Macbeth Art Piece
Introduction
The topic that this art piece relates to is the effects of fear. In Macbeth, the lead character, kills King Duncan, to take over the throne, as prophesized by the three witches. After seizing the throne, Macbeth rules in an unruly manner, in having to commit a few murders to secure his position. This led to the Macbeth’s hallucinations, consecutive killings and paranoia because of the fear he possessed from what he has done. Overall, Macbeth shows that committing unruly and harsh crimes lead to a life full of fear and its effects often lead to one’s downfall.
Quotes and symbols
The first quote that this art piece refers to is:
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch
…show more content…
This instills more fear into him, which compels Macbeth to visit the witches again to find out about any future threats against him. He goes to the witches and commands that they tell him what he needs to know. Macbeths demanding speech shows his eagerness to learn his future and displays how paranoid he is. This composition uses Tiresias to represent the witches as prophetic characters because Tiresias, a blind prophet, was known to tell people about their future. Macbeth seeks the witches a second time to learn about his prophecy after becoming king and to be aware of any upcoming threats to his position. Tiresias is shown telling Creon his prophecy and what to expect in the future. Creon is shown on his knees begging for the prophecy, which represents Macbeth because he was also begging the witches to tell him his prophecy. Creon is a representation of Macbeth because he goes to Tiresias to learn his prophecy and what he can expect in the future, which is the murder of his family. Similarly, Macbeth goes to the witches to learn his prophecy and to know of any threats or people that may trouble him. Macbeth is demanding the witches to tell him his prophecy just like Creon, showing that fear can cause one to be paranoid of his or her
These predictions are effective in attracting Macbeth's attention because they feed off his desire for what they promise. At this point in the play he is the newly
When Macbeth goes to the king’s castle to carry out the murder, he gets so obsessed with the idea of the murder that he starts to see imaginary things. He sees an imaginary floating dagger that is covered in blood but “of course he can’t grasp it, and he realizes that he’s seeing the dagger that he plans to use in the murder, a dagger which beckons him toward King Duncan’s door.” (www.shakespeare-navigators.com Detailed Summary of Macbeth Act 2 Scene 1) This symbolizes that he has a strong desire to go through with the murder. He also wants to be deadly like the dagger that he is
Macbeth is a heroic character at the beginning of this play "unseaming men from the nave to the chops." He has much potential as a warrior, and has great love and respect for his country. Coming back from battle one day, he is greeted by three witches, who are known to have great and terrible powers to foresee the future. They meet him with predictions when they greet him as
Macbeth's conscience attempts overthink and re-consider his attention of the murder he is about to commit, it's understood in this scene that Macbeth is warned of his actions and the horror he might face after its results. Macbeth understands that his vision may be a result of overthinking about the situation which means he is aware that the dagger might just be an illusion, it has a great impact on him and feels greatly disturbed by it. Macbeth is afraid to carry out his plan, however, he is not able to get the idea out of his mind. This suggests he will be overwhelmed by the act, he shows that he does not have any power over his own thinking regarding the act. Another Imagery shown in this scene is darkness, which is associated with evil or fear. "Moves like a ghost"51-56, this shows that all evil presences are occurring this night, “There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out.”4-5, this quote supports that there are no stars in the sky tonight. The imagery of darkness shows that there was no light in the sky that night, therefore, there was an overwhelming amount of evil presence. This imagery could foreshadow the dark and evil act that was about to be committed to the audience. The imagery helps the audience get a better picture of the dark movements they are about to witness, that link into the planned murder of Duncan. Sleep is another major symbol in the scene, there was an interesting quote that Macbeth mentioned: “Nature seems
As Macbeth walks through the hallway to approach Duncan’s chamber in scene two, act one, he envisions a floating dagger before him. He cannot distinguish whether or not this is a “dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat oppressed brain”(2.1.38-39). Macbeth is having great difficulty differentiating between fantasy and reality. This is a serious indicator of Macbeth’s mental illness. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses a soliloquy during Macbeth’s inner argument in an attempt to highlight Macbeth’s struggle with such a simple task.
