Motif Of Babies And Children In Macbeth

The motif of children and babies in Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the recurring motif of babies and children was mentioned throughout the novel alongside the theme of death and innocence in order to depict the immorality of characters. Children were commonly associated with death and murder since that stark distinction aided in supporting the English stereotype that portrays Scots as violent and Barbaric people. In other instances, Shakespeare associated children with foolishness and purity in order to compare a character to a child. However, as the play reached its end, the witches spoke of babies as helpless to the evil that surrounds them, combining the theme of children and death once again to make this statement clear.
Children
This idea shines through when Lady Macbeth was consoling Macbeth after he murdered Duncan, saying “Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.” (2.2.54-55.) The word “painted” is used to show that the sleeping and dead are there but cannot feel human emotions. The concept of a painting served as an interpretation of reality and not reality, itself. However, a small child cannot comprehend this rift between the metaphysical and physical, meaning that both painted and real devils manifest themselves as equally frightening in a child’s mind. Therefore, by saying that the dead are painted, Lady Macbeth is claiming that they exist but they do not exist in terms that people can actually comprehend. Seen on stage are lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The stage instructions are unclear, meaning that the way in which they interact is ambiguous. Lady Macbeth could either be comforting Macbeth or making him out to be a coward, looking down on him. Although the set instructions are ambiguous, Lady Macbeth is irritated and controling, which added to the stereotype that Scottish women did not fit the criteria for ideal English