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Macbeth Symbolism Analysis

1661 Words7 Pages

Macbeth is one of the tragedy plays written by William Shakespeare. It is about the tragedy of greed, ambition, and wish of power. Macbeth is a complex play and filled with symbols that progress the plot and theme. Symbolical motifs play an important role in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth throughout the play. Shakespeare uses symbolisms so that the reader may gain a deeper understanding and aware of this tragedy. There are many different prominent symbols which are related to the actions of Macbeth throughout the play. Some of the symbols in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are hallucinations, terrifying dreams, prophecies, sleep, etc.
The supernatural events, forces and powers are common symbolical motifs in Shakespeare’s play. The witches are just one …show more content…

Throughout the play, the weather plays an important role. Especially, the weather is used to show something bad will happen when the three witches enter the scene. The atmosphere of thunder which is used to set the mood, lighting, fog and filthy air, terrible storms imply that it will not be good things. These bad conditions of nature are the reflection of otherworldliness (e.g. Graymalkin, a rat Paddock, serpent, owl and other special things). One of the worldliness things is owl which represents darkness. The hooting of the owl is heard during Duncan’s death. Another symbol is snake which represents transformation because snakes slough their skin off through their life. And this process is related with Macbeth. The reason of this Macbeth acts like a hero but actually, he is not a hero but a murderer. Killing Duncan, he has become the king and has used this heroism. Hence, he put on a new appearance as snakes do.
To show the general topic of evil, darkness symbolism is widely used throughout the play. The darkness is related with sleeping and sleep symbolizes night, the time of darkness, the death and personal conflict at dark. Shakespeare thinks that sleep involves the one’s whole life. It is a normal routine cycle in each day and part of nature. The death is also similar to the sleep, but death is a longer version of sleeping. It is permanent

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