Macbeth bird imagery
Macbeth - bird imageryMacbeth - bird imagery
In Shakespeare�s Macbeth, the use of birds helps describe a character in an
inhumane way. It compares a character to the natural world and its natural
surroundings. The focus on the natural imagery of birds characterizes the
unnatural images that build up and grow around certain characters,
according to Shakespeare�s time.
The Captain telals King Duncan how, just at the moment when
Macbeth's forces defeated Macdonwald's rebels, the Norwegian king
attacked the Scottish. King Duncan asks if this new attack dismayed
Macbeth and Banquo. The Captain, trying to be humorous in a manful
manner, says: �Yes, as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion�(1.2.39). The
Captain is comparing the predator to its prey in order to describe the way
Macbeth and Banquo reacted to the battles. Shakespeare is taking an
unnatural occurrence, such as a war, and characterizing it using natural
imagery(life) such as birds.
Immediately after Lady Macbeth reads her husband's letter about
the witches' prophecies, a messenger comes with the news that King
Duncan is coming to spend the night at her castle. After the messenger has
left, the first thing Lady Macbeth says is: �The raven himself is hoarse/ That
croaks fatal entrance of Duncan/ Under my battlements�(1.5.45-47). The
raven is a bird of ill omen, and Lady Macbeth means that the raven is
hoarse from saying again and again that King Duncan must die. Here,
Shakespeare is taking the idea of murder, and using the natural imagery of
a raven in order to reveal the thoughts of killing Duncan.
When King Duncan comes to Macbeth's castle, he remarks how sweet
the air is. Banquo agrees, and adds: �This guest of summer, /The
temple-haunting martlet, does approve, /By his loved mansionry, that the
heaven's breath/ Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze,/ Buttress, nor coign
of vantage, but this bird/ Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle�
(1.6.3-8). A "martlet" is a kind of swallow, who is "temple-haunting"
because it likes to build its nests high on the walls of tall buildings
("Haunting" doesn't have any ghostly connotations). When Lady Macbeth
heard that King Duncan was coming for the night, she imagined a raven
under her...
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