Thursday, April 5, 2012
Imagery in Macbeth
Make a blog post commenting on one example of imagery in the play. Introduce the context of the quotation, embed the quotation in your post if possible, then analyze it, commenting on how it contributes to dramatic effect by creating atmosphere or character. Feel free to comment on any of your classmates' posts! However, please do not analyze the same example as another student. There's more than enough imagery in Macbeth to go around! Don't forget to sign you name. Due 12/05/2012
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When I first read Macbeth, what impressed me was the plentiful animal imagery used by Shakespeare. Ravens, scorpions, snakes, horses, lions, bears, dogs…All these extremely varying animals are present throughout the tragedy. Imagery plays indeed an essential role in Macbeth, attaching strong pictures to particular parts of the play. Shakespeare uses animal imagery for three main reasons: to characterize, to show emotions, and to foreshadow. Each animal is indeed linked to a certain meaning and it is an accurate way to create a unique tone for the audience. As Macbeth is the main figure, many images contribute to his characterization, to portray the changes in his personality and emotions. Let’s have a look at Act II Scene 4. King Duncan’s corpse has just been discovered in the precedent scene. Now it is daytime, but it is still strangely dark. The place is somewhere near Macbeth's castle, and Ross is talking to an Old Man, who says “On Tuesday last, /A falcon tow’ring in her pride of place/ Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed” (l.12). What do you think this could mean?...Think about what kind of bird is a falcon…This bird of prey indeed represents the highest level of nobility, while the mousing owl would be the falcon’s prey, therefore an owl would usually not attack a falcon! The "pride of place" is the highest point of the flight of the falcon, and the owl, which usually catches mice on the ground, went up instead of down, and killed the falcon. So the symbol represents something of an unnatural nature. Moreover, a falcon is a powerful day creature, and a royal companion, while the owl is a bird of night and death. Here we can directly make a comparison between Duncan and Macbeth: the falcon, or King Duncan, is killed by a person of lower nobility, the mousing owl, or Macbeth. This image clearly echoes the tragedy of Duncan’s murderer but also foreshadows Macbeth’s downfall. The owl is an important symbol in the play, a symbol of death and bad happenings (Cf. Act II, Scene 2 (l.3)). Others animals are used and foreshadow evil deeds (snakes, ravens, scorpions…). By using these images, Shakespeare makes a stronger effect on the audience; it makes the spectators think about what is happening, making it more interesting, and reinforcing ideas that have been addressed in previous scenes of the play.
ReplyDeleteI hope this analysis was helpful. Feel free to add some of your ideas! xx
Wow! Very interesting comment on bird imagery!
DeleteSpeaking of which characters the different types of birds stand for, I found another possible reference about Macbeth being an owl (bird of ill-omen) in Act IV scene 2, when Lady Macduff says "for the poor wren/ The most diminutive of birds, will fight,/Her young ones in her nest, against the owl".
In my opinion, this quote, along with the one you commented on, reinforces the idea of Macbeth being a tyrant, representing evil in the play.
Fantastic job Emma! As for the others, a post even half as long as Emma's is fine. Don't feel like you have to make a general introduction/conclusion (but thank you Emma for doing it for everyone!), just focus on your example of imagery and how it develops atmosphere, character, theme, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, after Emma's comment about the presence of well-chosen animals, I'd like to focus on the imagery concerning light versus darkness in Macbeth. We all know that in this play, Macbeth stands for tyranny, superiority and ruthlessness, thus being associated to obscurity hiding evil deeds, without any light shed on them. In an analogous way, the innocence of the other characters – a tragic innocence I should say – and their situation, are represented by light and pureness, helpless in front of Macbeth. Let's take a precise example, for instance when Banquo says to his son that « There's husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. », in act II, scene 1, just before we concretely know that Macbeth is about to kill Duncan. Here, we have the idea of something going wrong in heaven, in this case, the absence of stars' light, translating an advance, a progress of darkness, a disturbance in nature, creating obviously a perfect context for harmful murders. We can say that Banquo is having a hunch that an evil event is being plotted, against the goodness of the world, and that he is clearly sensitive to the shady ambiance of this tragic night, yet without guessing anything very precise. This way, the reader (if he already knows the play) is even led to feel sorry for Banquo. So we can see with this example of imagery Shakespeare's foretelling, as far as all the murders that follow, Macbeth's cruelty and the other characters' naivety are concerned, and we realize once more the tragic issue of this play.
ReplyDeleteGreat link between the darkness/nature/disorder imageries Alix. (ps not tragic issue, but tragic outcome)
DeleteBlood, with its powerful symbolic meaning, is an omnipresent theme in the play, from the beginning to the very end. As blood images become more and more frequent, they symbolize the change in Macbeth’s character.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare uses blood imagery to develop the character of Macbeth. Blood is at the beginning of the play a symbol of bravery and courage, the blood shed for a noble cause (remember the bleeding captain in Act I, scene 2). However, Macbeth character’s changes throughout the play are characterized by the symbolism in the blood he sheds. Blood imagery then refers to treason and murder. Blood, once seen as a positive value, is now associated with evil. Blood imagery shows the evolution of Macbeth’s character from a noble and brave soldier to a deceitful and bloody tyrant.
