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Theme Of Visions And Hallucinations In Macbeth

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In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the motif of visions and hallucinations occurs a lot and is the effect of many of the characters’ actions. This theme occurs through the words of the witches, the main character Macbeth, his wife Lady Macbeth, his best friend Banquo, and his “cousin” Malcolm. Macbeth was the Thane of Glamis and a Scottish general. Throughout the play, this motif became less common. In act one there were four examples of visions and hallucinations, mostly having to do with the witches. The witches had a very a significant role in the play. They created most of the things that happened based off of their prophecies. Shakespeare uses the theme of visions and hallucinations to create a vivid image of the play to give the play a creepy connotation and give a better understanding of the characters. In acts one and two there was a total of six examples of visions and hallucinations. In act one, many of the examples were said by the witches. The witches helped develop the setting and background information while bringing a bit of confusion to the play. They said many things that led to many prophecies to help lead the play, “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii.49-50). This is a vision that the witches had for the future. The witches gave Macbeth the title of “Thane of Cawdor” and “King of Scotland”. Although he didn’t believe them at first, he later found those prophecies to be true,

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