Recurring Motifs and Themes

• Ambition and Betrayal. Thematically, Macbeth is seen as warning of the dangers of ambition, showing that ambition can be a morally corrupting agent. Ambition can be seen as Macbeth's tragic flaw: it consumes him - ironically, by the end of the play, it consumes him in the other sense of the word. Betrayal goes hand-in-hand with ambition, and it is another theme: Macbeth betrays both his own king and his friend by killing Duncan and then Banquo, respectively. Interestingly, Macbeth's murder of Duncan early in the play, an act of treason, (Act II, Scene 2) Then later, in the middle of the play (Act 3) the murder of Banquo emphasizes the thematic importance of the murder of Duncan. Betrayal is also shown when, after the prophecy, Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor after the previous Thane is executed for betrayal against the king, and as Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth betrays the King by murdering him.

• Visions. Macbeth hallucinates a bloody knife in the air pointing to King Duncan’s resting chamber “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand” (Act II Scene I). Macbeth knows what he is doing will change his life. Committing regicide is a sin that can’t be forgiven. Macbeth may see this through the supernatural powers of the three witches, or it may be another hallucination. Lady Macbeth believes there is blood on her hands that won’t come off “Out damned spot! Out I say!” (Act 5 Scene 1). Lady Macbeth here is sleepwalking and spot is being referred to as blood stained hands. Lady Macbeth can’t cleanse herself of the guilt of plotting King Duncan’s murder. Though it is not clear whether it is a mere vision or not, some believe that the ghost of Banquo, which Macbeth sees at the Royal Banquet, is a figment of his guilty conscience. Of course, one could also argue that a real ghost would not be unusual in a play that includes supernatural witches and apparitions.

• Blood and bloodshed. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth’s army has just defeated Norwegian invaders in a gruesome battle. A captain is mortally wounded and the king remarks on it, “What bloody man is that? He can report, as seemeth by his plight” (Act I Scene III). Blood thus symbolizes the advent of a messenger, the admonitions of God or nature displaying man his future in red letters. The cauldron of the witches, that whispering-post of the Fates, is filled with blood. The shedding of blood continues throughout the play until the very end, when Macbeth is slain by Macduff “Hail King! For so thou art: behold, where stands Th’ usurpers cursed head”. Macduff then shows Malcolm, the new king, Macbeth’s head dripping with blood. Though the tyrant's mouth no longer speaks, his bloody droplets proclaim the message of his life, and in death he becomes a kind of prophet. Blood can also be shown as representing guilt. When Macbeth kills King Duncan blood on his hand symbolizes guilt. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth, in her midnight ramble, believes that she sees blood on her hands.

• Clothing. Clothing is a frequently used metaphor within Macbeth, a direct symbolism of morals, stature, violence, ambition and admiration. One should consider the various references within the play to blood-stained clothes. As the skin of the body is made to yield its precious scarlet freight, the product of the loom yet holds it. Bloody clothes are converted to crimson banners, tattling the death of kings. "Let our old robes sit easier than our news." "-And I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon."

• The baby and child. The unborn and born youth are frequently made reference to. Children and babies represent innocence, purity and vulnerability. The foolish babbling of the baby contrasts starkly with the dark meditations of Macbeth. They are used to accentuate the cruel nature of various dramatis personae such as Macbeth and Lady, i.e. the killing of Macduff's son, Lady Macbeth's graphic retort to Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7), "I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this." (Quote represents lack of compassion)

• Hands. Hands are the instruments of evil, the physical manifestation that shall carry out the desires of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. One often refers to pure and untainted hands of saints. In this context, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are constantly plagued by illusions of their blood stained hands signifies sullied and tainted souls that cannot redeem their actions. Yet Macbeth's hand is also the mighty instrument that swings his sword, and drives his murdering knife. Guilt is implicit in the act.

• Natural Order. The 'unnatural' replacement of Duncan by Macbeth disturbs the natural order of the royal lineage. Shakespearean context valued the divinity of the king, i.e. the king is selected by a greater being- i.e. of a preordained nature. Thus, by unnatural replacement of the king, Macbeth has invoked the wrath of greater beings- nature has been disturbed and thrown into turmoil (i.e. horses cannibalise each other, a small owl kills a regal hawk).

• Insomnia. The commonly acknowledged 'cleansing sleep', ("Balm of hurt minds" - Act 2, Scene 2) is made a common reference in this play. "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep- the innocent sleep" (Act 2, Scene 2). Insomnia and sleep walking are rendered upon the two main characters. Insomnia represents the constant disease of guilt and conscience. It represents the fear of death, brought on by Macbeth's interminable slaughter. When a sailor's wife denies the First Witch the chestnuts that she is eating, the First Witch curses the sailor and denies him sleep: "Sleep shall neither night nor day / Hang upon his penthouse lid" (I.iii.19-20).

• Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Ambiguity. Shakespeare shows in the play a connection between masculinity, and violence and ambition. In the beginning where Lady Macbeth says, "when you durst do it, then you are a man," (1.7.48) she is saying that if Macbeth were masculine, he could kill Duncan, and become King of Scotland. Later the "dagger of the mind" (2.1.39) that Macbeth sees, and cannot grasp, represents his masculinity. If he can grasp it, then he can kill Duncan and become king. When it comes time to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth cannot do it, saying, "Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done't." (Act 2, Scene 2) Shakespeare is saying that a woman, being not as masculine as a man, cannot kill directly. In the play, women play another role: that of manipulation. The women of the play manipulate Macbeth into doing their bidding. The witches awaken Macbeth's ambitions, and then Lady Macbeth drives Macbeth to kill King Duncan.

• Marriage. The women in the play are only known by their husband's name, such as "Lady Macbeth" and "Lady Macduff". Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan together, for their ascension to King and Queen of Scotland. Shakespeare is a proponent of having husband and wife be one unit, and responsible for each other's actions. In Act 4 scene 2 after Macduff goes to England with Malcolm Lady Macduff says, "From Whence himself [Macduff] does fly? / He loves us not He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. / all is the fear and nothing is the love." She is saying that Macduff should be as his castle with his wife and family, protecting them. When Macbeth's murderers kill Macduff's family (according to Shakespeare) it is his fault, because he wasn't there to protect them.

• Appearance vs reality. The play is full of contradictory statements such as, "When the battle's lost and won," (1.1.4)-- though the battle was lost for one side and won for the other-- and "Fair is foul, and foul is fair", (1.1.12) from the witches in Act I. Macbeth's first line in the play is: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." (1.3.38) Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth's world as a confusing and chaotic one. This mirrors the moral dilemma involved in the plot to kill the King, and Macbeth's indecision. More often than not, however, the sentence is seen as suggesting that "nothing will be what it seems."

• Evil. The witches, servants of the devil, and their dark prophecy steer Macbeth through the play. The evil in Macbeth grows throughout the play. In the beginning he is reluctant to commit murder, but slowly murder becomes easier, at the turning point of the play Macbeth says, "Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er." (3.4.138-139) He has decided it would be just as easy to keep killing and murdering as it would to repent and turn back. It is also noteworthy that the more evil Macbeth gets, the more lines the witches have in each Act.
  
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