In my opinion, one of the most significant examples of blood imagery occurs in Act III, scene 4; after having seen the ghost of Banquo, when all the guests are gone, Macbeth immediately says “It will have blood they say: blood will have blood.” With this proverbial sentence recalling “an eye for an eye”, Macbeth is saying that the dead will have their revenge, and implies that a murderer will always be discovered, so that guilty men will eventually be brought to justice. We can even go farther into it and say that vengeance will always be obtained.
Owing to the tone used in this line, Macbeth’s determination can clearly be felt. Paradoxically, one can wonder if he feels a certain twinge of remorse. The significance of this quote lies in the fact that Macbeth is beginning to have a guilty conscience. As a matter of fact, I think that Macbeth is saying this line with a certain degree of detachment, almost too important, which could indicate that he is afraid of what he has brought down upon himself. It could also stand for the realisation that his evil actions will have some consequences, and certainly not minor ones. Macbeth, as a consequence of his bloody deeds, shall have to receive bloody retribution. This idea fits well into the Elizabethan view of bloodshed.
In addition, to my mind, the interest of this quote is that Macbeth foreshadows his own end. Indeed, he is predicting a bloody death for a bloody murderer. What began with blood will end in the same way, and we all know that Macbeth will be finally killed by Macduff in Act V, scene 8.
To conclude, this quote contributes to dramatic effect, creating the bloody atmosphere that will be present for the rest of the play, and building up the character that Macbeth is from this moment, namely a bloody tyrant, ruthless and resolute.
Blood imagery indeed has a very important place in this play, which is logical when you think about the story it tells. Nevertheless, if blood imagery, is used as a proof of one's cruelty , it can also have a positive connotation(I know you said it briefly, just wanted to underline it). For example, the link between children and their parents, Macbeth himself tells Malcom and his brother that “The fountain of [their] blood is stopped” in Act 2 Scene 3. In this case, the fountain of this blood is the sainted king..
DeleteYour analysis is very good as usual.
William Shakespeare used to oppose light to darkness or day to night throughout the play. Imagery plays a very important role in Macbeth because day and night have a lot of significance, and Shakespeare skillfully uses it. Indeed, darkness and night are oftenly linked with death, sleep and silence, whereas day and light are linked with life. Moreover, Shakespeare uses night for the atmosphere it can create : for instance the murder of Duncan takes place at night because the atmosphere is much more mystic, mysterious and scary than a murder committed during the day. Let's take our book and open it at Act II scene 4 : "And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp" . Here we have an opposition between light and dark. We also have the image of Ross incapable of finding his way because of the omnipresence of the dark. He is deeply affected and disoriented by the murder of king Duncan. At that time, the king was a sort of guide, "the traveling lamp" for his subjects who are now wrapped by darkness.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition between light and day emphasizes the contradictory language of the play, and show how Ross is affected by the murder of his good king.
Interesting, Hugo. Any comment about the verb Shakespeare chose here, "strangles"?
DeleteClothing is another big part of imagery in Macbeth. References to articles of clothing are present all along the play, especially this idea of "robes", "borrowed" by Macbeth and that "hang loose about him". Most of the time, they send back to the idea of power, royalty, that Macbeth has stolen from Duncan by killing him and taking his place, something that doesn't belong to him and doesn't suit him either. It can also refer to other themes such as hope, weakness and even loyalty in act 3, scene 1, when Banquo talks to his king and (so-called) bestfriend "to the which[his] duties/Are with a most indissoluble tie/Forever knit." On one hand, this could be seen as a promise of loyalty to Macbeth, reassuring words to show him that he is still his best friend and that he has nothing to worry about but on the other hand, Banquo seeming a bit smarter than that, it could also be seen as a way of getting Macbeth to talk to him, to tell him what's really going on in his mind. In this scene, right before Macbeth arrives, Banquo seems to start getting suspicious, thinking that his good friend maybe isn't that good after all and that this wasn't just the witches' doing (even though he hopes that it is because that would mean that his sons would be kings one day as). Therefore, this quote could be seen as dramatic irony as well as foreshadowing : Banquo is fully expressing how loyal and trustworhty he is towards Macbeth, even though he's very suspicious, and Macbeth is gladly accepting all of this, inviting him over that night when he knows he's going to kill him before supper. This also obviously contributes to showing how monstrous this character of Macbeth is becoming : his old and good friend is telling him that he'll always be there for him but that doesn't help Macbeth from killing him anyways. It shows just how blood-thirsty he has really gotten and, as in Alix's quote, makes the reader feel sad for Banquo, contributing to the overall tragedy of this play.
ReplyDelete(I'm sorry for the typing mistakes, I didn't see them while re-reading my post)
DeleteIn Macbeth, though clothing imagery is not used as much as animal imagery, it is truly present at several moments. The end of Act I scene 3 is without any doubts the passage of Shakespeare's tragedy in which clothing imagery is used the most and is the most important. For instance, Macbeth asks Ross “why [he does] dress [him] in borrowed robes” after the Scottish nobleman has just told the Thane of Glamis he was granted the title of Thane of Cawdor. At this point, Macbeth doesn't understand what is going on as he still thinks the Thane of Cawdor lives, hence the term “borrowed robes”. Then, there is the word “rapt”, which is present at two different moments in this scene and pronounced by two different characters, that has a secondary meaning that has a clothing imagery, for instance when Banquo says “Look how our partner's rapt”. In this scene, clothing imagery is also present in Banquo's words when he says that “new honors come upon [Macbeth] like [their] strange garments cleave not but with the aid of use”. Here, what Banquo wants to say through clothing imagery is that time will be needed for people and for him to get accustomed with the new titles that have been granted. As a conclusion, we can say that clothing imagery is used by Shakespeare to express in a more comprehensible way the idea of someone taking someone else's place, title or clothes. The use of this imagery creates an atmosphere that reminds us of one of the major themes of this tragedy which is appearances opposed to reality as one can wonder if it is possible, by taking someone's clothes and appearances, to become the one that used to have these clothes. And this situation comes again later in Shakespeare's tragedy when Macbeth becomes king, taking Duncan's place. But I won't write too much about appearances opposed to reality as some of you might be interested in developing this theme in a deeper way.
