Name:
World Lit. II
Ms. Drahouzal
April 22, 2010
Themes & images in Macbeth (test preparation)
Please read the following carefully and answer the questions in preparation for Monday’s test.
In addition to creating characters and plots, playwrights often use figurative language to give feeling
and atmosphere to a play. When an idea is repeated, it can build up into a theme which gives us a new
viewpoint on the play as a whole.
 Darkness as representative of the evil actions & thoughts of Macbeth & Lady Macbeth
Example: “Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,” (Act 1, scene 5).
1. Find two more references to darkness (or light) from anywhere in the play.
a.
b.
2. What atmosphere is Shakespeare building up in the play with these references?
 Blood in relation to death & violence
Example: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” (Act 2, scene 2).
1. Find two more references to blood from anywhere in the play.
a.
b.
2. How do they add to the play’s atmosphere?
Turn to the other side
 Clothing
Clothes can make us look and feel different; they can express or hide what we feel. They can be
comfortable or uncomfortable; they can fit well or badly. In Macbeth, Shakespeare often used clothes in
similes or metaphors to explain the characters, etc.
Example: “The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me / In borrowed robes?” (Act I, scene 3).
1. Find two other examples of clothes used in similes or metaphors. EXPLAIN what the clothing image
means and how it makes the speaker’s meaning more vivid.
a.
b.
 Disease & sickness
Illness and disease are both used in the play to express several different things.
Example: “What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, / Would scour these English hence?” (Act 5,
scene 3).
1. Find two other examples of illness/disease being used and EXPLAIN the meaning of each.
a.
b.