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Symbolism In Macbeth

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“The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?—What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting.” (v.i.xxx) Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, uses many symbols throughout. It is a tragedy that emphasizes the notorious crimes by a power hungry man and wife, a hunger which leads to their decline. The fact that she has difficulty washing all of the blood off, though it is no longer there, resembles the acts that she and Macbeth committed, their everlasting guilt, and eventually the decline of their psychological states. After the three witches told Macbeth of his future, his head became filled with thoughts of being king. This led him to commit heinous crimes to reach …show more content…

However she does not yet feel the pressure that Macbeth does. After King Duncan arrives, Lady Macbeth challenges her husband with his masculinity, persuading him to kill King Duncan. “What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a …show more content…

(iii.iv.lxxii) Macbeth sees the ghost of his dead friend, Banquo, and starts claiming that his guests made it possible for him to see it. Lady Macbeth goes on to calm him down, claiming he has a mental illness, then talking to him aside and reminding him to calm down. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth had been left out of the plans to kill Banquo, however she still remains calm. Macbeth, on the other hand, is beginning to feel great amounts of remorse for the murders he committed and caused. Lady Macbeth begins to feel the pressure, many dead people haunting her mind. She begins to see blood on her hands, unable to wash it off. “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?—What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting.” (v.i.xxx) As Lady Macbeth sleepwalks, trying desperately to wash the blood off of her hands to free her of the everlasting guilt, Macbeth is now concerned, watching her as she goes insane. As she goes insane, his mental state continues to drop, constantly feeling guilty for the things that he has done. However, he is determined to remain king. Though he gets a warning from the witches, he ignores it, not thinking of the possibilities of his death. Then, Lady Macbeth takes her life, leaving Macbeth alone with his mind and his growing power. Finally, he meets his match- Banquo’s

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These two quotes represent how Lady Macbeth starts hallucinating that she sees the blood of people that she has murdered on her hands, which symbolises her sense of guilt even though she considers trying to convince herself that everything is going to be fine but Duncan and Banquo's deaths hunted her which caused her to kill

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The undoing of the most powerful couple in Scotland did not begin on a battlefield; it began when fear started governing their lives and rotting their sanity. Once full of ambition and resolve, they seemed untouchable, but as the lies became more complex, the facade started to crumble. They embodied betrayal, yet feared it in everyone else for they knew what could lie beneath the surface. The Macbeth’s were ruthless in their rise to power, not stopping to consider the repercussions. The emotions that they repressed began building up causing their minds to break down.

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This quote exemplifies usage of language to convey a character’s emotions because it can easily be interpreted that Macbeth is experiencing delusion and confusion due to guilt and fear. An example of imagery is used in the quote, “…hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones prate my whereabout… (Macbeth 198).” The stones “speaking” is a metaphor and usage of imagery to help convey the sense of guilt and suspicion that Macbeth is feeling even before the murder has happened. The peculiar imagery is simple enough to understand and helps the audience get a sense of just how scared Macbeth is

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The fact that she also finds it better to be the killed rather than the guilty may be a foreshadow for her choice to commit suicide. Lady Macbeth’s lack of control is a consequence she bestowed on herself. From these mistakes, the audience learns the weight of actions especially to those who are

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Symbolism in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': Unveiling the Depths of Ambition Shakespeare's tragedy 'Macbeth' is not only a tale of unchecked ambition but also a masterpiece of symbolism. Throughout the play, Shakespeare employs various symbols to deepen the understanding of the characters, themes, and events. By using symbolism, Shakespeare invites the audience to explore the complex layers of meaning within the story and offers profound insights into human nature and the consequences of ambition. In Act 1, Shakespeare employs the powerful symbol of the dagger to represent Macbeth's inner turmoil and his descent into darkness.

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The first symbol, blood, represents Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's guilt. In Macbeth blood is everywhere from the beginning to the end. In Act 2 Scene 2 Macbeth got blood on his hands by murdering King Duncan. After Macbeth murdered King

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Th' attempt and not the deed Confounds us” (2.2. 13-15) She backs out and questions her scheme, due to her emotional state of mind. Lady Macbeth slowly beings to sleepwalk through the castle. Her hallucinations takeover, her eyes see blood dripping from her hands which she struggles to wash it off she speaks “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two.

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Macbeth is still found worthy to die the death of a hero on the field of battle. The noble Macduff is allowed the satisfaction of saving his country by punishing with his own hand the tyrant who had murdered his wife and children. Banquo, by an early death, atones for his ambitious curiosity to know his glorious descendants, as he thereby has roused Macbeth's jealousy; but he preserves his mind pure from the evil suggestions of the witches; his name is blessed in his race, destined to enjoy for a long succession of ages that royal dignity which Macbeth could only hold for his own

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Firstly the foreground of the play starts off with Lady Macbeth being found out as a sleepwalker and sleeptalker. Word of a few servants saying these actions were odd, the actions of walking around in her sleep acting as if she was trying to wash away something on her hands. Even her talking with the previously mentioned actions also greatly alludes to her, and her husbands, outrageous deeds, and her untold guilt. She is caught in a nightmare she created, hoping the water she once said would wash away the crime, will finally wash away the guilt and pain she had endured while her husband has recovered from the sleepless nights.

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21-22). Because the murderers failed to kill Banquo's son, it’s possible that the witches' saying may still come true. Because of Macbeth's extreme drive for power it causes him to go too far and causes problems for him mentally. Since he sought out to kill Banquo, during the dinner, he continues to hallucinate the ghost of Banquo sitting among them which really disturbs him as he tries to get Banquo's ghost to go away by saying “Avaunt, and quit my

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yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him” (5.1.36). Lady Macbeth feels as if she can not be mentally cleansed until her hands are. Lady Macbeth's failure to relieve the guilt causes her to commit suicide. “The queen, my lord, is dead… she should have died hereafter” (5.5.20). Lady Macbeth had too much guilt to deal with which is why she needed to be in peace.

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“What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (37-43) At this point we realize the Lady Macbeth has reached a point of no return, it has acted as a confirmation of her insanity, letting the thought of “wow, she’s really lost it.”, run through the reader’s minds. We also get a feeling

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As the play goes on, Lady Macbeth’s mental state worsens up until her infamous sleepwalking scene. Troubled by all the murders that Macbeth has committed, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. In her sleep, she tells all of the murders that she is aware of: the murder of Duncan, the Banquet scene, and the Macduff massacre. She says “What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to accompt? Yet who would thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

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This shows that Macbeth is guilty and is going to continue to murder people that are a threat to him because he refuses to be overthrown from the kingdom. Macbeth is guilty of his actions and understands that he will get murdered for his actions, this utimentally ends up in him becoming a gruesomely violent, and unholy ruler who orders murders towards anybody who shows a threat to him to keep him safe, yet makes him feel worse every time showing the reader that he's guilty of his

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Then from there a lot more murder takes place and the guilt starts to take its toll on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, as Macbeth “succumbs to insanity, while

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