differently and become different people. After committing the murder, he is horrified, and says: “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? In addition, the assurance that he would not be vanquished until “Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him” is at first deemed an unnatural phenomenon, as a forest would not walk up a hill, but in reality meant that soldiers were cutting up trees in Birnam Wood to get closer to Dunsinane Hill. Similarly, Shakespeare uses imagery and symbolism to illustrate the concepts of innocence and guilt.Â. “False face must hide what the false heart doth know,” Macbeth tells Duncan, when he already has intentions to murder him near the end of act I. Similarly, after he sends killers to murder Banquo, Macbeth laments being constantly shaken by nightmares and by "restless ecstasy," where the word "ectsasy" loses any positive connotations. Banquo’s ghost, who appears during a banquet, exhibits “gory locks.” Blood also symbolizes Macbeth’s own acceptance of his guilt. Loyalty plays out in many ways in Macbeth. Night vs. Day is a very significant image reoccurring throughout the course of Macbeth. Macbeth is complex play, filled with symbols that help develop the plot and themes. Symbolism in Macbeth. Imagery is a figurative language that writers use. Health and disease represent the state of Scotland The three symbols that represented guilt in Macbeth were blood, water, and hallucinations. Firstly Shakespeare uses the imagery of light and darkness to display the good and the bad in the characters …show more content… A few important symbols in Macbeth include, the dagger, witchcraft, and dead children. Explore the different symbols within William Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth.Symbols are central to understanding Macbeth as a play and identifying Shakespeare's social and political commentary.. 128 Unforgettable Quotes From Shakespeare's Macbeth, Tragic Flaw: Literary Definition and Examples, Top 5 Female Villains in Shakespeare Plays, Shakespeare Tragedies: 10 Plays With Common Features, A Critical Review of 'Death of a Salesman', 7 Types of Female Characters in Shakespeare's Plays, M.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan, B.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan. , especially when the witches appear in the play is most impressive and overwhelming with imagery and symbolism illustrate. And guilt sleepwalking scene, wants to carry a candle with her, as a classroom activity, students track... To insanity and commits suicide them to Act differently and become different people changing drastically throughout the play with! 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