The agents of chaos and disorder were symbolized by darkness in Act 4. The witches were described as, "dark as midnight"; Macbeth was described as , "devilish and dark"; and Scotland was described as "dying". The imagery of darkness also plays an important role in character development. Macbeth in Act 1 was an agent of order and thus was described with words such as "noble" and "loyal" but when Macbeth became an agent of disorder he was described with words such as "dark" and "devilish". This same character development is true for Scotland which in Act 1 was described as the land of light; but in Act 4 when it became the land of evil was described with diction such as dark and grave like.
The witches circle their cauldron, throwing into it the elements of their magic spell while chanting "double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." Macbeth enters, demanding answers. An atmosphere I created by introducing the weather, with thunder and lightning in the distant horizon. The witches complete their magic spell and summon forth a series of apparitions. The first is an Armed Head (a head wearing a helmet), that warns Macbeth to beware the Thane of Fife (Macduff). The second apparition is a bloody child, who tells him that "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth." Hearing this, Macbeth is bolstered, and states that he no longer needs to fear Macduff then. The third apparition is a child wearing a crown, with a tree in its hand, who says that "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill [Macbeth's castle] / Shall come against him." This cheers Macbeth even more, since he knows that nothing can move a forest. Macbeth now asks his last question: will Banquo's children ever rule Scotland?
The cauldron sinks, and a strange sound is heard. The witches now show Macbeth the "show of kings": a procession of eight kings, the eighth of whom holds a mirror in his hand, followed by Banquo. As Banquo points at this line of kings, Macbeth realizes that they are indeed his family line, and that the witches' words were true. The witches dance and disappear, and Lennox enters, with the news that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth resolves that from now on he will act immediately on his ambitions, and the first step he will take will be to seize Fife and kill Macduff's wife and children.
In his plays, Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery. Many forms of his imagery are used in his play `Macbeth,' including the forms of clothing and darkness. Each detail in his imagery, it seems to me, contains an important symbol of the play, and symbols that we must understand if we are to understand either the passage it is in, or the play as a whole. In `Macbeth' I think that the imagery of clothing is used to suggest that throughout the play, Macbeth is seeking to hide his "disgraceful self" from his eyes and from others. I think that Shakespeare wants to keep alive the ironical contrast between the wretched creature that Macbeth really is and the disguises he assumes to conceal the fact. Secondly, I think that in the play honours are thought of as garments to be worn; likewise, Macbeth is constantly represented symbolically as the wearer of robes not belonging to him. He is wearing an "undeserved dignity." A crucial point in describing the purpose of clothing in `Macbeth' is the fact that these are not his garments. Therefore, Macbeth is uncomfortable in them because he is continually conscious of the fact that they do not belong to him. In the following passage, the idea constantly recurs that Macbeth's new honours sit ill upon him, like a loose and badly fitting garment, belonging to someone else: New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use. The second, most important chain of imagery used to add to the atmosphere is that of the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy a special tone, or atmosphere must be created to show the darkness and blackness in a tragedy. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth's soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the scenes take place at night or in some dark spot; for instance, the vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, and Lady Macbeth's sleep-walking, all occur at night. Darkness is the time when the traveller hastens to reach safety in his inn, when Banquo rides homeward to meet his assassins; furthermore, it is the time when the wolf howls, the owl screams, and when murder steals forth to his work. In `Macbeth' I think the darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most importantly, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness could partially blind out all of the horrible things that occur in the night. For, only in darkness can such evil deeds be done. Secondly, the darkness shows one of Lady Macbeth's weaknesses: her fear of the dark. In the play, phrases of fear escape from her lips even in sleep. She believes darkness to be the place of torment. In the whole drama, the sun seems to shine only twice. First, in the beautiful but ironical passage when Duncan sees the swallows flirting round the castle of death. Next, when at the close the avenging army gathers to rid the earth of its shame. Therefore; I can say that darkness is used to establish the evil parts of the play; whereas, daylight is used to establish victory or goodness in a play.
During Act 1, the audience is presented with many views of Macbeth and it is difficult to decide whether he is good or bad. Macbeth is a complex character and it is too difficult to decide whether Macbeth is simply good or bad; the question has to be looked at in more detail.
Macbeth is introduced to the audience as the Thane of Glamis; soon afterwards he becomes Thane of Cawdor due to his help in the battle against the Norweigians, as he is a member of the Scottish army. Macbeth is the King's kinsman as well and is therefore in line to the throne, though this is only a distant claim. He is clearly important as he is summoned to the King's court and the King then stays a night at Macbeth's castle.
At the start of the play, Macbeth is revealed as a brave and courageous fighter. The Captain tells the King (Duncan) about Macbeth's bravery in battle:
"For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name) ... with his brandish'd steel ... carv'd out his passageo”
The King, who clearly already has an high opinion of Macbeth, describes him as a "valiant cousino and a "worthy gentlemano, and he shows he respect for Macbeth by awarding him the title Thane of Cawdor. At this moment, Macbeth is seen to be loyal to the King by fighting for him, and is therefore very patriotic.
