Friday, January 30, 2015

What are some symbols tracked throughout the play of Macbeth?

There are a handful of symbols that reappear throughout Macbeth, but the following symbols are the most commonly found. 



Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? (MACBETH. II.ii.58-59)


Out, damned spot; out I say... who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him? (LADY MACBETH. V.i.30-34)



Blood reappears throughout the play and often signifies guilt, shame or paranoia. Macbeth speaks of blood...

There are a handful of symbols that reappear throughout Macbeth, but the following symbols are the most commonly found. 



Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? (MACBETH. II.ii.58-59)


Out, damned spot; out I say... who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him? (LADY MACBETH. V.i.30-34)



Blood reappears throughout the play and often signifies guilt, shame or paranoia. Macbeth speaks of blood when he kills Duncan, wondering if Neptune's ocean can wash the blood clean from his hand. He is not literally asking for Neptune to rise and wash his hands, but rather for his sin to be forgiven. Lady Macbeth continues this relationship with the blood symbolism by frantically trying to scrub imaginary blood from her hands in the fifth act. 


  • Night and The Weather.


Fair is foul, and foul is fair; / Hover through the fog and filthy air. (WITCHES. I.i.12-13)


Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, / That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, / Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark / To cry 'Hold, hold!' (LADY MACBETH. I.v.56-60)



The weather is mentioned from the very beginning of Macbeth and often is used to create a mood over the stage. The Witches all mention the weather in the first scene, describing how the weather must be right for the prophecies and deeds to occur. Night, specifically, is used to achieve things in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth frequently mentions night, wishing it to surround her and her husband so they may commit their acts. 

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