Macbeth Themes

A detailed Summary of Macbeth Themes

Macbeth is the story of a Scottish warrior lord (or Thane) called "Macbeth". A brave fighter and member of the nobility, Macbeth is admired by all. His weakness however, is his ambition which, when tempted, prompts him to pursue the assassination of his King, Duncan. As a result, Macbeth gains control of the monarch. The play traces how Macbeth's guilty conscious leads him to pursue further murderous acts. Slowly we see the world of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth (who goes insane) fall apart, culminating in a fight to the death between Macbeth and Macduff another Thane who seeks revenge on Macbeth for the slaughter of his family. Shrouding all of this is the element of the supernatural, represented by the three witches whose ambiguous prophecies at first tempt and then confuse Macbeth. The play is a "tragedy" and, as such, concerns the notion of divine punishment of a noble but a mortal man who through his pride (hubris), expressed as a weakness in Macbeth's case, commits an act which upsets the natural order of the world, culminating in punishment from God or the gods (tragedy comes from the ancient Greeks) of the man and thus restoring the natural order once again (this is called "catharsis").

scene: three witches' prophesy of doom and mayhem. The bleak setting of the opening scene established by the witches foreshadows the metaphysical events that will take place in the play. Their dialogue suggests that the future is not clear-cut, as "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (1.1.11). This statement establishes one of the most important themes in the play, that things are not always as they seem. This battle between appearance and reality is shown throughout the course of the play. It begins when Macbeth is informed of his fate to be crowned King, he begins to ponder thoughts of committing murder "Is this dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still" (2.1.33-34). Even though Macbeth has carefully planned the murder, he is still troubled (even before he acts) by being unable to distinguish between what he has done and what has crossed his mind; the dagger is imaginary. Secondly, Macbeth's mental clash before he chooses to murder Duncan demonstrates this theme by showing the struggle between his "black and deep desires" (1.4.51) and his fear to let his eyes see the reality of what he is about to do " which the eye fears, when it is done, to see" (1.4.53). Finally, when Lady Macbeth and her husband are washing their hands after the deed has been done, she replies to her husbands insecurity by telling him that " a little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then!" (2.2.63-64). In this period of time Lady Macbeth's mind suppresses the reality of the situation to fanaticize of the "fair" things that are to come. Ironically, in the final act her conscious' awakening drives her insane trying to wash of the guilt (metaphorically portrayed as a delusion of blood) of her hands, "Out damned spot! Out I say!" (5.1.35). However, her remorse is too prolonged to wash away her guilt for her previous desire of power, eventually her struggle between appearance and reality leads to her suicide.

"A little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then!" (2.2.63-64), this statement shows Lady Macbeth's arrogance at the beginning of the play, showing that she thinks that murder is a light sin that can be washed away with a handful of water. Ironically, in the final act her conscious' awakening drives her insane trying to wash of the guilt (metaphorically portrayed as a delusion of blood) of her hands, "Out damned spot! Out I say!" (5.1.35). However, her remorse

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Approximate Word count = 1655
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English