However, Macbeth is not a totally bloodthirsty warrior, as one might have expected from the descriptions of him in the previous scene. His first line in the play, "Such foul and fair a day I have not see no, shows that Macbeth does not enjoy killing people but is prepared to do so if it is necessary - showing he has a conscience. It is this conscience that throws up many objections to him killing the King - objections, which nearly stop him from doing the deed. This shows that he is not easily won over to evil. Lady Macbeth describes Macbeth as "full of the milk of human kindnesso, although ironically she is using this as a point of criticism.
There are many forms of imagery in the world today. They usually take on two main forms, those being visual and mental. Word means different thing to different people. The Websters Dictionary defines it as, in rhetoric, representations in writing or speaking; lively descriptions which impress the images of things on the mind; figures in discourse. This once again goes back to the idea of mental imagery and the different ways people interpret things. In William Shakespeares Macbeth. Imagery is connected to both character development as well as theme and are patterned throughout the play. From the beginning of the play we are introduced to image of darkness. It was called upon by Banquo, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In his aside to Macbeth "But tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In deepest consequence" Banquo shows that he is immediately aware that the witches are associated with darkness. He chooses not to act on the witches prophecies, but rather to be wary and reluctant. He is not ready to involve himself with the witches, as he sees them as a dark force. However Macbeth is on opportunist and the image of darkness reveals his deepest, darkest desires. This is shown in Macbeth's aside. "The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down or else o'ver-leap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires" It becomes apparent that, it bothered Macbeth a great deal to hear that Malcolm was named successor to King Duncan, he then calls on darkness to hide his evil thoughts. Lady Macbeth does the same, she conjures up the forces of darkness, to make sure the heavens don't see her having these thoughts. "Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, N'or heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry, "Hold, hold!" (I, V, 53-57) By the end of Act I, we can see that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have sided with "Darkness". By listening to the prompting of the witches they have given in to them and side with the forces of evil. But, Banquo, is still cautious about the idea of even and darkness. He shows us that the witches ae only tell partial truths that look pretty at first, but, will hurt you in the end. This also brings us to the theme of evil and how it does the same thing. It comes across as being very tempting but, will definitely bring you down in the end. Another strong image in the play is "blood". It is perhaps the most powerful image of Macbeth's character change. One such image is portrayed just before Macbeth visits the witches for the second time. He says to his wife, Lady Macbeth that "For mine own good All causes shall give away; I am in blood Stepp'd in so for, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:" (III, IV, 166-169) This says that he is no longer concerned with who is in his way as long as he gets to the top. He is being driven by evil once again. The blood image shows that once Macbeth sided with the forces of darkness, killing Duncan, he was overwhelmed and would never escape evil's ugly grasp. Thus changing his character forever. It also effects the them of the play. In Elizabethan times, to be named King you were appointed by God. So, to kill a King you are going against God, thus once again siding with evil. So when Macbeth murdered King Duncan it was almost like a "cardinal sin". So bad in fact than he would never be able to clean his hands of the blood. If he were to try to clean his hands there would be so much of it that it would turn the oceans red with the blood of the King (God). This point is made clear by Macbeth when he says. "Will all great Neptune's oceans wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red." (II, II, 77-80) Thus this show us just how much of an impact the image of blood has over the characters and plot. Finally, through the use of clothes, Shakespeare reinforces the theme that Macbeth is never comfortable with his newly appointed roles in the kingdom, and that his character was never meant to be more than a brave loyal subject. When Macbeth is named Thane of Cauder he asks the question "The Thane of Cauder lives: why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" Even when he is given a new title the clothing image shows he is never comfortable. This idea is shown again with Banquo says "New honours come upon him, Like strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use," Banquo is comparing this idea to ill-fitting clothes. He is stating that at first all clothes are binding and uncomfortable, but with time and use they work themselves in and become snug. This clearly helps develop the idea that Macbeth will never be satisfied with his changing roles. He will always be wearing tight fitting clothes in his mind. The imagery of clothing helped to develop a picture of a character (Macbeth) who never fit in and was never comfortable with a role he obtained by evils means. When we look back at the play so far we can clearly see that his images are not only connected to his characters and theme he also give a moral message. He is telling us don't get caught up in the pool of blood and darkness and do not wear borrowed robes. You will never be satisfied with where you end up because you got there by unholy means. Also, this process might keep repeating itself and you never know how much you will change or how many people will get hurt on your climb to the top. Which makes the success you were striving for worthless. The only real way to achieve self gratification for your successes is to go about them honestly, because honesty is the best policy. These were just a few of the hundreds of images in Shakespeare's Macbeth, those of which make his play structurally sound as well as didactic.
Although Macbeth does take actions that lead to his downfall, I believe that he is not totally responsible for what happens. Although he takes the action that leads to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king in Act 1 Scene 3. I believe that it is the witches are more responsible for Macbeth's downfall than he is.In Act 1, Scene 3, the witches tell Macbeth that he is thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and that he "shalt be king hereafter". Immediately after hearing the witches prophesise that he will be king, Macbeth thinks that he must kill the current king to become king himself. I believe that before hearing the witch's prophecies, Macbeth had never in his wildest dreams thought of killing King Duncan to become king himself.
