Motifs

• PREDICTION / PROPHECY

  • This is where the witches manipulate Macbeth and others into doing certain things to cause chaos
  • The predictions given to Macbeth by the Three Apparitions give him a false sense of security and make him feel invincible.
  • The predictions (of moving trees, someone not born of a woman) seem crazy, causing Macbeth to feel as if he doesn’t ever need to prepare for battle.
  • Banquo does warn Macbeth, however Macbeth continues to fully trust the witches
  • The ambiguous prophecies must be interpreted as riddles, since they do not always mean what they seem to mean
• VIOLENCE

  • Macbeth is characterized by violence in the play, from Act 1, Scene 2
  • Macbeth's hamartia (ambition) caused him to spill blood and disturb the natural order, creating a spiral of violence that led to his downfall
  • E.g. the slaughtering of Macduff’s family and Banquo, both out of greed, and Duncan’s horses who eat each other after Duncan’s murder
• WEATHER

  • Weather is a way of predicting future course of action or circumstances, a use of a foreshadowing
  • The symbols of thunder, lightning, rain, and bad storms are indicators of turbulent circumstances in Scotland
  • The witches always meet in bad weather and set in motion many of the bad occurrences in the play
• LIGHT AND DARK

  • Bad things happen in the dark, most of the evil things that happen occur at night
  • Duncan is murdered in his sleep when it is dark
  • Banquo is murdered after sunset
  • The battles at the beginning and end of Macbeth occur in daylight because they are for the good of Scotland
  • The characters hide their evil deeds in the dark, and shine their good deeds in the daylight
• BLOOD

  • Blood tends to stain things; blood appears on the hands and faces of those who commit grotesque murders
  • The murderers cannot get the smell or sight of blood off of their hands, illustrating the actions they have done are irreversible and the guilt is overwhelming
• SLEEP

  • The good and those who have died sleep well
  • Those who are overwhelmed by what they have done cannot sleep
  • Those who commit bad deeds/disturbs the natural order unleashes chaos and restlessness, even within themselves
  • E.g. The sleeplessness experienced by Lady Macbeth after the murders of many, she has gone completely insane over the guilt she experiences for her actions
• GENDER

  • Lady Macbeth is frustrated by the limitations placed on her due to her gender, asking the gods to “unsex” her so she can do things that Macbeth hesitates to do
  • Macbeth often shows 'feminine' characteristics through his hesitance but she convinces him by telling him to be a man
  • The three witches are considered female, but they have beards, making them inhuman and therefore allow them to break traditional gender roles
  • In both instances, it is women that encourage Macbeth to do the evil things that he does – similar to how stories often portray women, dating back to Adam and Eve
• HALLUCINATION 

  • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth suffer from hallucinations due to their guilt
  • These hallucinations cause them to slowly become insane and their behaviour becomes more and more erratic
  • The number of hallucinations that occur increases as their guilt becomes greater and greater
  • Witches were thought to use hallucinogens from plants, implying their consistent control and corruption of Macbeth throughout the play