A Dark, Smokey Drive for Power

A whirling spiral of smoke rises from a hot, flaming core, filling the canvas of James Guppy’s “Smoke Signals.” The painting stops the fumes amid their churning, dynamic motion as they grow and continuously suck air into the fire. All the while, the untainted blue sky and puffy white clouds in the background become more and more obstructed from view. While seemingly unrelated, this painting has many parallels with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth is sucked into a cycle of violence that is fueled by his thirst for power and prestige, portrayed by the fire-fueled column of smoke. The blue sky and white clouds fading from view can also be representative of the virtue and goodness that Macbeth leaves behind as he works his way up to becoming king. These two connections tie together two respectable works of art.

The first aspect of the painting that connects to Macbeth is the expansive movement of the smoke that can serve as a metaphor for Macbeth’s growing greed. The smoke diffuses while the fire at the core of the smoke continues to fuel the spiraling fumes. This fire is comparable to Macbeth’s yearning for power, which likewise fuel his actions. His dark thirst is illustrated in his soliloquy, in which he narrates, “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, / For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.49-52). Macbeth’s hunger for power grows over the course of the play as his initial reluctance to murder quickly turns to guiltless rampage. The ever-expanding smoke can serve as an illustration of this growing desire that quickly sucks him into a cycle of violence.
The smoke can also be representative of Macbeth’s irreversible actions that continuously pull him further from virtue and righteousness. The tranquil blue sky and white clouds become increasingly obstructed from view, just as Macbeth’s moral compass disappears from view in his decision-making process. Macbeth starts out as a man grounded in morality and principles. His noble military contributions are first described by a sergeant: “For brave Macbeth / ––well he deserves that name–– / Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / which smoked with bloody execution…” (1.2.16-18). In fact, when Lady Macbeth initially suggests murdering Duncan, he refuses, replying, “We will proceed no further in this business” (1.7.31). However, as his thirst for power overrules his morality, he starts committing irreversible crimes. Before long, he finds reassurance in murder, stating that his enemies are “...better be with the dead, / Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, / Than on the torture of the mind to lie” (3.2.20-22). Hesitation and moral conscience quickly fade from view, just as the untouched sky and clouds do in “Smoke Signals.”

A central aspect of Macbeth’s plot is Macbeth’s yearning for authority, which ultimately leads him to set forth a cycle of violence. The painting “Smoke Signals” captures the essence of Macbeth’s dark, desiring nature with its ever-growing smoke. Its fading white clouds and blue sky are also representative of Macbeth’s disappearing sense of righteousness. Both beautiful and individually celebrated works of art, Macbeth and “Smoke Signals” each bring distinctive qualities to life, making the parallels between the two all the more compelling.