ReplyDeleteThe word "rapt" is used repeatedly and has a very interesting double meaning in this play!
DeleteAmong all the outstanding themes concerning imagery in Shakespeare’s play the animal one is, to me, the most appalling.
ReplyDeleteThe first idea that popped up in my mind when dealing with this theme comes from a more general yet well-known point of view: Scientists assumed that Men could be differentiated from animals owing to their capacity to execute an action after having thought and planned it and yet the omnipresence of this theme in Macbeth’s play exemplify the very opposite. Consequently I dare say that here Shakespeare confronts us to an obvious criticism of manhood since its so called evolution and intelligence recoiled against him. By making him feel like a stranger to his feelings and acts Shakespeare deflates him, reminding us that no one should be moralistic if he’s capable of the same baseness as his neighbour and consequently none should feel superior to an other one, since he based his acts on senseless virtues and frivolous values. We all witnessed Macbeth confusion towards the very murders but we also acknowledged what the figures he killed meant to him before he accomplished these deeds. King Duncan first and then Banquo; the one with whom he was supposed to speak with “free heart[s]” (Act I, Scene 3); in others words his confident and fast friend; is the one he soon refers to by saying “There the serpent lies” and doesn’t hesitate to step aside from his way anything that resembles or comes from him by following “the worm that’s fled/ Hath nature that in time will venom breed” referring to Fleance in Act 3, scene 4. There Macbeth is aware; thanks to the murderers he sent; that Banquo doesn’t live anylonger however he can’t completely enjoy himself with this new since Fleance has fled and this last new disturbs his plan to remain all powerful. Ambition has made Macbeth lost the value of friendship and his blindness towards what was essential, what ranks his status’s evolution is definitely a feature representative of this new heartless man. Shakespeare first mislead us with this good hearted, innocent and loyal man but Macbeth is a character that he dehumanises frankly as long as the play goes and that is emphasized by the use of the others imageries.
Interesting link between the animal imagery and Macbeth's "baseness"/"dehumanization".
DeleteReligion is omnipresent in Macbeth. Indeed, at the time, people were very pious and as sciences were not very well developped in the 16th century, it permitted them to explain the world in which they lived. To believers and practising people, it was important to be good while they were alive because the final goal of religion was to reach heaven. That is why religion permitted people to have a conscience.
ReplyDeleteIn the play, religion has several roles. For example in Act II scene 2, just after Duncan's murder, Macbeth tells his wife « they did say their prayers and addressed them... » (l.26). A few lines later, Macbeth says that he heard people saying « God bless us ! » and « Amen » many times. In these cases, we see that religion was supposed to be a protecter. People prayed when they were scared or when they needed to be protected. Furthermore, we see that Macbeth is totally panic because first, he has just killed the king and then, he realizes that god saw him acting and that he does not deserve to be protected by god anymore.
In line 34, when Macbeth says « But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen' ? I had most need of blessing and 'Amen' Stuck in my throat », we see that religion played another role, it represented conscience. Indeed, Macbeth, black of having killed Duncan wanted to ask forgiveness, but his conscience does not let him pronounce the word « amen », because he does not deserve to be forgiven by god.
Still focus on Act II scene 2, line 63, Macbeth says « Will all Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand ? No : this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incardine, making the green one red. » In this quote, religion is associated to power. Macbeth is asking forgiveness to all the oceans of Neptune, god of the seas in the Roman religion. So there we see that Macbeth is invoking a great power in order to be forgiven, but it is not enough, he is still guilty.
To resume, in the play, religion represent a strength superior to anything else which protects people and which indicates that even if someone is powerful, like Macbeth who is the king, there is always someone at the top who will blame people who deserve it.
N.B : The play is full of biblical motifs, here is an example :
(I.3.46) « All hail Macbeth » In the New Testament, Judas approaches Jesus saying « Hail Master »
You're right, Orane, there is a lot of religious imagery to be explored in this play. And when the different patterns of imagery are linked, it becomes even more interesting... like with your quote about "Neptune's ocean" - here we have religion mixed with blood imagery! Powerful.
DeleteIn Macbeth, Shakespeare manages to create a specific atmosphere thanks to the combination of five main sorts of imagery, which are : clothing, nature, disease, blood and animals. A great number of quotations deal with the image of blood, as the plot relates many murders.
