Macbeth leitmotif essay

Shakespeare manipulates the characters around Macbeth to kindle the flames of his ambition. When Macbeth and Banquo intrude upon the three witches’ symposium, the witches tell of the glories Macbeth will be blessed with.

Macbeth personally says, “I am in blood Step’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (III.iv). This monumental quote explains Macbeth’s thought that since he has committed so many felonies, it wouldn’t make a different to repent or to maintain his streak of crimes.

With repeated acts of sin, Macbeth’s moral compass points to an evil direction. Macbeth personally says, “I am in blood Step’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (III.iv).

In the play, “Macbeth,” Shakespeare establishes the universal theme that too much ambition can lead to a great fall. He successfully does this by using the motif of Macbeth’s decline from being honorable to being evil.