Macbeth Themes Flashcards
Appearance vs reality
“Stars hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires”
The stars are being asked to give Macbeth darkness, so no one can see his “black and deep desires.” Calling his desires black and deep is a metaphor, because the thoughts are not literally dark, but he is saying they are dark because they are evil. he’s asking the stars to hide his dark ambitions from him so they won’t influence his actions.
“Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it”
She is stressing the importance between looking like something and being something else. The juxtaposition of flower which connotes femininity with serpent which connotes masculinity and trickery shows how there can be a dangerous divide between a persons outward appearances and inward nature.
Guilt
Lady ms last words “what’s done canning be undone. to bed, to bed, to bed
They are the final words she utters in the play, and they reveal how guilt has crushed her strong and assertive personality. She now has to be cared for like a child, and has no plans for the future. No matter how much she repents, the violence and death cannot be undone.
“Thy bones are marrow less thy blood is cold”
Macbeth speaks this line when Banquo’s ghost appears to him at the banquet. Macbeth’s vision of the ghost reveals his guilt over ordering the murder of Banquo and his young son. His sense of guilt is so powerful that he loses his sense of reality and cannot be sure whether he is having a vision or not. He speaks these lines in order to try and reassure himself that Banquo is truly dead. In doing so, Macbeth reveals that his tormented consciousness is leading him to start losing his grip on sanity.