ReplyDeleteIn Act V, scene 1, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and admits her complicity in the murders made by her husband. The characters present in this scene note that she keeps rubbing her hands, surely trying to remove something. Indeed, Macbeth's evil wife wonder if “these hands [will] ne'er be clean”. We easily understand that her hands are covered in blood, obviously because of the murders she is referring to, including “The Thane of Fife ['s]” (l.36) one, that is to say Macduff's. Moreover, we can see that the same image of bloody hands is used in Act II scene 2, when Macbeth wonders if “great Neptune's ocean [will] wash [Duncan's]blood off [his] hands” (l.63), after having cowardly killed King Duncan sleeping. Besides, we could also say that this quotation contains disease imagery as Lady Macbeth wants to remove invisible blood in order to forget what she has done, but realizes that her hands will “ne'er be clean” . I found this quotation interesting to analyze as it involves blood and mental disease imagery, which are, in my opinion the two main themes in the play.
Sorry, I meant religion, and not animals (l.3)
DeleteIn Macbeth, one of the most important imageries is the one of blood. This is quite obvious since the whole play is about murder...
ReplyDeleteIndeed especially in act II scene 2 , when Macbeth confesses to Lady Macbeth that "[he][has] done the deed", we find many metaphors used to define blood. This is probably the scene where I found the most imageries about blood because Shakespeare uses it to show how Macbeth feels guilty after the murder of king Duncan. For example when Lady Macbeth tells him to "wash this filthy witness from [his] hands " she's telling him to remove the blood from his hands because she understands that he is still shocked. As Alice wrote in her post,blood is partly used to show the evolution of the character of Macbeth. Here it allows the audience to understand that Macbeth is weaker and less determined that what we could think because he regrets what he has done and he just follows the orders of his wife. Moreover blood represents guilt and this quote shows that he would like to forget the murder of king Duncan as easily as he removes the blood by washing his hands.
Blood is used to show the evolution of the character of Macbeth and also that of his wife! (Louis explores this above...)
DeleteAmong the numerous imageries evoked in Macbeth, the one concerning animals is probably the one that comes up most often. As a mater of fact all kinds of animals are used in Macbeth according to what Shakespeare wanted to express ; animals of evil such as scorpions, snakes... but also animals of good as it is the case in act 1, scene 6.
ReplyDeleteIn this scene King Duncan and Banquo just arrived to Macbeth's castle for the banquet and are welcomed by Lady Macbeth herself. At this moment Banquo reckons that in Macbeth's castle there is "no jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coign of vantage but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cadle". We know that birds are often considered as innocentcreature. The quote would in fact mean that Macbeth's castle and its inhabitants are so welcoming and nice that all the birds want to stay there. Of course we can notice the dramatic irony :Indeed, Lady macbeth, in the previous scene seemed really eager and determined to kill King Duncan even if her husband was not yet convinced.The imagery of bird, the fact that it is an innocent creature, reinforces Macbeth and especially Lady Macbeth's growing cruelty. This imagery can also make you think of act 4, scene 2, when Lady Macduff's son tells her that he wants to live like birds. This example also emphasizes once again the unhumanity of Macbeth by showing an innocent character, Sirrah talking about an innocent animal.
To put it in a nutshell, this quotation of act 1, scene 6 foreshadows the dramatic events that will take place and underlines the hypocrisy and wickedness of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.
Good job Juliette. N.B. "Sirrah" is not Macduff's son's name, but simply a term of address used for children or inferiors. (And it's inhumanity.)
DeleteIn the second half of the play, the theme of mental sickness is more and more present.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Macbeth, who henceforth orders to kill several people from King Duncan to Macduff's family,gets crazier and more and more mentally-disturbed. In Act III scene 1, Macbeth plans to kill Banquo and his son Fleance but wants to keep it a surprise for his wife. When he says "O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!",it is a foreshadowing to his intentions. This sentence explicits the fact that Macbeth has terribly bad purposes in mind. This image is quite striking first because it can belong to two themes : animal and sickness imagery. Here, the association of both themes is very interesting. Indeed, an animal is used to show the mental disorder of the main character. In Shakespearian time, a scorpion was considered as a very exotic animal because it didn't exist in countries such as England. Therefore people understood this verse according to the idea they had of a scorpion : a very dangerous, resistant and mortal animal. If Macbeth's mind is full of scorpions, it means that scorpions' venom is now in Macbeth's head. He can thus be as deadly as scorpions. However, as far as Macbeth is concerned, he is not threatened to be poisoned because he IS the poison.
This image points out his tyrannic side that is unceasingly growing inside him and emphasizes the way he is changing.
Great choice of imagery Yasmine. (Be careful: explicit is an adjective, not a verb)
DeleteI’d like to talk about an imagery pattern, which as I see, is the least explored for the moment – the one of disease. The images evoking illness are present throughout Shakespeare’s play, both on macrocosmic (referring, for instance. to the disease of the country) and microcosmic scale, on which I would particularly like to focus.
ReplyDeleteThe bloody business, in which Macbeth and his wife took part, made them both descend into madness, however with very different effects: while Macbeth’s destructive aims strengthened, as his conscience, stupefied by horrible visions was no longer a restraint, Lady Macbeth became overpowered by the sense of guilt. In Act V, scene 1 we can distinguish at least three mental troubles which affect Lady Macbeth (maybe the experts are able to see more) – the sleepwalking, which the physician qualifies as being “a great perturbation in nature” (l.8), the fear of the darkness, because we know that her command was to “[have] light by her continually” (l.19) and finally the hallucinations, which manifest themselves through her calling on her absent husband and seeing the famous spot of blood. All these elements are of course due to her enormous pangs of conscience, which made her “heart […] sorely charged”. The doctor’s diagnosis leaves no hope for her recovery; after a long observation he identifies the cause himself, stating that these are the “unnatural deeds /[that] […] breed unnatural troubles” and that the “infected minds / [t]o their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets” (l.61), meaning that some terrible experiences must be at the origin of her behavior.
