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The Importance Of Owls In Macbeth

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The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is seen as one of Shakespeare 's greatest tragedies. It deals with a man named Macbeth, who is introduced as a brave, strong war hero. He has the respect of the king and his peers. The predictions of three witches that Macbeth will become king begin Macbeth 's descent into his own downfall. The play is set in Scotland, written for King James I. The Queen of Denmark was visiting her brother King James. Shakespeare researched and found that Banquo is an ancestor of King James I. In the tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare examines the symbol of animals in order to foreshadow the death of others. Directly after Lady Macbeth read her husband 's message about the prophecies that the witches told, a messenger …show more content…

Owls, represent Macbeth often because of the several terrible deeds he is responsible for. An owl is a predatory bird that is active primarily during the night. This is an amazing representation of the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth, referred to as a mousing owl. This fits the description of Macbeth during the murder of Duncan that happens while he visits Macbeth 's castle. The morning after the vicious murder of King Duncan, an Old Man, and Ross are talking about the other unnatural things that have been happening. One of them is described by the Old Man: A falcon 's "pride of place" is when it hit its highest point of flight. And the owl, which normally would capture mice on the ground, went up instead of down and killed a falcon. A falcon is a diurnal animal, and a loyal companion, while the owl is an untamable bird of night and death. When things in nature stand for things in human life, King Duncan would be the falcon, and Macbeth would be …show more content…

Lady Macbeth is referring to how Macbeth may be regarded as innocent and a noble man by others, but he really is extremely devious and dangerous on the inside. When she says “innocent flower," she refers to how pure a flower is and how it isn 't flawed on the inside. This also shows that not everything is as it seems. This quote is describing that after king Duncan dies his horses ate each other. When a king is murdered it upsets the Chain of Being that the Elizabethans believed in, a chain in which the king was God 's deputy on earth. So, the unlawful death of a king causes an interruption in the world of nature and can bring terrible things like plagues, famine, and unnatural activity among animals. It was considered very important for someone to know their place in the Chain of Being and not try to rise above it because of ambition. It was considered very unholy to disrespect the chain

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