Jarrod Cook

Adv. English 12

Mrs. Hoffman

29 December 2003

Motif Paper

This Play Is for the Birds

In the tragedy Macbeth Shakespeare continually uses bird imagery to represent several different plot developments in the play. Birds are continually used as a way to represent characters themselves in the way the act. Shakespeare uses this imagery a total of eleven times throughout the five acts in the play. Shakespeare uses this imagery to show the significance of what has happened and by what characters. Birds represent Macbeth and his deeds more than any other character throughout the novel. Second to Macbeth are Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff who are responsible for several instances of bird imagery. Birds are used because of the visible world of hierarchy that exists in their species and this easily represents the strange proceedings in the play, especially in the case of Macbeth.

Birds, primarily the owl, represent Macbeth many times because of the several horrific deeds for which he is responsible. An owl can be defined as a predatory bird this is active primarily during the night. This fits the description of Macbeth during the murder of Duncan that occurs while he visits Macbeth's castle. In a conversation between an old man and Ross after the murder, a discussion of two birds takes place. The old man claims that "On Tuesday last a falcon, tow' ring in her pride of place was by a mousing owl hawked and killed" (II, iv, 13). This is a perfect representation of the murder of King Duncan by the lowly Macbeth, referred to as a mousing owl. A falcon is considered one of the top predatory birds and his beauty, speed, and valor far exceeds that of an owl. Similarly, King Duncan was a kind and generous king and Macbeth was nothing more than a power hungry, murdering scoundrel. Using the image of the owl killing the hawk shows the audience just how horrendous Macbeth's crime was. An owl would not kill a hawk just as the king’s nobles should not kill him; this is effectively portrayed through this solitary image. Macbeth's predatory behavior continues as he orders the murder of any who may be a threat to him. After the Murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth states, "It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman" (II, i, 67). This again creates the image of Macbeth being an owl because he is the one who executes Duncan. The relation of the owl to Macbeth is caused by his continual predatory behavior, but is partially due to Lady Macbeth's assistance.

Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s accomplice in all his secret crimes and therefore is also interwoven into many of the images used. Lady Macbeth uses bird imagery a few times throughout the play, usually portraying the image of another character. Two images that are more noticable and both are relatively the same. When Lady Macbeth says, “It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman” (II, i, 67), instead of saying outright that the murderer was Macbeth, she names the image used for Macbeth as the villain. Lady Macbeth tries to keep all blame off of herself and her husband Macbeth. She does this earlier in the play when she states, "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan" (I, v, 42). Once again Lady Macbeth lays all of the blame for the crime not upon herself but on a messenger. This also reveals to the audience that no one knows of their crime and foreshadows the death of the king. The association of birds helps portray the future of the play and show more about the character.

Lady Macduff has a short appearance in Macbeth, but in that short time, several images are created. The images used in Act IV by Lady Macduff are a great hint as to what will happen very shortly. She uses these images to show her son and the audience the cowardice of her husband. She claims there is no reason for what he has done "For the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight her young ones in the nest against the owl" (IV, ii, 10). Macbeth once again is portrayed in this quote as the vicious owl who prays upon the weak. Lady Macduff states that if her husband was a man he would stay, like the wren, and protect his family from Macbeth. This foreshadows the death of the Macduff family before the arrival of the murderers hired by Macbeth. Lady Macduff then questions the son about how he will survive without his father and he states, "As birds do mother...with what I get" (IV, ii, 33). This confirms the audience's suspicions about the previous statement relating the wrens to the Macduffs. The entire Macduff family has now been associated with a family of wrens left defenseless. The audience now knows that Macbeth, the owl, will soon swoop in and snatch the Macduffs from their nest. The bird imagery given by Lady Macduff once again foreshadows what is to come and creates more hatred for Macbeth.

The bird imagery is included in this play to better portray the plot and show what is to come in the near future. Using birds for foreshadowing techniques fits in with ancient beliefs that birds could be used to tell the future. Shakespeare uses the birds in this play to allow the audience to predict the future of the characters. The bird images also reveal the personalities of the characters that the birds portray. Birds have a system of heirarchy and an established food chain, which makes them perfect representations for murder in this play. These birds are important in giving understanding of the play to the audience.