Group 8: Examine Christian Symbolism and Biblical Imagery With Macbeth

What are Christian Symbolism and Biblical Imagery?
Religious symbolism including Christian and biblical imagery is the use of text, images, procedures, or actual physical objects to represent an idea or belief. The most common example is the use of objects to symbolize the faith itself, as in the use of a cross to represent Christianity, There are many more symbols used in Christianity. For example, the sacraments (Holy Communion, baptism, ordination and marriage) are symbols of spiritual change in the participants. In communion, the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and shed blood of Jesus, which are themselves also symbolic of the salvation of the recipient. Other Christian symbols include the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), and the sacrificial lamb (symbolic of Christ's sacrifice).

Within the Play
SPEECH OF CHARACTERS
One of the strongest themes in Macbeth is that of piety or more precisely Christianity. The world-view and speech of the characters is influenced or infused by God and the devil, and they clearly believe in and understand the opposing spiritual forces of the supernatural. Even the most casual reader can see that Christian terminology is everywhere in Macbeth. In part, this is because Christian terms had been incorporated into the everyday colloquial expressions of the time: your highness, faith, my lord, your grace, heaven preserve you, gospelled, and good God, for example.
Further, the expressions of sovereignty such as your highness when applied to men are an upside-down reference to God’s supreme position in the universe. No one is higher than God, yet the term your highness is applied to human royalty. This is one of the first symbols of the distorted spiritual hierarchy that plagues the world of Macbeth. In trying to usurp the position of the most high God, and His authority, Macbeth succeeds in turning his world topsy-turvy, destroying his own mind, and becoming an instrument of evil.

MURDER OF JESUS CHRIST
In Macbeth, however, these expressions take on a deeper meaning, because its plot parallels the murder of Jesus Christ. The extensive Christian imagery in Macbeth, in fact, seems to represent the foundation that the entire story is built upon: the allegorical connection between the murder of King Duncan and the murder of Jesus Christ. The good king of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.

BILICAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL IMAGERY
In the second scene of the first act, a Sergeant, reporting on the fight he has just witnessed, says about Macbeth and Banquo that it seemed as if “they meant to bathe in reeking wounds / Or memorise another Golgotha” (1.2.40-41). This biblical allusion reminds us of course of the death of Christ, as reported in Matthew 27:33: “And when they came unto the place called Golgotha, that is to say, the place of dead mens’ skulls.” On first reading, the reference to this biblical story in the speech of the Sergeant may just be seen as a compliment to the two generals: the Sergeant is complimenting Macbeth and Banquo on their determination and pugnacity. Shakespeare’s underlying meaning, however, may well be that this is a foreboding: just as Christ was put to death by the soldiers, Duncan will be killed by Macbeth. Although one cannot go as far as to say that Duncan is Christ, it could be said that he is a Christ-like figure: he is the representative of the good. This is underlined in act 1, scene 4, when Macbeth and Banquo return from battle and are received in audience by Duncan. The King himself says to them, “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing” (1.4.28-29). The idea of “planting” men and “letting them flourish” can be found repeatedly in the Old Testament, for instance in Jeremiah 12:2, where it says about Jehovah: “Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they grow, and bring forth fruit.” Knowing that Macbeth will kill the King, this passage underlines how evil this deed will be. Macbeth will not simply commit murder, but will destroy his “roots”.

LADY MADBETH
A comparison that is more solid, is the one between Pilate and Macbeth. When we look at act 2, scene 2 - when King Duncan has just been murdered – we find Lady Macbeth saying to her husband about this murder, “A little water clears us of this deed: / How easy is it, then!” (2.2.66-67). The idea of washing unclean hands is, of course, biblical: we recognise the passage in Matthew 27 in this quotation, in which Pilate publicly washes his hands and says that he is not guilty of killing Jesus.