This imagery contributes to a dark, almost morbid atmosphere of the play, which automatically impose a certain way of staging. The references to incurable diseases foreshadow a progressive process of “dying” – not only in the literal meaning, but also as a downward trend towards a tragic end in general (see the evolution of Macbeth – from “healthy”, courageous man down to “sick”, ruthless monster).
As soon as Lady Macbeth appears in the play, the audience learns that she is thirsty for power. Moreover, we are immediately told that she is very doubtful of her husband's abilities.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, on the fifteenth line of Act I, scene 5, she uses a mataphor that compares Macbeth's "human kindness" to "milk" which prevents Macbeth from "catch[ing] the nearest way" to fullfill his "black and deep desires" (Act I, scene 4).
This image of childhood, and therefore of weakness, really contrasts with Macbeth's heroic attitude during the battle.
According to Lady Macbeth, the only way to be manly is to be able to kill Duncan, so that the witches' predictions that promised power to Macbeth come true.
As the act of stabbing definitely has sexual connotations, we can see the murder of the King as a ritual Macbeth has to take part in, in order to evolve from childhood to adulthood.
That is how Lady Macbeth pushes her husband to accomplish his desires of murder : by attacking his virility.
Moreover, let's not forget that, in the 7th scene of Act I, she tells Macbeth that she would have "dashed the brains out" of "the babe that [would have] milk[ed her], "had [she] sworn [so]". This reference to her being able to hurt someone vulnerable can make Macbeth frightened about his own life : he might have killed Duncan in order not to be killed by his wife.
To conclude, the actual reason of Macbeth's deed is quite ambiguous : it could be a mix between his own fear of dying, his thirst for power and his desire to prove he is manly.
Feel free to give me some feedback, whether you agree with me or not :)
Darkness - omnipresent and oppressing - is the very force that leads Macbeth. As ambition conspires with unholy forces, evil deeds are committed, thus generating fear, guilt and still more horrible crimes. Indeed, the audience finds themselves confronted with evil right from the first scene as three supernatural beings, the Weird Sisters, appear. They have come to tempt and manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan, the good noble king. Thus Light throughout the play will be struggling and fighting endlessly against Darkness. Macbeth, the once noble, loyal and courageous soldier described in the second scene of the play, will not be able to resist the influence of the witches who have prophesied him king. Upon hearing this prophecy he, at first, believed that no action was necessary, yet soon in Act 1 Scene 4 he finds himself with an obstacle in which he must "o'erleap": Duncan has declared that his son Malcolm will be the one succeeding him. Thus, dismayed by Malcolm's elevation to Prince of Cumberland, he calls for total darkness to conceal his malign intentions, not just from the world but even from his own consciousness: "Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires, the eye wink at the hand." Indeed Macbeth quickly understands the paradox of the prediction: for the prediction to come true, he has to make it come true, through the act of killing the king. Indeed the devils are tempting Macbeth: the witch's influence is visible here as Macbeth speaks in rime as the witches do. Nonetheless, Macbeth uses a metaphor to refer the deed because he is afraid, he is unable to say out loud that he must kill. Furthermore, Macbeth reuses the Duncan's metaphor of the shinning "stars" representing nobleness. By doing so, he shows his fear to the audience and also expresses his awareness that he must forget that he is a noble in order to be able to do something evil. Therefore we assist to one the of the strongest confrontations between light and darkness, good and evil. Macbeth pursues in his soliloquy and evokes the "hand" which represents action, and the "eye" which represents his conscience. Macbeth therefore states that his conscience must be an accomplice and not denounce what the hand is going to do. When he will proceed with the murder, his conscience must be silent, and ounce the act is done, he knows guilt will come, which is why he mustn't think. He is afraid. In addition, the parts of the body are separated, and do not (or rather will not) function normally. As a result, it is safe to assume that this unnatural behavior of the body is linked to something evil. In fact, it even foreshadows Macbeth's future despair and tormented mind. ( The "eye" and references to the mind reoccurs in the play) In short, in this battle darkness seems to have won over Macbeth and the atmosphere however, light will come back to defeat the darkness and establish order.
ReplyDeleteI think you squeezed every last drop out of that quotation Charlotte. Great job!
DeleteImagery in Macbeth is very important; to my mind, it really contributes to the dark and captivating atmosphere of the play. Shakespeare is a word master, who is playing with different imageries and with this beautiful use of language, strikes the reader right to his feelings. When reading Macbeth, each one can find himself in at least one imagery. As far as I am concerned, the most efficient imageries are of course talking of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth : they are the characters in the centre of the play, the plot is turning around them and, moreover, they are not flat characters. They both have an appearance and a soul, words and thoughts. This contradiction between appearance and reality is one the major theme of Shakespeare's play, and the quote that I picked is dealing with this idea.
