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Macbeth Hands Quotes Analysis

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Hands are the carriers of action for anything a person must do. They can create or destroy, aide or murder, and they serve as a key factor of any deed, be it good or evil. Throughout Macbeth (1623), a motif of hands is prevalent and used to convey multiple meanings, from guilt to deceit. However, rarely were hands used to symbolize an act of kindness or virtue. Instead, Shakespeare weaves a story in which Macbeth, accompanied by his wife, Lady Macbeth, is overcome by temptation and kills his king out of greed and ambition. Images of hands are constantly presented in conjunction with blood and dishonesty, thus forming the connection between hands and wrongdoing. There is even recognizable significance in King Duncan’s death versus all the other …show more content…

As the Captain dies, he recounts the actions of Macbeth and how the thane had refused to shake the hand of the traitor he felled. The Captain describes Macbeth on the battlefield to Duncan:
Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave [Macdonwald];
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops. (Shakespeare 1.2.21-24)
This quote demonstrates the disdain that Macbeth holds towards his foe. Instead of shaking hands with his defeated enemy in a symbol of equality and respect, Macbeth refuses; in doing so, he might as well have spat on his adversary. He feels that a traitor does not deserve to shake hands and be given such dignity, but also does not want to be touching a hand that has committed so many atrocious crimes. Already, it is clear that hands are associated with the actions taken by humans, particularly concerning dishonorable …show more content…

As the play progresses into the following scenes, the imagery of hands shifts onto Macbeth. When Macbeth first becomes Thane of Cawdor, he immediately begins thinking of what he must now do to become king. He agonizes over the idea of killing the king, thinking to himself, “The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (1.4.59-60). By this thought, it is demonstrated that Macbeth thinks he must kill the king in order to fulfill the prophecy, but is afraid to have to see his evil crime once it is finished. This marks the beginning of Macbeth’s darker thoughts, as he calls upon the night to hide his “black and deep desires” (1.4.58) from the light. As soon as the thought of murder crosses Macbeth’s mind, he thinks not of the consequences or the plan to carry it out, but of the action itself, and of his

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