Violence

• Theme: Violence - Heroic Violence

  
  

  'Till he unseam'd him from the nave to th' chaps / And fixed his head upon our battlements' (1,2).

  - Macbeth is shown to be a hero at the start because of his violent nature. He kills a traitor. Ironically, Macbeth ends up becoming the traitor that is murdered at the end of the play.

  - This is how Macbeth is praised and rewarded for killing a treacherous thane, Macdonald.

  - The violent imagery describing Macbeth at the start of the play is honourable: his violence on the battlefield is for the king.

  
  

  'Unseam'd'

  - The violent verb 'unseam'd' emphasises how Macbeth opens his enemy from his navel (belly button) to his face.

  - It all seems very fluid (free) in motion. This implies Macbeth is very strong and is unphased by horrifically killing another man.
• Theme: Violence - Heroic Violence

  
  

  'Behold where stands / the usurper's cursed head' (5,9).

  - At the end of the play, Macduff removes Macbeth's head.

  - Macduff seems to be displaying it: 'Behold where stands / the usurper's cursed head' (5,9).

  - This moment makes Macbeth's heroism at the start ironic - he was a hero for killing a man who seems to have been a traitor to the king. However, almost immediately after that, he becomes a traitor, murdering the king and taking over Scotland.

  - This relates back to the witches' statement: 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair' (1,1).
• Theme: Violence - Lady Macbeth - Violent Imagery

  
  

  'I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked the nipple from his boneless gums, / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn / As you have done to this' (1,7).

  - Lady Macbeth uses very violent imagery to persuade her husband to murder King Duncan. She tells him she would have bashed in the brain of her own baby if she had promised to do it.

  
  

  - The verb 'plucked' is simple but devastating; it's as if she casually removed the baby from the breast and broke the connection between them.

  - In this sense, Lady Macbeth goes against nature by refusing to nurture her own child and, instead, describes the violent image of her murdering it.

  
  

  - The adjective 'boneless' reflects how young the child is.

  - He doesn't have teeth in his gums yet. This reminds the audience of how vulnerable the baby is and how Lady Macbeth does not seem to care - again, her careless attitude goes against nature, especially for women at the time the play was set.

  
  

  - Finally, the verb 'dashed' is a very aggressive one. It shows how she would have bashed in her baby's head if she had promised to do it.

  
  

  Analysis

  - She uses violence to try and show Macbeth how strong her commitment is to anything she promises to do.

  - She is trying to show him he is a coward for going back on the plan.

  - She uses an image of violence against the thing she cares most about - her baby. She does this to show him that she'd do anything to keep her word to him and to make him change his mind.

  - In Lady Macbeth's mind, this violent description shows her husband the extent she'd go to for him and, therefore, how much she loves him.
• Theme: Violence - Murder and Violence

  
  

  'A sorry sight'

  - Violence leads to more violence in Macbeth. Macbeth murders the king and murders to protect his crown thereafter. He even orders for a child to be murdered.

  - The violence of killing King Duncan is clear from the blood on Macbeth's hands.

  - King Duncan was sleeping. Macbeth was especially cowardly in the murder and he prevented him from a warrior's death.

  - Macbeth refers to his hands as 'a sorry sight' (2,2). This suggests that he has done something incredibly weak in murdering a sleeping man, and one who he was honour-bound (morally obliged) to serve and protect.
• Theme: Violence - Murder and Violence

  'It will have blood they say: blood will have blood' (3,4).

  - Macbeth says this after seeing Banquo's ghost.

  - This is a metaphor saying that once a violent act is committed, more violence will follow. This usually happens when a family tries to avenge (get revenge for) the first murder.
• Theme: Violence - Murder and Violence

  
  

  'He has killed me, mother'

  - The murder of Macduff's son is seen on stage: 'he has killed me, mother' (4,2).

  - The murder of children is very violent and upsetting. Children are symbolic of innocence. They cannot protect themselves.

  - Calling out to his 'mother' is very emotive (brings out feelings), because it reminds those watching of how young he is. This violence reflects how evil Macbeth has become.
• Theme: Violence - Murder and Violence

  
  

  'Your castle is surprised; your wife and babes / Savagely slaughtered' (4,3)

  - Ross tells Macduff that his wife and children are dead.

  - For Macduff, this has now become a mission of personal revenge against Macbeth.

  - Linking back to fate and tragedy, Macbeth may have caused his own death at this point - the murder of Lady Macduff and her son means that Macduff only wants revenge now.