Child Symbolism In Macbeth

When people think of children what do they think of? Do they think of the smiles and the laughter, or do they think of the screaming and crying. The opinions on types of children vary from people with their own experiences. In the Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, certain aspects of children are lingered throughout the story. The use of children is not the most prominent throughout Macbeth, but is the most known if the reader chooses to dig for the clues and examples. Shakespeare’s symbolism with children can fall into many sub-categories,but these can be used to produce three main categories. The novel Macbeth is just one main example of shakespeare’s categories of symbolism. Shakespeare's use of children throughout Macbeth symbolizes three things: innocence, abuse, and weakness.
Macbeth has many aspects of children symbolizing innocence presented throughout the novel. Shakespeare’s use of children has caused many questions to …show more content…
For example, Macbeth’s weakness begins when he is planning to kill Duncan and after he killed him. Macbeth slowly starts to deteriorate from his weakness after the killing. He breaks down saying he has killed sleep. (Shakespeare, lines….) Macbeth’s weakness also occurs when he meets the witches and they give him three prophecies. The witches allow Macbeth to see his future from the stew they are making. The first prophecy was an armored head that said to beware Macduff. The second prophecy was a bloody child and it said that no child born of a woman shall harm Macbeth. The last prophecy was a child holding a branch stating, that when the woods come to his castle the battle would begin. Macbeth did not know believe the witches and that he would not die and he takes the prophecies for granted, but when he realizes he chose wrong it is already too late. The weakness presented by the children apparitions show the weakness presented to macbeth for the near