ReplyDeleteIn act I scene V, Macbeth is wondering if killing Duncan is a good idea. He is full of the human kindness and has finally decided to be loyal to his King. His wife, the dark Lady Macbeth, will play her role perfectly and will convince Macbeth that Duncan's death is the best way to reach good fortune. She perfectly explains to Macbeth that appearances are now the most important things, by telling him that he must “look like th'innocent flower, But be the serpent under't” if he wants to succeed. And in fact, they will succeed, so I thought that this sentence was very important for the plot. Without Lady Macbeth's argumentation, Macbeth would have stayed loyal to the crown. Moreover, the paradox between the flower and the serpent really makes sense to me ; through this imagery, we can easily picture Macbeth as a snake, but his face smiling gently. The meaning can also be more religious, so interpreted in another way, which makes this quotation very efficient. In fact, in the Bible the snake represents the evil, whereas the flower may be associated with the Apple. In this case, Macbeth will be the snake which is provoking the fall of Adam and Eve. Later in the play, Macbeth will forget that in the first act he was supposed to be the snake, while saying that he has “scorched the snake, not killed it” (act III scene 2), Banquo being this snake. This exchange of the role is very interesting, because is puts lights on the state of Macbeth's mind at this moment : to his mind, he is no longer the enemy, the evil, but he is the one in danger. Those two quotations associated are really striking me : on the one hand we have the weak Macbeth, who has to play a role, and on the other hand we have this character who is thinking that the snake is someone else. Where are appearances ? Which character is real, which on is not ? In fact, the first quote could be reversed for Banquo, in this case he would be the snake, and the innocent flower under it.
With those imageries, we can really feel that Shakespeare is this master who is playing with the words, and with our mind and imagination. To me, and to put it in a nutshell, the imagery associating innocence and evil, appearances and reality, are the most interesting, and the ones which are striking me to the heart.
Very thorough, with pertinent links made. It all goes back to "nothing is / But what is not"... Be careful about the usage of efficient vs effective.
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ReplyDeleteAmong all the imagery used in Macbeth, clothing is one of the most significant. In fact, part of the play is based on appearances and on the way characters behave towards
ReplyDeleteone another. Clothing can be seen as a way for the characters to protect themselves, as for instance when Lady Macbeth orders her husband to “get on [his] night gown”
right after he has killed Duncan. The informal dimension of the night gown is supposed to hide the bloody murder to the eyes of the audience and – most importantly – to the
other characters.
The idea that is conveyed is that changing clothes allows characters to conceal aspects of their personalities they do not want to show. However, it is proved that
clothes do not always fulfill this role. Act 5, scene 2 is a meaningful example: Macbeth, having become the tyrant we all know, is highly criticized by Angus, who says that
he does now “feel his title / Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe / Upon a dwarfish thief.” What he is basically saying is that Macbeth’s clothes do not suit him, or in other
words, that he is not a good king, the task being too hard and challenging for him. The striking antithesis between “giant” and “dwarf” belittle Macbeth and shows that his
current position is very unstable, being described as inferior. Macbeth is characterized as a thief, which refers to him having stolen a title he should never have acquired.
Despite all the power he was greedy for, Macbeth is not considered as being authoritative. In his speech, Angus is talking about Macbeth’s psychological weaknesses and
implies he is not innocent for getting this title. This inferiority might be some kind of foreshadowing testifying that Macbeth will soon be powerless, owing to his incapacity of
accomplishing his role.
This quotation being the last reference to clothing imagery in the play, it can be seen as a conclusion of all the comparisons between power, titles, appearances and
clothing, thus showing that power, when not obtained honestly, cannot possibly be effective and trusted.
Agathe
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, imagery takes an important place and serves different purposes. Undoubtedly, the author creates a special and unique atmosphere by using lexical fields of blood, animals, nature, clothing, light, darkness, disease, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnimal imagery is one of the most used in the play and is present from the very beginning. Indeed, quite a few characters are compared with animals. Several characters make use of animal imagery such as Lady Macbeth in act I, scene 5. At this point, she has just finished reading Macbeth’s letter announcing the witches’ predictions and how he became the new Thane of Cawdor. Then she learns from an attendant that the King comes tonight. The plan of killing Duncan is already in her mind and besides she hears “the raven” “That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under [her] battlements.”(lines 36-37-38). The raven is a bird with black plumage which has a harsh and loud call. The raven croaking could mean that a dreadful event will soon take place. We can also notice the importance of the word “fatal” which qualifies Duncan’s “entrance” and emphasizes the fact that when Duncan will enter Macbeth’s castle, he is doomed to death. Indeed the raven foreshadows Macbeth’s “fatal entrance” that is to say his death since we all know that he won’t ever leave the castle by entering it and that he will be killed by Macbeth. The raven being a bird of evil omen, we can assume that it announces Duncan’s death; it is the only thing which can predict this ill fate. Moreover, the raven is a carrion-eater on the battlefield which means that its presence is due to carrion; his presence is then a sign of death. Shakespeare describes the raven as being “hoarse” which means that even though the bird has a harsh and loud call, this time, the sound of its voice is more striking than usual. All these signs foretell Duncan’s fatal ending and contribute to the dramatic and strange atmosphere of the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth’s self confidence is well-expressed here. She is not afraid at all since she thinks that Duncan will be under her control when he will enter “under [her] battlements”. Indeed, this is her castle, where she has the power to do what she wants to do. Last but not least, Duncan’s death is announced by different sensory perceptions. The raven “croaks” in order to announce Duncan’s “fatal entrance” “under [Lady Macbeth’s] battlements”: death is predicted by auditory but also visual perceptions. To conclude, we can say that besides foreshadowing Duncan’s fatal end, the presence of the raven contributes to the dramatic atmosphere of the play and emphasizes Lady Macbeth’s determination to offer her husband Scotland’s throne.
