Back to category: Novels

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.

Macbeth Literary Analysis

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a supernatural tragedy, which utilizes many metaphors to repeat themes throughout the entire play. The supernatural aspect of this play begins in the first act, when three witches meet and tell one of the most prominent themes in the play, “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (I, 1, 12, 1). They tell Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, and his friend Banquo that Macbeth will be king and that Banquo’s sons will become king. Macbeth does not heed his friend’s warning and takes this prophecy into his own hands, and ends up murdering the king, as well as Macduff’s family (another Scottish nobleman that suspected Macbeth of murdering the king). This downward spiral eventually leads to Macbeth’s demise. Macbeth began the play as an honest and loyal man, but after the vigorous goading of Lady Macbeth to murder Duncan, he becomes bloodthirsty and reliant on the prophecies of the witches. Lady Macbeth is exactly the opposite; she starts out evil and end...

Posted by: Geraint Watts

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.