In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth meets again with the witches, who tell him through apparitions, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife." In the following scene, we see murderers sent by Macbeth enter Macduff's castle and slaughter both Lady Macduff and her son. The witches are also responsible for this murder, because once again, the witches put ideas in his head.
Although the witches can be held responsible for the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and her son, they cannot be held responsible for the murder of Banquo. The witches only speak of Banquo when Macbeth meets with them for the second time and Act 4, Scene 1, after Banquo has already been killed. This murder is the complete responsibility of Macbeth, because the witches had absolutely nothing to do with it and it was only Macbeth's own suspicions that brought him to have Banquo killed.
If Macbeth had not taken action to fulfill the witch's prophecies, he would probably have been happily living as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor at the end of the play. It could be said that he was responsible for his own downfall. However, Macbeth only took action after hearing the witch's prophecies, so I believe that Macbeth cannot be held totally responsible for what happens to himself. I believe that if Macbeth had never heard the witch's prophecies, he would have lived a happy, full life, and perhaps he would have become anyway.
The Witches are responsible for what happens to Macbeth Although Macbeth does take actions that lead to his downfall, I believe that he is not totally responsible for what happens. Although he takes the action that leads to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king in Act 1 Scene 3. I believe that it is the witches are more responsible for Macbeth's downfall than he is. In Act 1, Scene 3, the witches tell Macbeth that he is thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and that he "shalt be king hereafter". Immediately after hearing the witches prophesise that he will be king, Macbeth thinks that he must kill the current king to become king himself. I believe that before hearing the witch's prophecies, Macbeth had never in his wildest dreams thought of killing King Duncan to become king himself. In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth meets again with the witches, who tell him through apparitions, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife." In the following scene, we see murderers sent by Macbeth enter Macduff's castle and slaughter both Lady Macduff and her son. The witches are also responsible for this murder, because once again, the witches put ideas in his head. Although the witches can be held responsible for the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and her son, they cannot be held responsible for the murder of Banquo. The witches only speak of Banquo when Macbeth meets with them for the second time and Act 4, Scene 1, after Banquo has already been killed. This murder is the complete responsibility of Macbeth, because the witches had absolutely nothing to do with it and it was only Macbeth's own suspicions that brought him to have Banquo killed. If Macbeth had not taken action to fulfill the witch's prophecies, he would probably have been happily living as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor at the end of the play. It could be said that he was responsible for his own downfall. However, Macbeth only took action after hearing the witch's prophecies, so I believe that Macbeth cannot be held totally responsible for what happens to himself. I believe that if Macbeth had never heard the witch's prophecies, he would have lived a happy, full life, and perhaps he would have become anyway.
Another good point for Macbeth is the trust he places in his wife, in an age where women were almost invariably thought as inferior to men. He is prepared to share all his secrets, since he tells her everything he has seen with the witches in his letter to her. This also shows Macbeth's absolute trust in his wife, for such a letter could have been considered treasonous and led to Macbeth's death. Lady Macbeth is addressed in the letter as "my dearest partner of greatnesso, showing that Macbeth is also prepared to listen to his wife.This is again not normal behaviour and it shows his love and respect for her. Macbeth is also a good friend to , who clearly also has respect for him when he describes his friend as "worthy Macbetho.
Macbeth is not easily won over to evil; ironically when he first meets the witches he is more scared than Banquo. Indeed, it could be said that all the evil done by Macbeth is done under the spell of the witches. ("Banquo: ... why do you start, and seem to fear/Things that sound so fair?).
This episode show that Macbeth is too eager to please other people - he needs Lady Macbeth to love him and cannot cope when she mentions "green and paleo and tells him that "such I account thy loveo if he cannot kill Duncan. One of the reasons that Macbeth gives himself for not killing Duncan is that he has recently bought "golden opinions [of him] from all sorts of peopleo.
Of course, Macbeth is a traitor and is also disloyal. He gives an image of being a hypocrite: in public he behaves one way and in private with Lady Macbeth & the witches in another. This is perhaps best shown in I.4, when Macbeth is paying homage to the King and his son. In the court, Macbeth says to the King:
" The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself..."
Meanwhile, Macbeth is secretly thinking of how he can become the next King. Outside the court, on his own, he says, "Stars hide your fires/Let not light see my dark and deep desires...o. Another example of this decietfulness is seen in I.5, when Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to "...look like the innocent flower/but be the serpent under'to.
Macbeth's determination to kill the king shows a reckless and greedy lust for power. It is possible that the King could have made him more directly in line of the throne as a reward, as Duncan told Macbeth that the Cawdor title was "in earnest of a greater honouro.
To conclude, Macbeth is a character who could have achieved a lot of good, but sadly weaknesses in his character lead him to become evil, although this could partly have been down to the witches. It is too easy and not fully explanatory to call Macbeth good or bad: he is a complex and changing character with good and bad points within it.