In Macbeth, treachery and violence are almost omnipresent especially during Macbeth’s reign that’s why his opponents must be really careful. In act 4 scene 3, Malcolm, who went to England in order to escape Macbeth, is meeting Macduff, who is trying to raise an army against Macbeth in Northumberland. Even though Macduff seems to be loyal to his country and his legitimate king, Malcolm wouldn’t totally trust him and fears that he would “offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb [t]’appease an angry god”. In this line, Malcolm compares himself to a lamb that is not only weak and poor but also innocent; insisting on the fact that his ingenuity, the lamb being the symbol of innocence and pureness whereas Macbeth is compared to an angry god whose fury would be calmed by the sacrifice of this lamb. The difference of strength between the two of them is stressed by two sets of anthetical terms: “lamb” is opposed to “god” and “innocent” is opposed to “angry”. Malcolm reveals his fear of Macbeth in this line and the feeling of powerlessness that overwhelms him. However, terms that he chose for Macbeth might be seen as an oxymoron, since the god in the Christian tradition is supposed to be a loving father like entity, so it shows that Malcolm thinks that Macbeth really is an usurper and that he may have the title he coveted but has none of the qualities required to be a good king therefore there is still hope that he would defeat the “tyrant” even if the future battle seems one-sided.
ReplyDeleteThis line is really interesting as it well illustrates the state of mind of Malcolm at this point of the play and the opposition between Malcolm, the good and legitimate king, and Macbeth, the bloody tyrant, who are meant to be confronted to the other and their own fears and doubts.
The imagery I found particularly interesting was that relating items of a royal nature. They are always used in a metaphorical way and almost without exception evoke kings-to-be. Macbeth's "fruitless crown" and "barren sceptre", for example, both portray the pointlessness of power in his mind if it cannot be passed on to his offspring. With these words we understand that Macbeth has realized the subtleties of the first prophecy and that he now feels cheated seeing as "for them the gracious Duncan [has he] murdered" when thinking about "Banquo's issue". Is this a lesson from Shakespeare? That deeds down with greedy intentions can bring but hardship and never anything fruitful?
ReplyDeleteThere are also the "two fold balls and treble sceptres" that Macbeth sees reflected from the future in IV-1. They appear in the hands of Banquo's seemingly endless dynasty and represent dominion over not just Scotland but the entirety of the British Isles. As well as reinforcing Macbeth's wretched feeling of being hard-done-by this line is a direct compliment to King James who was coronated twice, first as king of England and Scotland and then of Ireland as well. Other homages are present in the play such as James' surpising passion for witchcraft which clearly factored in it's inclusion in the play. From these facts it is now quite clear why Shakespeares troupe came under royal patronage and was called the Kings men... (How did I end up here and get so sidetracked..?)
Anyway my final piece comes just before the last as the third apparition is a "crowned child" who in my view compounds Macbeth's useless position. Even though he has become king he is instructed to "speak not to't" and he finds himself in a position where he is not for the first time out of his depth. This just goes to show that in this play the protagonist never has total control and will eventually realize that he has been ultimately deceived.
First of all, I would congratulate all of you for your skillful analysis of the different kinds of imagery in this amazing work - Macbeth. It is true, Shakespeare explores a great number of themes, as light versus dark, blood, clothes, etc., and it's what makes his plays so interesting to study! Facing so numerous kind of imagery, I chose to work on child imagery in this play.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, during the whole tragedy, there is a strike between Macbeth and these younger beings. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is discussing over killing Duncan or not, and as he is speaking, he feels more and more guilty. In fact the king is very virtuous, almost perfect! So faultless, that in his soliloquy from Act I Scene 7, Macbeth associates his death with "...pity, like a naked newborn babe / Striding the blast, of heaven's cherubin horsed". This quote emphasizes the holy aspect of children in the play, and there, they are symbolizing King Duncan's innocence and flawlessness. Then, the king is also linked with Heaven through "his virtues/[those] Will plead like angels", with Heaven represented by Duncan, and Hell by Macbeth. These both character's relation in the play is very important, as it highlights Macbeth's darkness through the play.
Another argument to the role of children in making Macbeth a damned character is the fact that he has no son/daughter, as far as he is the "father" of a "fruitless crown". And as it wasn't sufficient to kill the king and Banquo (who was supposed to be his best friend), he also tried to kill his young son, and massacred Macduff's entire family! This slaughter harmed him, as soon arrived his turn to be killed by the father "of no women born".
Children imagery was also used by Shakespeare to add a strong dramatic effect. In general, the audience is more sensible to children's death than to adults’. He played with the spectators sentiments by inserting a "finger of birth-strangled babe" to the three witches' cauldron. It affects deeply the viewers, because of the disgusting aspect of this image, and creates a frightening atmosphere...
To conclude, I will add that I completely agree with Cecile, by saying that Shakespeare is an absolute master of the language. This exploration of all what children can provoke inside the play and outside (on the spectators) added to his magnificent way of writing, the myriads of play on words, the profusion of themes approached, the characterization... All this is just stunning! And I think that everything you had written, guys, is true, and what concerns the imagery in this literary work, we can only salute Shakespeare's feat...
