Now that we have finished Act I of Macbeth, and have scanned the text
for examples of the motifs I listed before we began reading, write a
response in which you use your annotations to help you 1) demonstrate an
understanding of the passage in the context of the play and 2) identify
and discuss the significance of your motif within the passage. Why is
it meaningful, and how is Shakespeare playing with motif symbolically?
Here, again, is a list of motifs, and if you find one on your own, that's even better.
Things that grow (seeds, eggs, etc.)
Blood
Paradoxes
Rings (things that fold back upon themselves).
Hands
Sharp Objects (cutting through coverings).
Darkness
Vision / eyes
Fog / Murk
Time
Garments that don't fit.
Jewels
"Manliness" / Femininity
Gluttony / over-eating
Dichotomies:
Healthy bodies / dismembered bodies
Cleanliness / Dirtiness
Fairness / Foulness
Illusion / Reality.
Health / Sickness.
