The Spiritual Decline of Shakespeares Macbeth Essay

The Spiritual Decline of Macbeth nbsp; The play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, has been analyzed to such an extent that many assume it is impossible to say anything new about the play. Yet, a close reading of Macbeth can still yield tremendous insights. One interesting point worth noting is Macbeths inability to answer quot;Amenquot; to a solemn prayer to God. Shakespeares post-medieval world strictly adhered to the binary opposition between good and evil, or in other words, between Christ and Satan. The common belief was that satanic forces could not pay homage to Christ. Thus, Macbeths inability to answer quot;Amenquot; reflects his spiritual decline, sinking to the ranks of the witches and Lady Macbeth.†¦show more content†¦As she awaits Macbeth’s return from Duncan’s room, she thinks she hears something and says, quot;Hark! Peace! / It was the owl that shriekd, the fatal bellman, / Which gives the sternst good-night. He is about itquot; (II.ii.2-4). A lot happens in these few words. When sh e says quot;Hark!quot; shes telling herself to listen, and then when she says quot;Peace!quot; shes telling herself to be quiet, so that she can hear what shes listening for. After she listens, she decides that she heard a screech owl, and she takes that as a good omen, because the screech owl is natures own quot;fatal bellmanquot; (II.ii.5). A quot;fatal bellmanquot; is a night watchman who rings a bell at the door of a prisoner scheduled for execution in the morning, and an owl does the same job in nature, because--according to folklore--the screech of a screech owl foretells the death of a person. Therefore, Lady Macbeth believes that because she heard the owls screech, her husband must be quot;about itquot;(II.ii.6), â€Å"it† being a reference to murder. nbsp; Noteworthy is Lady Macbeths development of conscience during the play. 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