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Macbeth - Themes, Symbols, Images, Motifs
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Notes on :Themes and Images; Motifs and Symbols in Macbeth
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Macbeth, Themes and Images
Written for King James 1, the play's primary focus is on kingship. The opening scenes show brave
warriors fighting to stop traitors and foreign enemies seizing Scotland's throne. The main purpose of
the play is to illustrate vividly what happens when men like Macbeth do not behave honourably. These
men make bad kings. It is crucial to understand the significance of Duncan's murder. The implication
is that the rightful king maintains the balance of order, not only in the state but in the natural world
(see section on Order and Chaos). Throughout the play there are many references to the crown,
which is the symbol of kingship: 'golden round', 'fruitless crown', 'murders on their crowns', 'the round
and top of sovereignty' and 'gold-bound brow'.
At the end of the play, Macbeth refuses to take the honourable, 'Roman' way of dying (falling on his
sword) and challenges Macduff to a duel. The fact that Macduff is the honourable man, and is
fighting for the good of the rightful heir to the throne, means that he is ultimately victorious. The
play ends with the line 'see us crowned at Scone'.
The nature and effects of evil dominate the action of the play from the mystical, eerie opening
scene. Shakespeare presents the view that the potential for evil is present in nature, in man and in
animals, and the play's imagery evokes this. Evil is a force, manifested literally in the supernatural
shape of the three witches, but it is also present in bad omens and signs. The 'rooky wood', 'crows'
and 'black bat' are all symbols of witchcraft. There are other supernatural elements: Banquo's ghost
appearing to taunt Macbeth, the dagger hallucination, the apparitions conjured by the weird sisters
and the unnatural events occurring in nature. Audiences would have also understood the significance
of other signs of demonic possession - Macbeth cannot say 'Amen', and by the end of the play he
loses his sense of fear. Aside from the terrific dramatic potential these events create, they would
also have served as a moralistic warning. Meddle with the forces of right and good by embracing
evil and these are the consequences.
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