Clothing Motif In Macbeth

The theme of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is that the main character, Macbeth, feels as though life is meaningless if there is no loyalty. The literary motif clothing is shown throughout loyalty between each character.

The literary clothing motif is connected most with loyalty. If Macbeth had truly been loyal to Scotland and his King, then Duncan would not have been killed for his power, status, or wealth. Macbeth was persuaded by Lady Macbeth to kill their King, Duncan. After Duncan’s death, Macbeth took his position as King, and doing so, he started wearing higher status clothing. Act 4, scene 3, Malcolm speaks to Ross and Macduff about “pulling down a man’s hat”, to pull down a man’s hat is a symbol of decreasing his social status. Lower class, slaves, servants, bums, and lower status people typically

When picturing a very elite person, such as Lady Macbeth, she has many articles of jewelry showing her wealth. Many jewels in her clothing, show power and higher status compared to a slave. She wears very big, elite, flashy dresses to catch attention and remind others of her status. Duncan most likely wore something equivalent to a suit and many rings, being a King to show once again, wealth and status. Act 3 scene 1, Macbeth speaks of Duncan’s murder, says his “eternal jewel” and peace has been annihilated for the King’s power, the jewels symbolize wealth and power. Power is important because there are many more privileges with being higher class, such as being the King of Scotland where the King has more power and can make decisions that a servant could not. Power also affects jobs, servants have little to no power and are treated terribly, Kings have most to all power and are treated royally. Lady Macbeth puts the idea of more power into Macbeth’s mind, and he wanted to be treated differently, more importantly. Wanting to be treated more