Theme Of Evil In Macbeth

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In the rancorous play Macbeth, Shakespeare imbued various ongoing themes, along with certain motifs to attribute to them. Many of such were dark and foreboding, one of the most prominent being a theme of evil. Evil presents itself not only through the nature of a malevolent character, but with the actions that would follow and haunt them. It would reveal itself through a more palpable form. Evil is manifested through each character's ties to blood, along with the wrong-doings that caused it. The first sign of blood is when the wounded captain speaks to King Duncan about the battle. With a gash in his side talking about violence and treason, the captain had set the tone for the play. The outcome of the battle being led by Macdonwald, the traitor, …show more content…

She knows she has to give up any “lady-like” qualities in order to have the will to murder for power. She wants to get the strength that will cause Duncan’s death, Macbeth's downfall into a traitorous murderer, and much, much more bloodshed. Additionally, within the act, the three witches meet talking about the evil things they have done. The first witch reports she had been killing swine, giving an early indication of their own connections to wretchedness and cause for …show more content…

Before he kills Duncan, he hallucinates and sees a bloody dagger floating in the air, leading the way to Duncan. This representation and action unleashes the remaining catastrophic chain of events that surround the chaos of Macbeth’s life in the next few acts. The relation of the bloody dagger with Macbeth delineates his dark intentions to come and strengthens his relationship with it in a metaphorical sense. The event to pursue will place Macbeth on an immutable path of iniquity. When Macbeth finally does kill Duncan, a wave of shame and guilt washes over him. He gets blood on his hands and says “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?”(2.2.58–59). The blood on his hand, specifically Duncan’s blood, is representative of the treachery Macbeth had then involved himself

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