The Life of Macbeth
By Joanna Fowlston
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's Greed
Macbeth Has Lost His Self!
Mortal Instruments to Macbeth
LITERARY DEVICES
FORESHAWDOWING: CROWN=TRAITOR
When Duncan awards Macbeth the title, Thane of Cawdor, that has been taken from a traitor, Shakespeare hints that Macbeth will follow in the Cawdor's footsteps and betray the King, by killing him.
DRAMATIC IRONY: MACBETH'S CASTLE= DEATH PLACE
King Duncan exhibits a positive outlook upon arriving at Inverness, where the audience already knows he will be murdered by the host, Macbeth.
SYMBOLISM: BLOOD=GUILT
Macbeth: "And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood"
Macbeth imagines a dagger in the air before he goes in to kill Duncan. On this dagger, blood appears and it scares Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth: "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two...Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him."
Lady Macbeth begins to go crazy because she feels guilty for the part she played in the deaths of many people. Her guilt makes her see the blood on her hands from the night Duncan died, however this blood will not go way no matter how much she washes her hands, the murders will always be her fault.