In my comment, I forgot to mention a bloody and a crowned child as an another appearance of child imagery. This could be interpreted as foreshadowing because we know that Banquo was killed before his son, and that he will be father of a descendance of kings. So these children can represent Fleance that would come to Dunsinane, "with a tree in his hand", to give an end to Macbeth's reign.
DeleteMacbeth, the dramatic play written by William Shakespeare has many good examples of imagery, especially blood (We can say that this tragedy is filled with many references to blood ang gore). It symbolizes honor, bravery and also deceit and evil. It also represents reason, guilt, murder and death. Blood is an essential part of life and without it, we could not live-but it also relates to the tragedy, which displays itself with bloody peripeteia.
ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth twice more complains that she can't get the blood off of her hands, then she is devastated when she realizes that the blood will never come out: "Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O!"
She cannot handle the guilt of the murders of the soldiers she killed and cannot wash off the 'blood' on her hands. Even the perfumes from Arabia ( the strongest and sweetest smelling of all perfumes) cannot wash it off. In fact, nothing what is terrestrial can purify her soul and hands which can be considerated as ''the tools of crime''. The smell of the blood is metaphorical ( as we know this substance has a neutral fragrance that we cannot detect). What is more, the sweatness of Arabia parfumes indicates the bitterness of blood, which connotes the blame and suffering. Lady Macbeth cannot even understand how her « little hand » could commit that giant and hideous crime. Indeed, she will never be able to get rid of that immense guilt ...
In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery such as blood, nature, light, … however there is another style of imagery, not used a lot, but very efficient, clothing. We all know that you can learn a lot from people’s clothing, and in this play, he plays a lot with appearance in order to make use picture what he wants to say.
ReplyDeleteAll along the play, Shakespeare used cloth imagery to show who Macbeth does not fit his royal status. When the play goes on, and that he is on the decline, “He cannot buckle his distemper’d cause within the belt of rule”(Act V.3). Here, the belt is too tight, for Macbeth, and he does not fit in it anymore. “His distemper’d” is getting too important, too big for one lonely man. In another way, he cannot contain his sick government under control, « the belt » being justice.
This imagery shows perfectly that Macbeth is not controlling his title, and what he built during his reign is getting over him. As he was a great man at the beginning of the play, he is now totally miserable and hateful.
At this point you can react two different ways: He can possibly feel pity for him, because everyone is degrading him, or you can feel victorious that he finally get what he deserved, hate. It is your own choice to interpret things, and it is what makes a good character, because even if did very bad things, you followed his story, and you get attached to him. Personally, I do not know how to react in front of a character like this, and this is why he is such an interesting tragic hero.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery. As it has previously been said we can find different categories of imagery such as clothing, blood, disease, darkness or light, religion, child… But to me, some themes are more efficient throuhout the play such as nature (which is by the way larger as it can be devided in many small categories as insects, plants,...), and more particularly animal imagery.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Shakespeare often uses representative animals to caracterize his characters like in Act I, scene II when he presents his protagonist to the reader, for the first time, as being « As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. » In fact this quotation comes from a long description of Macbeth who is said to be a valourous and loyal minion who fought, risking his life, for his King. This verse first seems to continue this quite positive painting with the use of « eagle » and « lion », both very strong, proud and stately, symboles of power. But thoses animals are actually used with « sparrow » and « hare » which are, on the contrary, very weak animals.
Here we can assume that Shakespeare caracterizes Macbeth comparing him to strong animals but we can add that this very same use of those symboles of power and the use of weak animals forshadows the following events (that is to say the weakness of will he will demonstrate further to obtain power).
Not long before noble Banquo's assassination, in Act3,scene 1, Macbeth, in a long soliloquy addressed to his own person justifies his decision to get his friend killed. Indeed, Banquo is like a shadow cast over him and Macbeth deplores the way the weird sisters “Upon [his] head […] placed a fruitless crown”.
ReplyDeleteWe recognise in this line the imagery of nature so often used throughout the play. If we look more carefully, we can notice that this pattern is repeatedly associated with kingship. Duncan for instance relates to Macbeth as a plant he wishes to”labour To make [him] full of growing”. Malcom also speaks of this cycle in his final speech, as he himself becomes King of Scotland (Act 5 scene 9). Nature represents the source of life, and consequently also generally foreshadows a characters death, the end of his life. Indeed, As King Duncan uses this imagery, his death is soon to be, and so is Banquo's here, while Macbeth speaks of fruits...
In this particular example, fruits refer to one's descendants, and indeed, Macbeth's crown is fruitless. We do not know if Lady Macbeth end her husband ever had any children, but none are explicitly mentioned, (Lady Macbeth's numerous references to babes or childhood could be a source of ambiguity) we know that Macbeth has no heir. This is why the recently crowned king wonders at the utility of his new title. The pronoun “They” is attributed to the “prophet-like” sisters. Macbeth complains about the fact that Banquo's “seeds” are promised to the throne and feels he has been tricked by the witches.
The acknowledgement of the inferiority of his crown, added to other factors that make Banquo unfavoured (Macbeth seems to have a certain inferiority complex as he fells “[his] genius is rebuked”, under Banquo's shadow...). As we all know, the witches, to Macbeth's mind have given him “the perfectest report”. This why, certain that what was said is to be, he can no more bare the presence of his own best friend....
This quote, I know, has already been commented, nevertheless, I wanted to give you my own interpretation of it, which is not the same as the other's, as I chose to discuss nature imagery found in it, as opposed to other ones..