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Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Act 1, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Roman Mythology:
Macbeth was first performed in 1606, during the reign of a deeply Christian English king, and it takes place in the 11th century, long after Christianity became the primary faith of Scotland, but the play is still brimming with references to pagan religion. Although the original inhabitants of Scotland presumably followed Celtic paganism, people of Shakespeare's time were less familiar with the Celts than they were with Latin and Greek and culture, so most of the allusions in Macbeth are to Greek and Roman mythology.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Act 1, scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Explanation and Analysis—Serpents:
Images of serpents appear several times throughout Macbeth. In some instances, this motif seems to represent the theme of treachery, but Shakespeare also uses it to symbolize the concept of lineage.
In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to play the part of the gracious host when Duncan arrives at Inverness:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Look like th’ innocent
flower,
But be the serpent under ’t
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 7
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Explanation and Analysis—Literary Allusions:
Macbeth contains several literary allusions. In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth makes a reference to the proverb of the cat that wished to eat fish but refused to wet its feet:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”
Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?
Act 2, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Historical Allusions:
Upper-class men of Shakespeare's time were often educated in Greek and Latin, and Macbeth contains several allusions to Roman history that this portion of his audience would have appreciated. In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth makes a reference to an event that catalyzed the creation of the Roman Republic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: [A]nd withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Murder:
In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth personifies murder as an old man who moves stealthily at night, ultimately making an allusion to an infamous Roman rapist named Sextus Tarquinius:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: [A]nd withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his
design
Moves like a ghost.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Roman Mythology:
Macbeth was first performed in 1606, during the reign of a deeply Christian English king, and it takes place in the 11th century, long after Christianity became the primary faith of Scotland, but the play is still brimming with references to pagan religion. Although the original inhabitants of Scotland presumably followed Celtic paganism, people of Shakespeare's time were less familiar with the Celts than they were with Latin and Greek and culture, so most of the allusions in Macbeth are to Greek and Roman mythology.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Explanation and Analysis—Water:
Water is mentioned frequently in Macbeth, often in relation to blood, and it's used as a motif that represents the permanence of guilt.
In Act 2, Scene 2, Macbeth ponders whether an entire ocean would be capable of washing Duncan's blood off his hands:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash the blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Act 2, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Roman Mythology:
Macbeth was first performed in 1606, during the reign of a deeply Christian English king, and it takes place in the 11th century, long after Christianity became the primary faith of Scotland, but the play is still brimming with references to pagan religion. Although the original inhabitants of Scotland presumably followed Celtic paganism, people of Shakespeare's time were less familiar with the Celts than they were with Latin and Greek and culture, so most of the allusions in Macbeth are to Greek and Roman mythology.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Political Allusions:
Shakespeare's Macbeth is set in 11th-century Scotland, but at several points throughout the play, characters make anachronistic references to 17th-century political events. In Act 2, Scene 3, the porter at Macbeth's castle gate envisions himself as the doorman at the entrance to hell and pretends to welcome the souls of the damned into the underworld:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Porter: Here's a farmer that hanged himself on th' expectation of plenty... Faith, here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God's sake yet could not equivocate to heaven.
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Explanation and Analysis—Murder:
In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth personifies murder as an old man who moves stealthily at night, ultimately making an allusion to an infamous Roman rapist named Sextus Tarquinius:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: [A]nd withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his
design
Moves like a ghost.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Literary Allusions:
Macbeth contains several literary allusions. In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth makes a reference to the proverb of the cat that wished to eat fish but refused to wet its feet:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”
Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?
Act 3, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Historical Allusions:
Upper-class men of Shakespeare's time were often educated in Greek and Latin, and Macbeth contains several allusions to Roman history that this portion of his audience would have appreciated. In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth makes a reference to an event that catalyzed the creation of the Roman Republic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: [A]nd withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Serpents:
Images of serpents appear several times throughout Macbeth. In some instances, this motif seems to represent the theme of treachery, but Shakespeare also uses it to symbolize the concept of lineage.
In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to play the part of the gracious host when Duncan arrives at Inverness:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Look like th’ innocent
flower,
But be the serpent under ’t
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Serpents:
Images of serpents appear several times throughout Macbeth. In some instances, this motif seems to represent the theme of treachery, but Shakespeare also uses it to symbolize the concept of lineage.
In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to play the part of the gracious host when Duncan arrives at Inverness:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Look like th’ innocent
flower,
But be the serpent under ’t
Related Themes:
Act 4, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Political Allusions:
Shakespeare's Macbeth is set in 11th-century Scotland, but at several points throughout the play, characters make anachronistic references to 17th-century political events. In Act 2, Scene 3, the porter at Macbeth's castle gate envisions himself as the doorman at the entrance to hell and pretends to welcome the souls of the damned into the underworld:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Porter: Here's a farmer that hanged himself on th' expectation of plenty... Faith, here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God's sake yet could not equivocate to heaven.
Act 4, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Biblical Allusions:
King James I, who in 1603 became the primary patron of Shakespeare's theater company, is well known for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Perhaps as a nod to his benefactor's interest in Christian theology, Shakespeare's Macbeth contains numerous biblical allusions.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Act 5, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Water:
Water is mentioned frequently in Macbeth, often in relation to blood, and it's used as a motif that represents the permanence of guilt.
In Act 2, Scene 2, Macbeth ponders whether an entire ocean would be capable of washing Duncan's blood off his hands:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash the blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Act 5, scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Literary Allusions:
Macbeth contains several literary allusions. In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth makes a reference to the proverb of the cat that wished to eat fish but refused to wet its feet:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Macbeth: Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”
Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?
Act 5, scene 10
Explanation and Analysis—Historical Allusions:
Upper-class men of Shakespeare's time were often educated in Greek and Latin, and Macbeth contains several allusions to Roman history that this portion of his audience would have appreciated. In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth makes a reference to an event that catalyzed the creation of the Roman Republic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Macbeth: [A]nd withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides
Related Themes:
