,
12 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
HANDS in Macbeth.
Hands are a recurring motif in Macbeth. But you can't just write "hands are a recurring motif in Macbeth" in your exam, because that's not an insight.
So what do hands symbolise?
1/
Hands are a recurring motif in Macbeth. But you can't just write "hands are a recurring motif in Macbeth" in your exam, because that's not an insight.
So what do hands symbolise?
1/
Hands are the means by which you take action. Hands are the site where your desires connect with reality.
(4.1) MACBETH: The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand.
2/
(4.1) MACBETH: The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand.
2/
So, when Macbeth tries to disassociate himself from his own violence, this takes the form of imagining his hands to be acting out of sight, or away from his mind's cognition:
(1.4) MACBETH: The eye wink at the hand.
3/
(1.4) MACBETH: The eye wink at the hand.
3/
(2.2) MACBETH: What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.
(3.2) MACBETH: Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
4/
(3.2) MACBETH: Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
4/
We hear LM wish something similar in 1.5: "my keen knife see not the wound it makes."
5/
5/
But of course, you CAN'T disassociate yourself from the violence you've done. Shakespeare uses HANDS to show this:
Hands are a symbol of guilt that you might think you can wash off but which stays with you:
6/
Hands are a symbol of guilt that you might think you can wash off but which stays with you:
6/
In 2.2, Macbeth fears his hands will "ne'er be clean", whereas to LM "a little water clears us of this deed."
In Act 5, LM is now scrubbing her hands to clean off her guilt, and Macbeth still has "his secret murders sticking on his hands."
7/
In Act 5, LM is now scrubbing her hands to clean off her guilt, and Macbeth still has "his secret murders sticking on his hands."
7/
HANDS are also a symbol of justice and retribution. MACBETH imagines the "even-handed justice" that will see his punished for Duncan's murder, and later the "unlineal hand" that will take his throne away. BANQUO stands "in the hand of God".
8/
8/
LADY MACBETH, of course, dies "by self and violent hands" (5.8).
9/
9/
HANDS represent Macbeth's tyranny. His people live "under a hand accursed" according to Lennox (3.6). Rightful kings, represented by Malcolm in the play and by James I in reality, could heal the sick just by touch: "Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand" (4.3).
10/
10/
A stark contrast with Macbeth's own bloody hands.
No coincidence, then, that LADY MACBETH's final message to Macbeth - "Give me your hand. What's / Done cannot be undone" (5.1) maintains the symbolism of hands as the repositries of evil deeds.
11/
No coincidence, then, that LADY MACBETH's final message to Macbeth - "Give me your hand. What's / Done cannot be undone" (5.1) maintains the symbolism of hands as the repositries of evil deeds.
11/
A final thought -- be careful with HANDS in the presence of witches. The "weird sisters hand in hand" (1.3) work some nasty magic on a pilot's THUMB.
And any apparitions you see -- as in Act 4 -- might be holding something significant in their hands. Just saying.
12/12
And any apparitions you see -- as in Act 4 -- might be holding something significant in their hands. Just saying.
12/12
