Macbeth Independence and Failure
Peasants of the early sixteenth century are often pictured carrying a bundle of limbs
tied with vines on their backs. This is a perfect metaphor for the events in Macbeth.
Macbeth is one of many thanes, or limbs, bundled together. The thanes are united by the
king, or the vine. Scotland, or the peasant, carries the bundle by the sweat of his brow.
They carry the bundle for fires on cold nights, or wars, and to build homes, or castles, to
protect them from the elements, or invaders. If the limbs are tied improperly, one limb
may slip to the side and cau…