This speech portrays Banquo’s new found reluctance towards the witch’s forecast of the future. He now sees what Macbeth is blind too, the possibility of knowledge becoming more harmful to the men rather than helpful in Macbeth’s want for more, particularly pertaining to him becoming King. As Macbeth begins to weigh the prophecy against logic and the now present, he accepts the fact that if “two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme.” Macbeth is now beginning to assume that if portions of the prophecy are being fulfilled as the witch’s had said, it is only a matter of time before he shall become king. As Macbeth continues to be engulfed by what will be his future downfall, he assumes that all of his new found
The witches manipulate Macbeth into believing he can become king through killing anybody who gets in his way (Act 2 Scene 1), “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” This piece of evidence from the play can relate to the evil in the world at the time of the play was wrote, for example witchcraft was frowned upon and illegal. The soliloquy in this part of the play shows the audience how he prophecies of the witches is all Macbeth can think about, and the audience can also see how Macbeth is turning more evil as they make it through the play. The visual imagery in this immediately creates a sense of anxiousness as they can see that Macbeth is mentally due to him thinking about killing King
Macbeth’s second visit to the witches further impairs his diluted mental state. Now he takes the prophecies for their literal meaning which, this time, hurts himself and those who would stand beside him in a time of war. The witches foretell that he should be aware of Macduff, that no woman born of man can hurt him and that he can not lose until the
From the moment when Macbeth heard his prophecy from the witches and learned of his predestined future, Macbeth’s thoughts and actions of his
This is again going back to karma. Macbeth is superstitious and his wife as well, but when he spoke these words to her, she looked at him as a coward and is ashamed of him for being so weak. She decided to take the matters into her own hands after asking him to wash up and clean the bloody daggers. The blood is also a theme. Blood signifies violence, guilt, and death.
The highly acclaimed play called Macbeth often uses many literary devices and imagery to come to a conclusion about a topic. One of the frequent uses of imagery in this play is the imagery of sleep and death. Shakespeare often uses the sleep and death imagery to set a tense and eerie tone in the play. This is seen in the actions of Lady Macbeth in act 5 of the play, the actions of the character Macbeth, and the scene of and following Duncan’s death.
Shakespeare employs a great deal of imagery to depict certain situations, for example he uses the image of blood many times. At this stage in the play Lady Macbeth is confident while Macbeth is subject to frightened loyalty. However, what Macbeth fears is evil of committing the evil deed rather than the evil deed itself. It is al this stage that one can first realise a chink of humanity in the originally confident and cold lady Macbeth. The murder has just been committed and Lady Macbeth relates to Macbeth how the assassinated Duncan appeared to her. “Ha he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t.” Suddenly through the hard exterior that Lady Macbeth possesses, she sees her father as the old man lying murdered on the
h is portrayed in the beginning of the play as a courageous hero, whose valour is depicted as "he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops." Although he puts on a fearless persona during conflict, his soliloquies reveal a character that it fuelled by greed and desire. Not only does Macbeth obliterate the notion of The Divine Right of Kings, but he goes against the Righteous Rule. Throughout the play, Macbeth lets irrational greed overcome his logical conscience. It is clear that Macbeth is reluctant to murder Duncan as he states, “We will proceed no further in this business,” yet his vaulting ambition and desire to become King outweighs his conscience. Before murdering Duncan, Macbeth utters “I have no spur to prick the sides of intent, but only Vaulting ambition.” In his soliloquy, he continuously reasons with himself as “first I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against deed, then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” Shakespeare utilises the recurring motif of hallucinations to depict a dagger as a symbol of guilt and murder. Macbeth’s thoughts of murder create an imaginary bloody dagger, showing him the path to the king's chambers as he questions "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." As the tragedy continues, Macbeth transforms into a more conventional villain, and attempts to control Fate and Fortune. Macbeth’s ambition is further explored when he visits the witches and witnesses the four apparitions.
Macbeth was, shortly after the murdering incident, driven insane by the immense guilt produced by his withered conscience. The dagger that was used in the killing of King Duncan haunted him before the murder took place. This tragedy in the play gives us both fear of where the sword came from and pity for Macbeth's character that had degraded to such a point that he has become paranoid.
Moreover, Macbeth’s constant paranoia forms hallucinations, illustrating the thesis of how unchecked ambition can lead to madness. His burden with killing is holy king is overpowered by Lady Macbeth’s insults of Macbeth’s manhood. While preparing for Duncan’s murder, Macbeth’s guilty conscience is represented through a dagger as he states, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? [...] thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes.” (2.1.33-49). Covered with blood, the dagger displays the wicked course of action Macbeth has decided to take. The hallucination underlines the juvenile stages of Macbeth’s decline into tyranny. Macbeth’s ambition