Power and Corruption

'That summons thee to heaven or to hell'. In the play MacBeth, the theme is Power and Corruption, especially when talking about MacBeth. MacBeth is so obsessed with power, he would do anything to keep it. MacBeth wants everyone who could possibly take the throne off him dead. 'Whiles I threat, he lives.' Act 2 Scene 1, line 61. This tells us that he has to kill someone so he can take power. MacBeth kills Duncan and frames his successors so that he is the only one that could be King. The witches have corrupted MacBeth and made him hungry for power.

Blood and Gore

'Safe in a ditch he bides'. Blood and gore plays a big part in the play MacBeth. Shakespeare uses blood and gore to emphasise the deaths and how important they are. 'With twenty trenching gashes on his head' is a very violent remark made by one of the murders to MacBeth. He does this to ensure MacBeth's belief in his story. Also because this is an important death it is described better and more vividly compared to when Lady MacBeth kills the guards. 'Is this a dagger that I see before me'.

Supernatural

'Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.' In this scene the witches are casting a spell to get in MacBeth's head. This is an excellent example of supernatural imagery. 'Eye of newt and toe of frog,' this is a small part of a spell the witches cast, this is supernatural because the witches are using magic and other things that would be impossible to in real life. 'Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.'

Nature Imagery

'As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,' Shakespeare uses nature imagery to further describe things. He uses nature imagery a lot in this play. 'All by the name of dogs.' In this scene MacBeth is trying to explain to the murderer that men are like dogs, they all have different attributes. This is also a metaphor because MacBeth is comparing men to being like different breeds of dogs. 'The valued file Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,The housekeeper, the hunter, every one According to the gift which bounteous nature Hath in him closed.'

Dramatic Irony

'This castle hath a pleasant seat;'. Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something that the characters don't. Dramatic irony is used a lot in MacBeth to build tension and excitement. 'The air
Nimbly and sweetly' is used when King Duncan arrives at MacBeth's castle to describe that it is nice because lots of animals live there. But what he doesn't know is that he is actually walking into the place where he is going to get murdered, but we the audience know exactly what is going on. 'Recommends itself Unto our gentle senses.'