Decay In Macbeth

To start off, we see that Macbeth creates an uncanny aura as he refers to the supernatural, which we see in his soliloquies. He delivers the statement “Nature seems dead, wicked dreams abuse” and “witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s offerings”. The phrase ‘nature seems dead’ indicates the dark, silent atmosphere as he is about to commit the crime of regicide that counterpoints the Divine Right. When something is “wicked” it corresponds to evil or unholiness. He tells us how dreams could be unreal and not what is expected, which forebodes how bad things are going to happen. He specifies “Hecate”, the goddess of witchcraft, as a reference to the supernatural. The reference foreshadows the encounter between Macbeth and King Duncan, given the

Macbeth utters the metaphor “there the grown serpent lies; the worm that's fled”. Here, Banquo was described as the “grown serpent” and Fleance as the “worm” that represents decay or corruption over the body . Essentially, Macbeth states the term “serpent” to symbolise that Banquo is a treacherous human being who is to blame for all the damage that has arised. The association to the serpent indicates danger and evil, which can be linked to the themes of nature and the Divine Right. Back in 1606, people believed in christianity as well as destiny, thus causing them to have the thought that those crowned kings/queens were entitled by god as a representative. Shakespeare manifests to the audience how a snake can’t be trusted, which references to the extract in the bible where Eve was tempted to perpetrate a sinful act by eating the forbidden fruit. This depicts how temptation could trigger the desire and power of claiming the kingship. In addition, the ‘serpent’ could hypothetically be the power itself . This makes the audience feel astonished due to a rise in

He begins to question whether life and its existence is worth it. He states “ The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! / it is a tale told by an idiot “. The comment “ way to dusty death ” links to a biblical reference that we go back to what we come from. The term “dusty” signifies ash or our souls and “death” symbolises darkness, the feeling of emptiness. He compares life to a candle where life can be taken away in a “brief”, short duration of time, just like what happened to Lady Macbeth. Additionally, he uses the metaphor “a tale told by an idiot” to refer life as a ‘tale’ meaning that its a fictional story that no matter how much you try or achieve, it all goes to nothing. We can see that Macbeth seems pessimistic, thus driving him to the edge. This allows the audience to feel sympathy as to how macbeth views life as