Macbeth

Josh Pepmeier Long Research Paper Prof. Bebee 11/16/10 The tale of man who lost trust The tragedy of Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. In the play, Shakespeare does some foreshadowing in Macbeth. Shakespeare also uses a lot of symbols throughout the play to get you attention. Shakespeare does all these through the play to make a real good play. The Macbeth has many symbols and foreshadowing that lead to the characterization of the characters. The three witches in the play foreshadow what is going to happen later in the play. In this line Third witch says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(I.III). This foreshadows later in the play that Macbeth becomes king after Duncan dies. The three witches are import to the play. In this line the witches foreshadow that army is going to attack the castle dress as trees, “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(IV.i). The witches second apparition tells Macbeth that he will be killed by man not born from the woman womb in this “Be bloody, bold, and resolute: laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth”(IV.i). The witches serves a purpose to show that evil and darkness has over come Macbeth very being. In this A possible source for Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Donald W. Rude says this “Macbeth and A Choice of Emblems further supports the conjecture that Shakespeare may have recalled Whitney's poem, for when Macduff describes the slaughter of his family, he refers to his "pretty chickens and their dam." The playwright's use of the word "dam" is significant, for nowhere else in his works does he use the word to refer to a female bird. The word is used in a similar sense in Whitney's poem to refer to the female kite. Inasmuch as the O.E.D. records no other instances of the word's being used with reference to birds, the lexical similarity between Macduff's outcry and Whitney's poem provides evidence that the passage in Whitney which links the kite with the tyrant may have dictated Shakespeare's choice of images. If my conjecture is correct, the allusion serves to foreshadow Macbeth's downfall by equating his conduct with that of with that of a bird elsewhere associated with the fall of tyrants whose excessive greed insures their own destruction.”(Rude 132). In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, symbolism is abundantly used in exemplifying the overall theme of murder.  There are several prominent forms of this throughout the play.  The contrast of light and dark representing good and evil plays a major role in the advancement of events in the play. Blood symbolizes murder and guilt.  The archetypal pattern of purification by water is used several times in the play, particularly in the murder scenes.  Symbolism is widely displayed in order to achieve the general topic of evil. Light and dark represent good and evil in the play.  During the time in which Macbeth was written, the king was associated with the sun.  The sunset symbolized his death or overthrow.  The quotes "When shall we three meet again. . . " and  "That will be ere the set of sun." (I. i. 1,4)  foreshadow the king's death.  The imagery of light and dark continues throughout the play.  "Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires."  (I. iv. 50-51) demonstrates Macbeth's step toward evil.  Most of the corrupt or unusual events in Macbeth occur under a cloak of darkness.  The murders, Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking, and the appearance of the witches all take place at night.  Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene is the epitome of the light/darkness symbol.  She once craved the darkness but now carries a candle to dispel it.  The line, "She has light by her continually; 'tis her command." (V. i. 19), symbolizes Lady Macbeth's fear of darkness or evil.         The image of blood plays an important role in the event of Duncan's murder.  It represents Macbeth's guilt and shame about the horrific crime. After killing the king, Macbeth comments on his blood stained hands by saying, "As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." (II. ii. 28)  Macbeth refuses to return to the crime scene to smear blood on the guards, fearing the blood will somehow implicate him further.  Macbeth feels uncomfortable with blood on his hands.  He immediately tries to remove it after killing the guards.         The archetypal pattern of purification by water is prominent in the play. It symbolizes the removal of guilt.  Following the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth reassures her husband by telling him, "A little water clears us of the deed"; (I. ii. 67)  Later in the play, Lady Macbeth repeatedly rubs her hands together,  representing washing her hands.  She hopes to clear her conscience by removing the "spot" from her hand, as she says,  "Out, damned spot!  out, I say! . . . " (V. i. 31)  Water symbolizes the purification of a guilty conscience. Symbolism plays an important role in Shakespeare's Macbeth.  It is used in numerous forms to relate the overall theme of murder to the actions of Macbeth.  Light and darkness represent good and evil respectively.  Blood represents Macbeth's and his wife's guilt about Duncan's murder.  Water symbolizes purification of the conscience.   These symbols effectively portray the ominous theme of murder in Macbeth. In the start of the play Macbeth is a hero but later turns to a tragic hero. Macbeth fights for the Duncan against the rebels. Where a bloody captain tells Duncan of the valiant Macbeth. When he starts to think about killing the king is when the witches told him that he would be thane of cawdor then king. In this line shows that lady Macbeth talks Macbeth into killing the king “O, never shall sun that morrow see!, Your face, my Thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters” (I.v). Then Macbeth puts poison in a chalice “This even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice To our own lips. , He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against his murtherer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself”(I.vii). Then he becomes a evil king. Then meet his doom by the hand of Macduff which he makes the prophecy true “Despair thy charm, And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripp’d”(II.VII). In a Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Kellie Harrison Bean tells about the symbolism of Macbeth. “This symbolic meaning of apparel in the Renaissance has bearing upon the garment imagery in Macbeth in terms of characterization. On the one hand, Macbeth from the outset is a brave and trustworthy solider. After learning the news from the bleeding captain about “brave Macbeth,” Duncan praises him “O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!”