Motif Animals In Macbeth

941 Words2 Pages

Peach C.
Dr. Perkins
British Literature
April 11, 2014
The Motif Animals in Macbeth
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is considered to be one of the most powerful and darkest tragedies. The play deals with the destruction brought upon by the rise of the evil. The story tells about a brave man named Macbeth who receives the prophecy of the three witches that one day he will becomes a King of Scotland. Overwhelmed by desire and ambition to be king, Macbeth and his wife plan to murder King Duncan and take the throne for themselves. Many lives are sacrifices by the selfishness of Macbeth and his wife. In the end, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are haunted by guilt, which leads to the theme that there are consequences for every action. In their chant, the witches express another important theme “fair is foul and foul is fair.” The idea that the line between heaven and hell is very thin is suggests in the quote. The use of motif of animals in one of the many ways in which Shakespeare characterizes his character and develops the themes of the play. Animals as well as human need leader in their kingdom. The problem lies on what qualities one need to possess in order to become a good and reliable leader.
Animal is one of the many important motifs in Macbeth. Through the use of animal, Shakespeare was able to portray and characterize the different characters. Macbeth is a tragic hero and at the beginning of the play, he defeats the enemy with his amazing military skills, which earns praises from the king. One of the soldiers remark Macbeth and Banquo in the battlefield, “As sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion." The eagles and lion are very fierce and good at hunting, whereas the hare and sparrows are weak and could be easily kille...

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...is mind is full of scorpion, he means that his mind is fill with evilness and poisonous idea.
At this point in the play, Macbeth is afraid of losing his crown that he is willing to do anything to save it. He lost his moral values and rational judgment. Every actions does indeed have consequences. Macduff learns the truth that Macbeth killed Duncan and when Macduff is often absent from Macbeth’s sight he grows suspicious. Macbeth has also been told by the witches during his second visit to beware of Macduff. Upon hearing this, he decided to send people to kill Macduff and his family. Macduff fled the castle first leaving his family behind. During the time Lady Macduff voice her fear: "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" (4.2.11).

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