Macbeth Through The Color Wheel

This modern oil painting captures the emotional journey and essence of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth throughout the Shakespearean work. The abstract work of art depicts the murderous couple along with the colors that go hand in hand with their emotions.

The yellow of the oil painting is a flashback to happier times and represents the joy of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they rose in the ranks the righteous and honest way. The color green symbolizes their envy for Duncan and the ambition to kill.The sickly yellow-green color on the painting alludes to the disease of the mind that creeps up inside Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth’s madness is revealed at the banquet when his hallucination-prone mind convinces him Banquo’s ghost is seated at the table, while Lady Macbeth is consumed by guilt even in her sleep and exhibits her insanity as she sleepwalks.The dark blue suggests the new power Macbeth possesses. With the traitorous ways of the Thane of Cawdor and then the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth was able to ascend the throne with the malevolent assistance of his plotting wife. The stark sweeps of red symbolize the power and strength, as well as the blood on both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s hands and the immense guilt that drives them insane. The anger and pure rage Macbeth develops throughout the play is encapsulated in the color red.The dark orange blends yellow and red together and stands for the Macbeth’s deceit of the entire land of Scotland. Orange also indicates distrust. As Banquo began piecing together Macbeth’s twisted plan, the new king realized that Banquo, his best friend, could no longer be trusted, so Macbeth had him slaughtered. Finally, the hints of black in the corners and around the edges of the painting depict the eventual death of Lady Macbeth and her husband. Black signifies the fear lodged deep in both the greed-driven humans’ hearts ever since they committed cold-blooded murder.