(I.ii.24). Furthermore, before he is going to kill Duncan, Macbeth reveals his nature of goodness in his soliloquy in which he tries to talk himself logically out of the murder (I.vii.13-16). We realize that Macbeth is aware of the moral standards and his place in the hierarchy. On the other hand Macbeth has unlawful ambition (I.vii.25-8). Thus, struggling, with his monstrous will to kill the king in order to ascend to the throne, Macbeth is indeed facing a moral choice. When he is about to murder, he is indeed suffering from conflicts between his sense of morality and his unlawful ambition. (Bean 2) In Lady MacBeth's first seen her character is portrayed as one that has been seized with evil intentions. Lady MacBeth deceptively convinces her husband to murder Duncan so she will become queen. Evil has possessed her to the point that she provokes her husband into doing evil. This is accomplished by attacking MacBeth's manhood. Lady MacBeth convinces him to believe he should kill MacBeth in order to prove himself of being even more of a man. Lady MacBeth said, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man." Lady MacBeth appears to be overconfident in her evil plans in order to persuade MacBeth. When MacBeth questions the odds of her plans working Lady MacBeth responds by saying, "We fail' But screw your courage to the sticking place And we'll not fail." Lady MacBeth's evil character has spread uncontrollable worst on MacBeth, resulting in him following her evil and treacherous footsteps. Lady MacBeth's character later develops into chaos and confusion consequently reaping insanity. After being so evil and immoral her conscience drove her to mental illness. The Doctor notes that she has her eyes open, however the Gentlewoman states, "Ay, but their sense are shut." Even though Lady MacBeth is physically awake and moving around, it is as if you she is mentally not here. The Doctor says, "What is it she does now' Look how she rubs her hands." Lady MacBeth later says, "Here's the smell of the blood still. All of the perfumes Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Lady MacBeth is being haunted be the memories of the murder of Duncan. Her wickedness had begun to torment her into an incomprehensible state of mental uncertainty. Lady MacBeth could wash her hands of blood but her guilty conscience could never be erased. Death is the final outcome that consumes Lady MacBeth. The evil she has done has lead to a path of destruction and death. Her cruel intentions at the beginning could never be eradicated nor her conscience cleared. She could not live with what she had done thus causing her to submit to eternal rest. The Doctor finally concludes that, "Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand..." Lady MacBeth is beyond help and is forced to yield to a stronger power. Even though she lessened the intensity of her evil desires, the consequences of her evil actions caught up with her. The Characterization of Lady MacBeth is one that spans from a well thought, organized evil individual to an unstable, out of her right mind individual example “Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two: why, then, 'tis time to do 't. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard' What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account' Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him'”(V, scene i, 37-55). The guilt of her wrongdoing was too severe for Lady MacBeth to live with. The guilt for the murder of Duncan was more than anticipate. Lady MacBeth was portrayed as a strong individual that was capable of doing anything she put her mind to. She would act as if she was bold and brave enough to get anything she wanted anyway she could get it. It was unpredictable that she would breakdown and lose her mind. Lady MacBeth once played the dominating role, but not true to the end. Lady MacBeth slowly began to break until she finally laid her head down on her eternal bed of death. In Fanatasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern English by Stephanie Chamberlain say “Lady Macbeth's reference to motherhood and infanticide near the end of act one of "Macbeth" remains one of the more enigmatic moments in all of Shakespeare's drama. Fearing Macbeth's wavering commitment to their succession scheme, Lady Macbeth declares that she would have murdered her infant to realize an otherwise unachievable goal. Scholars have traditionally read this declaration as evidence of Lady Macbeth's attempt to seize a masculine power to further her husband's political goals. While she clearly seeks power, such power is, I would argue, conditioned on the maternal, an ambiguous, often conflicted status in early modern England: one which enables Lady Macbeth to slip the gendered constraints that bind her. This paper examines representations of murdering mothers in Elizabethan and Jacobean assize records alongside Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, arguing that the maternal ultimately represented a threat to the process of patrilineal transmission in early modern England.”(Chamberlin 1). This play was made during the time that superstitions and king James IV to show how the king is tyrant and to play with peoples emotion. During this time the people in the era believe that witches existed. That there were such things as evil magic begin used. The king was being made fun of in this play. In conclusion, Shakespeare used his symbols to show the characters thoughts and feelings. The symbols also show how people thought superstitions would help then become something. The symbols showed the characteristics of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and all the other character. So symbolism is an important role throughtout the play to help people form a opinion about the characters. Biography Tragedy of Macbeth . Shakespeare, William. Champaign, Ill. (P.O. Box 2782, Champaign 61825) : Project Gutenberg, [199-']. This sources was very helpful. Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England.Full Chamberlain, Stephanie. College Literature, Summer2005, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p72-91, 20p This help me characterization of Lady Macbeth and show how she was crazy. Shakespeare's MACBETH. Zhang, Zaixin. Explicator, Winter89, Vol. 47 Issue 2, p11, 3p This help with my characterization of Macbeth and symbolism use for Macbeth. A POSSIBLE SOURCE FOR SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH, V,i, 217-219. RUDE, DONALD W.. American Notes & Queries, May/Jun86, Vol. 24 Issue 9/10, p131-132, 2p This help me with the foreshadowing for Macbeth telling what something might mean in the play. Work Citied Tragedy of Macbeth . Shakespeare, William. Champaign, Ill. (P.O. Box 2782, Champaign 61825) : Project Gutenberg, [199-']. Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England.Full Chamberlain, Stephanie. College Literature, Summer2005, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p72-91, 20p Shakespeare's MACBETH. Zhang, Zaixin. Explicator, Winter89, Vol. 47 Issue 2, p11, 3p A POSSIBLE SOURCE FOR SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH, V,i, 217-219. RUDE, DONALD W.. American Notes & Queries, May/Jun86, Vol. 24 Issue 9/10, p131-132, 2p