Macbeth Key Themes
Analyzing Key Themes from Macbeth
William Shakespeare used themes in his plays and poetry to deepen the meaning of them and to help the reader have another way to compare imagery in the play to what was really happening. Shakespeare's Macbeth includes many cases of metaphorical as well as literal themes. Some examples of these types of themes deal with blood, clothing, illness and medicine, sleep, nature, and the over all mood of the play. There is a mixture of emotional, metaphorical, and literal themes. In many ways the themes in Macbeth are a form of imagery.
Blood plays a key role throughout Macbeth. Starting off the second scene, "What bloody man is that?" sets the imagery of blood in motion throughout the play and is a literal …show more content…
A great example of this is Macbeth addressing Ross in confusion about his title with, "The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" Unfit clothing was a common way of saying that someone was not really what he or she appeared to be. A more literal clothing image is made in Banquo's confrontation with the witches. "What are these so withered, and so wild in their attire, that look not like th' inhabitants o' th' earth, and yet they are on't?" is Banquo's literal interpretation of the unusualness of the witch's clothing and appearance. When Angus states "Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief." he is referring to Macbeth and how he is unable to control what he put in motion with his great power as king. As though clothing was not the only deep metaphorical theme in the play, illness and medicine play a key role, …show more content…
It all started with Banquoin the beginning after he and macbeth talked with the witches. (Read Quote and explain) The next guote is when With Lady Macbeth's cruel way of words, she says, "Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it."(Second pink slip) This image of illness represents an evil nature that Macbeth must attain in order to carry out his deadly duty. An image of mental illness is made in Ross's statement, "Gentlemen, rise, his highness is not well." This is one of the few literal illness images in the play. It is again noted when
William Shakespeare used themes in his plays and poetry to deepen the meaning of them and to help the reader have another way to compare imagery in the play to what was really happening. Shakespeare's Macbeth includes many cases of metaphorical as well as literal themes. Some examples of these types of themes deal with blood, clothing, illness and medicine, sleep, nature, and the over all mood of the play. There is a mixture of emotional, metaphorical, and literal themes. In many ways the themes in Macbeth are a form of imagery.
Blood plays a key role throughout Macbeth. Starting off the second scene, "What bloody man is that?" sets the imagery of blood in motion throughout the play and is a literal …show more content…
A great example of this is Macbeth addressing Ross in confusion about his title with, "The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" Unfit clothing was a common way of saying that someone was not really what he or she appeared to be. A more literal clothing image is made in Banquo's confrontation with the witches. "What are these so withered, and so wild in their attire, that look not like th' inhabitants o' th' earth, and yet they are on't?" is Banquo's literal interpretation of the unusualness of the witch's clothing and appearance. When Angus states "Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief." he is referring to Macbeth and how he is unable to control what he put in motion with his great power as king. As though clothing was not the only deep metaphorical theme in the play, illness and medicine play a key role, …show more content…
It all started with Banquoin the beginning after he and macbeth talked with the witches. (Read Quote and explain) The next guote is when With Lady Macbeth's cruel way of words, she says, "Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it."(Second pink slip) This image of illness represents an evil nature that Macbeth must attain in order to carry out his deadly duty. An image of mental illness is made in Ross's statement, "Gentlemen, rise, his highness is not well." This is one of the few literal illness images in the play. It is again noted when